How to bring your garden indoors as the seasons change.
Gardening doesn’t have to be seasonal.
Now that the days are shortening and the mornings have a frosty bite to them, many amateur gardeners hang up their sheers and kick off their clogs. Only the most dedicated plant lovers will keep on growing things as nature slowly falls asleep.
We have the answer for when you need to feel and smell dirt, but don’t want to venture out.
First of all, this is not about houseplants. We absolutely adore houseplants and we have written way too many articles about them, how to keep them, care for them, propagate etc. This time it’s something new. We are talking about going green and going vertical.
Not all walls are created equal (Not so green after all!)
Green walls are still a major trend in interior design, and it feels like you can’t enter a coffeeshop or doctor’s office without walking into a “living wall”. If, however, you are curious and pay attention to details, you’ll realise that many, if not most of these walls are in fact not living at all. Most “living walls” we are confronted with these days are pretty, yes, but ultimately fake. Silk and plastic artificial plants have improved so much that it can be hard to spot but take a closer look and you’ll see what we mean.
Can you grow a real, living, breathing green wall?
Yes! Any gardener worth her salt will be able to get some sort of green wall going inside their home. From there it’s up to you to tend and nurture it until it’s no longer just a wall but a horticultural showstopper.
Pots and planters.
Step one of getting your garden groove on indoors is to prepare your area. Most green walls will need sunlight and a growing medium. (Unless you are going for nothing but moss or air plants (Tillandsia). For a real green wall, you either need canvas or, felt planting bags, or some other kind of vertical planting material.
This Hive Planter is another way to get some green life up onto your walls without the commitment of a whole dirt-and-water situation.
You can curate your wall, but we have curated some of the best advice blogs and video’s we could find:
- This local nursery has gone to the trouble of creating a step by step guide for a DIY living wall plant installation
- For a beginner’s guide to DIY-ing your own vertical planter piece, this video is super informative.
- For a slightly bigger project, but something that is still completely do-able, this video is you answer.
- For a comprehensive guide on planning and executing a living wall, Country Living has got you covered!
Nothing worth having comes easy.
The whole idea of a real-life living wall is to allow you to keep on gardening even when the elements are driving you indoors. It is supposed to be a project – a labour of love. If you just want a green wall, buy some premade artificial plant tiles and glue them to a wall…otherwise, research, invest and nurture your living wall until it reaches pristine lushness.
The internet is full of striking images of so-called living walls but be careful not to be tricked. Curating a real wall with cuttings of all your favourite indoor plants can be a lifelong hobby and something that grows with you. The magic of a real living wall lies in the fact that it grows and breathes and is alive – so it won’t necessarily be a picture-perfect bit of plant life all year round…
A living wall is also a beautiful way to help the planet!
We have found some of our favourite real life living walls all around the world:
Patrick Blanc’s Greenwall in Paris
Universidad Del Claustro, Mexico City
