From the Pros: Expert Tips on Creating a Vertical Garden
Incorporate a green wall into your home and gain that relaxing 'ahhh' feeling
Straight out of university I was employed in the surreal and utterly fabulous studio of landscape architect Vladimir Sitta. I was on the edge of my seat whenever he and fellow landscape architect Maren Parry would recount stories of their design adventures. Once they told of how they had built a vertical garden for an open-minded filmmaker. Parry had stayed up late into the night sewing little pockets from felt, which the pair used to create a hydroponic system. I was truly impressed by their innovation and desire to push the boundaries. The year was 2000 and this was the height of cutting-edge residential landscape design.
The popularity of vertical gardens has continued to grow over time with the help of many, but most notably French botanist and innovator Patrick Blanc. His outstanding work has inspired a generation of vertical garden enthusiasts and led to the development of simplified green wall systems that have made owning and maintaining a vertical garden accessible to anyone with a tinge of a green thumb. Take a look at these wheres and hows of incorporating a vertical garden into your home.
The popularity of vertical gardens has continued to grow over time with the help of many, but most notably French botanist and innovator Patrick Blanc. His outstanding work has inspired a generation of vertical garden enthusiasts and led to the development of simplified green wall systems that have made owning and maintaining a vertical garden accessible to anyone with a tinge of a green thumb. Take a look at these wheres and hows of incorporating a vertical garden into your home.
Greening a courtyard
Green walls are a wonderful way to inject a bit of nature into a courtyard or balcony where there is no space to plant a conventional garden, or room for a pot. They’re ideal for busy people as they require as little of your time as a garden pot – they will thrive with regular watering and feeding but otherwise are very undemanding.
Green walls are a wonderful way to inject a bit of nature into a courtyard or balcony where there is no space to plant a conventional garden, or room for a pot. They’re ideal for busy people as they require as little of your time as a garden pot – they will thrive with regular watering and feeding but otherwise are very undemanding.
Creating a focal point
Vertical gardens are a terrific tool for building interest where there was none before. They are able to grab your attention and draw you through a space. This inner city courtyard could be quite drab without the drama of the green wall at one end.
Vertical gardens are a terrific tool for building interest where there was none before. They are able to grab your attention and draw you through a space. This inner city courtyard could be quite drab without the drama of the green wall at one end.
Jazzing up plain walls
While the concept of the vertical garden has a history reaching as far back as the legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon, it fills a modern-day need to provide space-saving focal interest to plain walls.
While the concept of the vertical garden has a history reaching as far back as the legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon, it fills a modern-day need to provide space-saving focal interest to plain walls.
Disguising a boundary fence
Constructing a vertical garden along a boundary fence provides a wall of green that displays more interest than a hedge and takes up less space. It also means a lush outlook from inside the home.
Constructing a vertical garden along a boundary fence provides a wall of green that displays more interest than a hedge and takes up less space. It also means a lush outlook from inside the home.
HOW
Choosing a vertical garden system
There are an array of green wall systems available that range from wall-mounted to freestanding and include plastic buckets, cells and bags. You can even make your own. I prefer to use a system of felt pockets that attach directly to the wall or fence because they are affordable and flexible while being easy to install and maintain.
Choosing a vertical garden system
There are an array of green wall systems available that range from wall-mounted to freestanding and include plastic buckets, cells and bags. You can even make your own. I prefer to use a system of felt pockets that attach directly to the wall or fence because they are affordable and flexible while being easy to install and maintain.
Selecting the plants
When planting a vertical garden I think of the composition; like an artist choosing a paint colour, plants are your palette. Trailing plants, such as ivy, work well around the frame to disguise the edges of the structure. Plants, such as Philodendron ‘Xanadu’ and Walking Iris, fill the vertical garden with lushness and texture, while a few well-placed bromeliads or orchids draw your eye with their pops of colour. As long as you choose plants for the right position, and with similar needs, there is no right or wrong way to design your vertical garden.
When planting a vertical garden I think of the composition; like an artist choosing a paint colour, plants are your palette. Trailing plants, such as ivy, work well around the frame to disguise the edges of the structure. Plants, such as Philodendron ‘Xanadu’ and Walking Iris, fill the vertical garden with lushness and texture, while a few well-placed bromeliads or orchids draw your eye with their pops of colour. As long as you choose plants for the right position, and with similar needs, there is no right or wrong way to design your vertical garden.
Longevity of garden walls
I have a vertical garden in my studio that resembles those plants in the film The Day of the Triffids. Huge Elephant Ears (Alocasia) are leaping out of the pocket and the Devil’s Ivy (Pothos) now touches the floor. I keep threatening to replant it, but deep down I love it’s wildness. It changes and grows and connects me to the greater landscape like no ordinary pot plant ever could.
MORE
All Fenced in: Find the Right Style for Your Backyard
11 Clever Tricks With Side Gardens
Rise Up: 15 Vertical Gardens With a Creative Edge
Stickybeak of the Week: Vertical Gardens With a Difference
I have a vertical garden in my studio that resembles those plants in the film The Day of the Triffids. Huge Elephant Ears (Alocasia) are leaping out of the pocket and the Devil’s Ivy (Pothos) now touches the floor. I keep threatening to replant it, but deep down I love it’s wildness. It changes and grows and connects me to the greater landscape like no ordinary pot plant ever could.
MORE
All Fenced in: Find the Right Style for Your Backyard
11 Clever Tricks With Side Gardens
Rise Up: 15 Vertical Gardens With a Creative Edge
Stickybeak of the Week: Vertical Gardens With a Difference
Choosing a position
There are many possible ways to incorporate a green wall inside your home or garden. Vertical gardens are a perfect solution for greening courtyards and balconies – they jazz up boring walls and act as a focal point to draw the eye through a space. They are also an effective foil for an unsightly boundary fence and can accomplish an effect that planters and troughs alone can not. In addition, they’re a good way to elevate plants out of reach of small children and pets.