15 Vertical Garden Ideas, From Living Walls to Botanical Libraries

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Not only do they look striking—as proven by the 15 vertical garden ideas below—living walls can actually make you healthier, both physically and mentally. Research has shown that air-purifying green walls in office spaces have improved workers’ skin quality and boosted immune systems. Additionally, exposure to plants has a calming effect, which is why you see so many living walls in meditation studios and spas. Upright planting has its perks from a design perspective too. “Vertical gardens are excellent for small spaces, especially in urban areas like New York City,” says Adam Baron of Folia Gardens in Brooklyn, New York. “They can add shade and privacy, bring life, color, and volume to a space, and soften or highlight architectural features.”

For more on why vertical gardening is a good idea, we reached out to design pros for tips and inspiration.

What are the benefits of a vertical garden?

Todd Haiman of Todd Haiman Landscape Design in New York City says, “Vertical gardens can be wonderful and appealing opportunities for homeowners with restricted backyard space. They have the power to capture the imagination, they defy gravity, they link us with older civilizations, and, most importantly, create aesthetic appeal where it was formerly absent.” Haiman adds that vertical gardens can be especially useful in hiding unattractive views and creating a focal point in a small garden design.

What plants should be in a vertical garden?

Haiman says, “Choosing plants always comes down to the age-old axiom—right plant, right place. The ideal plant is predicated upon factors, like (micro)climate, light, moisture, soil, and wind conditions. Vines and trailing plants are typical choices. Beyond the common choice of ivy on a wall, with the proper light, climbing roses can be magnificent.” Other flowering climbers include jasmine, morning glory, black-eyed Susan vine, moonflower, and clematis.

As for indoor vertical gardens, succulents and moss are a natural choice for living walls, whereas English ivy, Boston fern, pothos, and philodendron are go-tos for hanging planters. If you’re arranging planters on shelving, monstera, peace lily, anthurium, and aloe vera are all top-notch houseplants that even a gardening novice can keep alive.

Can I grow a vertical veggie garden?

Vertical veggie gardens are not only possible, they fuel entire restaurants. Just ask Nick Runkle, the farm director at Stanly Ranch, Auberge Resorts Collection in Napa Valley, California. “Vertical gardening allows you to produce more food per square foot compared to traditional methods, making it ideal if you have limited growing space,” he says. “Additionally, vertical growth improves airflow, leading to healthier plants and reducing the need for pesticides and fungicides.” Runkle recommends opting for climbing varieties like pole beans, peas, cucumbers, tomatoes, and specific types of squash. Then, make sure that your supports are sturdy enough to handle the full weight of mature plants. “Healthy tomatoes and cucumber plants can become very large and heavy,” he adds. Indoors, hydroponic garden towers are all the rage and can grow herbs, lettuce, and peppers, even in winter.

Can I DIY a vertical planter?

Get crafty and repurpose old materials to provide plant support. “One creative approach to building a vertical garden is repurposing an old picture frame by attaching a small wooden box to the back,” says Sam Niemann of the Chicago–based landscape design firm Grown by Design. “Other innovative ideas include using thrift-store finds that can hold soil and be hung, stacking pots on a stake through their drainage holes, repurposing pallets, or mounting gutters on walls.”

How do I care for a vertical garden?

“The keys to a successful vertical garden is having enough growing media for the plants, and making sure that they can be watered efficiently and that the soil does not dry out quickly,” says Haiman. “Watering using timed irrigation systems is critical to the success of the garden. Simple systems can be set up by DIY homeowners.” One place to look is DripWorks, which sells easy-to-install irrigation kits for both indoor and outdoor gardens.

Grow a vine wall

Vines and vertical gardens are a natural match. Climbing plants easily defy gravity and can take on the shape of a trellis, arbor, or wall. “At Folia, we like to use stainless steel wire cabling systems in various patterns and designs for training and growing vine walls,” says Baron. “They are clean and modern looking, yet allow the flexibility to get really creative with designs and spaces. Home gardeners can experiment with using cables, mesh, or even fencing to create a support structure.” Baron adds that it’s important to make sure your support is weather resistant—if using metal, go for galvanized or stainless steel—and that the structure is appropriate for the type of plants you use.

Plant for privacy

A top task for vertical gardens—especially on balconies in urban environments—is to create privacy. An added bonus: They also bring shade. Folia Gardens created the privacy screen shown here with ivy. “Here in New York City, we love to use climbing ivies—they thrive in urban environments and bring a classic look to many projects,” says Baron. “They also don’t require incorporation of growing substrates on the walls themselves, since they can be rooted in planters or soil at ground level.”

Give your living room a living wall

Don’t just paint your wall green. Infuse actual greenery into your interior design for a fresh feel. Wall-mounted planters can be purchased from Target, Home Depot, Amazon, or Etsy and usually contain smaller pockets for individual plants. As the greenery grows, the individual pockets become obscured and the piece takes on the look of a living wall. Choose a mix of ivy and grasses for variation in color, texture, and dimension, or go with succulents for low-maintenance watering. If you’re worried about a lack of natural light, moss is also a great option.

Use plants as a partition

Similar to using a wall garden for privacy in an outdoor space, you can use it as a room divider indoors, as seen in this home by Kim Gordon Designs. For example, shelving with potted plants could separate a dining room from the kitchen, or hanging planters with draping vines could mark off a study nook within a larger bedroom.

Flaunt foliage on floating shelves

If you don’t want to mount your indoor vertical garden, arranging potted plants on floating shelves is another option. This way, you’ll get the flexibility of swapping plants in and out as well as the opportunity to show off pretty pottery. Though watering does become a bit more labor intensive as you’ll have to angle your watering can toward a dozen individual pots. That is, however, unless you create the irrigation system shown above, with striking copper piping running between the shelves and small spigots strategically placed above plants.

Hide unsightly views

“A trellis or lattice panel can mask unsightly views,” says Haiman, who designed the garden above. Here, jasmine grows up a lattice grid to cover a mechanical system on a condo rooftop in NYC. Not only is jasmine a strong climber, it’s also a fragrant flower that’ll add a sweet aroma to your vertical planting.

Create Japanese moss balls

Can’t pick between a wall-mounted planter or a standalone system? Here’s another option: Skip the planter altogether. These plants appear to be magically floating in space, not only defying gravity but also horticultural rules about vegetation needing soil. They’re actually self-contained botanical balls, created using a Japanese gardening practice called kokedama. The practice involves packing a plant’s soil into a sphere, then covering it with moss. Each ball is then hung with clear wire to create the floating effect.

Build a botanical library

Literary titles and tchotchkes from your travels aren’t the only items that can fill a bookcase. Place vegetation—everything from agave to zebra plant—on your shelves and build a botanical library, as seen in this project by Kim Gordon. For houseplants that do exceptionally well in low light, consider snake plant, pothos, philodendron, and peace lily.

Decorate your deck

Keep the floor space clear on your patio or deck and instead mount a wooden wall planter for a rustic outdoor aesthetic. Creeping Jenny, coleus, petunias, and impatiens are all happy in a container with full to partial shade. Or, go for a vertical herb garden, especially if your planter is near an outdoor kitchen or dining area. Growing fresh herbs like mint, cilantro, parsley, and oregano will up both your culinary and gardening games.

Install a metal trellis

A basic trellis gives you options. Hook hanging planters, string moss balls, or balance air plants from the rungs. The metal grid aesthetic is much more modern than a classic pergola or rustic wooden planter.

Go for a renter-friendly garden

Whether you’re in a temporary dwelling or looking for low-maintenance vertical garden ideas, a free-standing unit is a solid option. A garden tower like the one shown here has hooks for hanging pots, planter boxes, and even a potting workspace.

Invest in indoor planter boxes

Take a cue from patio gardens and create an indoor display with planter boxes stacked vertically. This idea works well with an entryway as a bridge of sorts between interior and exterior spaces. These raised garden beds could also serve as a room divider for a larger space.

Make a mini statement

“For vertical gardens, I recommend choosing plants that are vining or remain small,” says Niemann. Small is precisely the name of the game with this more compact vertical planter and mini vines. Keeping with the theme, Niemann adds that regular small-scale maintenance is the key to maintaining a green wall. “Replacing one or two plants at a time is much easier than doing a major overhaul,” he says. “Watering can be challenging with vertical gardens, as they tend to dry out faster and require more frequent watering than other types of gardens.”

Incorporate greenery into a chandelier

Green walls are one thing—a green ceiling is another. Use Leonie, the rooftop restaurant at Hôtel Swexan in Dallas as inspiration for growing a totally unique vertical garden. “Windows fully surround the restaurant, and the space is layered with tropical plants, chandeliers dripping with greenery, birds hanging from the skylight, and the furniture and color palette is green, open, and airy,” says Melinda Clark, Hôtel Swexan’s interior designer.

Top off your garden

When thinking through vertical garden ideas, adding greenery overhead also applies to outdoor spaces. “At Folia, when we think of vertical gardens, we also think about what happens at the top of the garden,” says Baron. “We often extend our vertical installations with pergolas to provide additional structure for plants to climb and help enclose a space with privacy and shade. Wisteria or clematis are wonderful plants for pergolas, bringing fragrance, pollinators, and a little bit of magic to a space.”

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

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