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Plants for a living wall

Plants for a living wall

BBC Gardeners' World Magazine

Published: Friday, 5 July 2019 at 8:44 am

A living wall can transform a tired, vertical space. Discover which plants are suitable for a living or green wall, in our guide.

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Living walls can be planted with annuals, perennials, herbs or vegetables. Spring is a good time to plant, as young plants (ideally plugs) will establish readily and grow together.

The best living wall plantings focus on the texture, shape, form and colour of foliage as much as flowers, to provide year-round interest. Plants should be relatively compact – less than 50cm – or be able to take regular pruning.

Select perennials for year-round interest, or use bedding that you change with the seasons. Alternatively, go for edibles to get crops from a tight space. Choose shade-tolerant plants if your wall gets less than half a day of sun in midsummer. Water every day in hot weather and at least every other day throughout summer.

The plants in this display are Campanula carpatica 'Blaue Clips', Geum 'Mrs J. Bradshaw', Heuchera 'Melting Fire', Salvia nemorosa 'New Dimension' and scabious. They all cope with sun or partial shade.

Discover more beautiful (and some edible) plants to grow in a living wall.