Green with Envy: Vertical Gardens
Go green – literally! Living walls add style and beauty to your home, and they’re good for you, too. These DIY vertical gardens will improve your quality of life, inside and out.
Bring nature inside with a green wall. Not just a wall covered in green paint or paper, but the real thing: plant-covered vertical gardens.
Living walls, or green walls, are becoming increasingly popular in home decorating; they’re crisp and vibrant, available in countless customizable configurations and colors (say that five times fast!), and fully removable if one would like to change the decor without drastic and costly work. And best of all, they’re not only stylish; a home vertical garden is good for you, too!
Why vertical gardens?
Plants are natural toxin eliminators. They purify our air by removing pollution and releasing energy-rich oxygen. Gardens have been proven to increase productivity, decrease stress, and promote health, well-being, and tranquility.
Exterior living walls provide insulation (and consequently reduce energy consumption), noise dampening, and protection from the elements, while giving birds and other beings a natural habitat. What could be better?
But don’t restrict vertical gardens to the outdoors. Living walls have begun to move indoors as well. And why not? Those health benefits are even more important inside the home. Add plants to a living area for interest and – quite literally – a breath of fresh air. To up the tranquility factor of your bedroom or bathroom, try a vertical garden (even a small one – every plant counts). And if you really want to reap all of the health benefits, plant a vertical herb garden in your kitchen. Instant freshness!
Many vertical gardens can be equipped with a drip irrigation system for low-maintenance greenery. Even those without special systems are fairly easy to care for.
How to build a vertical garden
We’ve chosen six living wall systems that go way beyond the hanging planter. Check them out and start living greener… it’s easier than it looks.
WallyGro
The WallyGro collection of planters allows plant lovers – even those with brown thumbs – to set up a home vertical garden with ease. WallyGro is a modular system with various planter sizes, customizable with drip supplies. The modular “pocket” containers are mounted to the wall for a fairly simple DIY vertical garden: just hang, fill with soil, add plants, and watch it blossom.
Thanks to the WallyGro’s construction, you can safely plant them inside without damaging your walls, floor, or furniture. They’re made of recycled plastic bottles and their breathable felt (lined with a military-grade water-impermeable lining to protect your walls) encourages plant growth. To water, simply wet the back of the pocket – it moisturizes the soil down to plant roots!
Williams Sonoma
This neat little framed planter by Williams Sonoma lets you plant up to 20 varieties of herbs in one spot. Its integrated watering system ensures even moisture and easy excess water cleanup, and the chalkboard finish on the frame prevents you from mixing up your thyme with your rosemary!
GroVert
With a GroVert kit by Living Wall, creating and maintaining a hanging wall garden is straightforward: just fill the planter in a horizontal position, allow roots to grow for a week or two, then hang it on the mounting bracket. Choose as few or as many as you’d like for a jaw-dropping vertical garden design.
The panels can be mounted alone or grouped for maximum impact; keep them moist with their patented Irrigator or simply by pouring water into the watering chamber, which then evenly distributes the water across the integrated moisture mat for lush vertical gardens.
Florafelt
The Florafelt system is similar to the WallyGro products: earth-friendly felt pockets in different configurations (the main difference: more options with more pockets in one unit than the WallyGro). Pick your favorite, hang it up, fill with plants, and pour the water on its watering “tongue” for even irrigation.
Another factor that sets Florafelt apart is that the containers are designed to encourage free, unrestricted plant growth; their special loose weave synthetic felt allows roots to grow through the felt, permitting plants to grow to full size and thrive long-term.
LivePicture
It’s a cross between artwork and plants! The LivePicture planter by Suite Plants can hold up to 9 plants and only needs to be watered every 4-6 weeks. Talk about low-maintenance!
Sagegreenlife
When you’re ready for a large-scale knockout wall, Sagegreenlife is your go-to team of green wall experts. They don’t just provide a service; they seek to create a movement, to bring your space to life. Their on-staff design horticulturists use innovative, sustainable, water-efficient products to infuse the air with freshness and jaw-dropping beauty.
Get planting! Which system’s your favorite?