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How to create your own living wall
Inspiration

How to create your own living wall

Posted by Adam Chard in Inspiration | 5 years ago 5 min read

Want to bring a touch of greenery to your bathroom or just about any other room in your home? In this article, with step-by-step instructions and video, we’ll show you how easy it is to make your own living wall vertical garden.

As interior design ideas go, this one is a little “off the wall”, or do we mean “on the wall”? With tropical bathrooms being massively on-trend this year, indoor plants are in massive demand.

In our tropical bathroom style guide, we briefly touched upon the idea of a "living wall" and you may well be wondering just what this is, or maybe you simply want to know how to make one?

Luckily for you, we've answered both of these questions below and even had a crack at making our very own living wall. Take a look at the video below to find out how we achieved it.


How to create a living wall step-by-step video



You will need

  • 4 x 10mm thick lengths of wood (choose your own length)
  • 4 x 15mm thick lengths of wood (choose your own length)
  • Sheet of plywood (to cover the back)
  • Wood screws
  • Staple gun
  • Hammer
  • Nails
  • Wood glue
  • Power drill
  • Heavy duty bin bags
  • Potting soil
  • Plants that will need a similar amount of water and sunlight (see our bathroom plant ideas)

Here’s how to create a living wall

  1. Pre-drill the holes that will connect your frame. This will make it much easier to get your wood screws in.

  2. With the frame complete, add the plywood to the back using wood glue. Then, strengthen with nails for a secure finish.

  3. Cut the bin liners to size.

  4. Flip the frame over and lay down the bin liners, making sure you leave enough to cover the entire frame.

  5. Take the staple gun and secure the bin liner in place up and down the sides of the frame.

  6. Take the first of the shelves and use this as a lip at the bottom to keep all your soil inside the frame.

  7. Fit the other shelves angled upwards and fix into place using nails.

  8. Add a layer of potting soil to the shelves and trim the bin liners back to expose the wood.

  9. Now, add the plants. We suggest mixing colours and textures to really get creative with your arrangement. We have listed the plants we used below.

  10. Settle for a week on a flat surface, before mounting on the wall of your choice.

Congratulations, you’ve now completed your living wall.

It’s worth noting that your living wall can be any size you like. Although, you will need to ensure your wall can take the load.

We used the following plants:

  • Carex Evergold
  • Garden Fern
  • Lavandula Angustifolia
  • Lavandula Stoechas
  • Miscanthus Gracillimus
  • Rosemary

Step-by-step images

Step 1

Screwing the frame together.

Screwing the frame together

Step 2

Adding the plywood backing.

Adding the plywood backing

Step 3

Cutting the bin liners to size.

Cutting the bin liners to size

Step 4

Laying down the bin liners.

Laying down the bin liners

Step 5

Securing the bin liner to the sides of the frame.

Securing the bin liner

Step 6

Fitting the shelves.

Fitting the shelves

Step 7

Adding a layer of soil.

Adding a layer of soil

Step 8

Adding the plants.

Adding the plants

Step 9

Allowing to settle on a flat surface for a week

Allowing to settle


What is a living wall?

With a blurring of boundaries between indoors and outdoors living, we're starting to see many design ideas that were typically used in the garden or patio, being replicated in our interiors.

A living wall in a bathroom

An outdoors living wall (also known as a green wall) is nothing new. In fact, many of the quaint cottages you'll see in and around the countryside have walls with plants covering the brickwork. Even modern homes may have a smattering of greenery creeping up the side of the building. The only difference with the living wall which we're talking about is that it is indoors and consists of carefully planned and planted shrubs and flowers.


The benefits of a living wall

The benefits of having plenty of plant life within your home cannot be understated. Plants improve the air quality in your home by filtering out some of the harmful pollutants and help regulate the moisture content in the air. Studies show that people feel happier and are more productive in their homes when plant life is present.

A living wall is a creative way to introduce shrubs to any room in your home, especially where space is at a premium.


Create a Tropical bathroom

If you've been inspired to exercise those green fingers and create your very own living wall, why not check out our Tropical bathroom style guide? You'll discover which products, textures and colours work well with your wall.

Tropical bathroom ideas


More bathroom plant ideas

Discover more ways to add greenery to your bathroom with these articles:

Author, Adam Chard

Posted by Adam Chard in Inspiration | 5 years ago

A born & raised West Countryman, now living on the Yorkshire Coast, for over 10 years Adam has been bringing home interior ideas to life at Victoria Plum. Adam’s favourite interior styles have been shaped by both urban and natural influences.

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