Vertical Wall Garden

Hey All

I decided to build a Vertical Wall Garden @ my apartment.

The sight of green and plenty of plants around you can give you quite a good feeling.

*It purifies the air (plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen )

*Improves overall health and sharpening focus (A study at The Royal College of Agriculture in Circencester, England, found that students demonstrate 70% greater attentiveness when they're taught in rooms containing plants )

and it`s like bringing the outdoors indoors

So, after filling my apt` with a whole bunch of plants - the next step would be to build a DIY Vertical Wall Garden

Hope you enjoy this instructable

Ply Wood

I bought a 1.5 x 1.5 ply wood.

I sawed the needed pieces for the sides

Each angle is --> 24 X 20 X 24 cm. ( in thickness of 2cm )

I glued them all to the sides of the board, and added extra strength using screws ( 4cm length )

Add Wood Ribons

The shelves that i made came out a bit short - and I needed deeper depth for the pots, so i added a wood liner beneath in order to extend the size of the pots.

I applied glue and strengthen it with screws

Attach to Wall #1

I had a 2 books shelves on the wall that i intended to mount the Vertical Wall Garden

So that had to be cleared. - 10 min and all was cleared

After removing the shelves, i measured the overall size of the structure and started drilling holes in the wall

I used 14 screws in 12 cm length and 0.8 diameter in size. + screw anchors that fit the size of the screws

The neighbors hate me for the noise i`m giving them ;)

Attach to Wall #2

I mounted all needed screws and the first step of assembly has finished .

The structure is strong and well put on the wall. I made sure he can handle high weights ( since we have soil, plants, water, and of course the woods )

Mounting Pine Racks #1

Drill holes in Pine Racks.

Before inserting a screw, you need to drill a small hole in the wood in order to prevent it from cracking. ( leading holes)

So, using my Bosch bench drill i drilled accurate holes ( 3 holes on each side of the rack )

Mounting Pine Racks #2

So, the next step would be to mount the Pine Racks.

I measured the length needed and saw it using my miter saw.

The upper 4 shelves are 1.40m in length

The bottom 2 shelves are 1.10m in length.

Apply Silicone

In order to prevent water from draining threw the cracks, i applied Silicone between all board connections.

I user a special Silicone that can expend and face humidity and water.

If you want you can use the brand 'Selleys Wet Area SPEEDSEAL Silicone' - it`s super strong and durable

Apply Nylon

I added Bylon to the inner parts of the Pine Shelves in order to prevent water from absorbing in the wood

Attached it using a staple gun and a bit of Silicon

Paint With Base Color Before Skim Color Layer

In order to make sure the wood will hold it`s form and not deteriorate over time, i applied a thin layer of base color ( white ).

This will allow the upper paint ( Skim Layer ) that i will use to attach to the wood more easily.

Apply Skim Layer

The next step would be to apply the Skim Layer.

It will give it a final look of rigid \ Concrete looks

Drainage Holes

As per my understanding Drainage is very important.

If the plants will be absorbed with water at their roots they will rot and be dead very soon.

So i drilled 7cm holes at the bottom of each Ply Wood.

From the upper one it will drain to the one beneath and so on.

From the lower shelve, i will connect small hose into a small bottle to collect all excess water.

Filling the Soil + Perlite

Perlite is a form of amorphous volcanic glass, although it’s often confused by new gardeners as being some lightweight material like styrofoam. It’s occasionally called expanded pyrite and has the nickname “volcanic popcorn”, and I’ll get into why in the next segment. If you looked at a piece of horticultural perlite under a microscope, you would see that it’s quite porous. The cavities in perlite help store nutrients and some moisture that the plant might need, but drain excess water away. It is non-toxic, clean, disease-free, and extremely lightweight and easy to work with..

Perlite is often used in industrial settings as well as in the garden. It’s commonly mixed into such products as lightweight plasters, ceiling tiles, or masonry for stability or as an insulator. It’s also popular as a filtration agent, often used for filtering spent grain or other solids out of beer or in the biochemical industry. There’s many other uses, but to gardeners, it’s an essential ingredient in their garden.

So after a "short' explanation, i added it to the soil and mixed it

:)