Jungle Wall: Vertical Garden

This is how me and my friend made an awesome plant wall we call The Green Monster. The costs aren't too bad and the finished result is certainly a big improvement to the room. The plants have air purifying qualities and are generally pretty sweet. We made maintenance/watering ultra easy with french cleat mounts for planters and an ultra simple automated drip watering system. This project doesn't involve that many tools or too much knowledge so we thought we would share so other people could get a little bit of wilderness in their home. Enjoy!

Materials:

Boards- Home depot purchased ply

Screws- we used 3" gold screws

Paint- Primer and a grey

Planters - We used pot with French cleat http://www.woollypocket.com/living-walls

Bag soil- https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FK010Y/ref=...

Bag of Perolite- https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FK010Y/ref=...

Soilless media- https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FK010Y/ref=...

Water hose/drip system:

Much of our system was purchased at https://www.dripdepot.com/

Including a PSI Pressure Regulator, tubing/drip system, and a automated timer. It is worth noting you can get simple automation for very little money and without a lot of need for complexity. We bought ours from home depot (see the watering section for a photo). it was originally intended for lawn sprinklers

We closed off the ends of our tubing with:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FK010Y/ref=o...

Tools:

Screw gun (drill or driver works)

Spirit Level

Tape measure

Pencil- for marking and remarking

Stud finder- for all those looking for wood

Patience

Variety is the spice of life. Plants were chosen for their variety of leaf shapes and air purifying quality. The plants chosen also incredibly tenacious. You want something that isn't too needy or water heavy.

Plant varieties included/examined:

http://leedyinteriors.com/10-houseplants-that-dont...

Plants of note:

http://houseplants.wikia.com/wiki/Monstera_delici...

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/cacti-...

http://www.houseplantsguru.com/sensitive-plant-mi...

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/cacti-...

Oh, popcorn can be made straight from the cob also. Isn't that cool?

Our pots used french cleats which had spacing guidelines. You could of course make your own with a table saw but off the shelf was nice for our level of skill/motivation.

We looked at planters per row and the general benefits of a living wall

http://www.ambius.com/blog/ultimate-guide-to-livi...

http://livewall.com/vertical-garden-that-works/

Our actual process:

Got nice smooth plywood (home depot pre cut/they will cut it for you with a panel saw if you want)

Primed it with white paint

Covered in color matched marquee paint and will prevent mold and stuff

Placed spacing marks for planters

Mounted cleats

We did a test mounting of the planters and watering system before we screwed to the wall. It is always good to test before installing something large and heavy. You really want the french cleats to sit robustly since there will be a large mess if a planter falls. The spacing and alignment of the planters is really key. We used a laser level to make sure everything was space consistently.

Mark your studs!!!!!

A certain someone was not adept with the stud finder and drilled at spots that were not on the studs. You will experience resistance when screwing through. You do not want this falling down. More screws are your friend. This is a lot of load to put on a wall. Also consider backing the board with plastic sheeting to prevent water transfer. Once everything is on. Start mounting planters. You will want to mount planters and place drip system simultaneously as it will be difficult among foliage if you don't do from the start.

As mentioned in the previous step you need to place the drip system concurrently with the plants as you go. We screwed the main feed line onto the boards with a set of brackets and then unrolled the water line to the spigot. We ultimately put the system on a basic electromechanical timer for every 4 days. Only do this once you have confirmed you don't have any leaks. These basic automated spigot systems can be found at most hardware stores. They are often used as sprinkler timers. Systems are fairly plug and play. I know people do all kinds of fancy automation but something cheap hat just works is great.

The room was much easier to breath in a week after the install. The plants are very happy and it really gives visual texture to the space.

The nice thing about a project like this is that it can really be done fairly easily in a weekend if you buy all the materials in advance. You can obviously vary the dimensions and hardware based on your size needs and your specific plants. We hope you enjoyed our instructable and maybe you will now go build your own. Have a wonderful day!