There is no better way to introduce nature into the vertical confines of urban existence than the vertical garden. In these, thyme and mint provide fragrant foliage while flowering vines and perennials create a weed-free but colourful groundcover.
Living walls being utilised on the SunLife office building area in London are serving as natural air filters, reduce noise pollution, increase local biodiversity and lessen the intensity of urban heat island effects.
Choosing the Right Wall or Structure
When planning a vertical garden, choosing the proper structure or wall is key to starting, because no matter what type of plants you will grow – be it herbs (basil, mint, thyme), leafy greens and vegetables (strawberries, black-eyed Susan vines, cucumbers) – it will need to support their needs as well as accommodate light levels.
So if you want something more effortless, try making or buying a planter box or trellis. Just about any material can be turned into a planter – wooden pallets, in particular, make great ones. Just prop one on its side, hammer some wooden slats into its horizontal gaps, and bingo! Boxes can be added to any under-window vertical herb garden, while daisies or posies are good as trellises. Even an old bath can become the foundational element of an edible garden!
Provided that there are adequate growing conditions and that the needs of each plant – such as light, water and growth habit – are considered in your vertical garden design, most plants thrive in such environments. For example, while shade-loving ferns and hostas do well in deep shade, sun-loving plants such as petunias or marigolds will die in deep shade and should be planted in full sun.
Embracing Unconventional Locations
The increasing number of people living in central urban areas is giving rise to one common gardening problem: lack of garden space, as many apartments owned properties do not have gardens. Vertical gardens make good use of the walls inside a home or office and provide a creative way to grow plants.
(For instance, growing herbs, flowers and even small vegetables in the slats of a wooden pallet; or using discarded drainpipes, troughs or apple crates as a DIY hanging garden or trellis trellis system.)
Look for plants that can trail and cascade, such as clematis, roses or jasmine. Pole beans, wigwam runner beans, climber cucumbers and melons all do well, if space permits, given something to train against. Meanwhile, flowering vines such as nasturtiums or ivy can be trained to thicken up a plain painted wall, adding a little colour and texture to the mix. Fern or other herbaceous species would work equally well.
Choosing the Right Plants
It is important to choose the right kind of plants for a vertical garden, and certain types are more suitable than others. Ivy or creeping fig are good choices for hanging planters, as both enjoy cascading down. Similarly, herbs with small root systems suit wall-mounted pots. Vegetables and fruits also grow well in this kind of vertical garden.
Each plant also requires a different level of lighting. shade-tolerant plants such as ferns can live under limited sunlight, but sun-lovers such as petunias need full sun.
Many plants offer beautiful foliage, providing contrast and colour in a vertical garden. Terra cotta corkscrew colocasia (colocasia esculenta ‘Helliconia’) erupts with vibrant new leaves, as do the begonia dracopelta’s green leaves with dramatic red veins and the variegated leaves of the rare philodendron pink princess marble.
Implementing Effective Maintenance
Proper care measures are key for the success of a vertical garden; plants require artificial light to grow indoors, and gardens should always be kept as humid as possible in order to deter pest growth.
Watering is the final C factor for vertical garden care. As mentioned above, in many ways vertical gardens imitate the canopy conditions of the forest. One important aspect of this is replicating the natural flow of rain through the canopy – which of course means that soil and plants need regular irrigation in order to remain suitably moist.
Thus it makes sense to pre-grow plants before moving them into a wall garden. This eases the plants’ transition into their new environment – which becomes particularly critical when you are moving more delicate herbs, vegetables and flowers to the outdoors over time. It may do the same for plants sensitive to environmental changes – such as some species of cacti and succulents.