Green Living Wall Kits

What Is a Living Wall?

A living wall is a vertical garden built from modular planters fixed to a wall or fence, so plants grow upward instead of outward. It uses no floor space, which is why living walls turn up in condos, offices, and small yards where a garden bed will not fit. The same thing gets called a green wall, a living green wall, a plant wall, or a vertical garden depending on who you ask.

How a Living Wall System Works

A living wall system is modular. Each kit is a set of planters that mount in rows, and you add sets until the wall covers the space you want. Nothing is plumbed in: you water the top row by hand and gravity carries it down through the rows below. That keeps a green wall system quick to put up and just as quick to take down again if you move.

Because the panels repeat, you can plan the wall in sections. Measure the space, work out how many rows fit, then order the sets to match. Starting with one section this year and extending it next year costs nothing extra, because the sets are the same.

Indoor Living Wall Kits

Indoors, a living wall does best on a bright wall away from heating vents. The 5 and 6 inch pots are the popular choice for an interior green wall: they hold enough soil for herbs and trailing plants without projecting far into the room. The 5 inch hanging pots suit narrow walls and stairwells, and come in sets of 10 or 20.

Outdoor Living Walls

The same kits mount to fences, garage walls, and balcony railings. Outdoors the 8 inch planters are usually the better pick, because the extra soil holds moisture through a hot afternoon and gives roots room for vegetables. An outdoor living wall system can start as one panel beside a door and run the length of a fence later.

Which Pot Size Should You Choose?

• 5 inch hanging pots, sets of 10 or 20. Small walls, fences, and narrow spaces.
• 5 or 6 inch pots, sets of 3, 5, 10 or 20. The most popular size, good for herbs and foliage indoors or out.
• 8 inch pots, sets of 3, 5 or 10. The largest, for vegetables, flowers, and anything that needs root depth.

What Plants Work in a Living Wall?

Herbs are the easiest place to start, and the most used: basil, thyme, mint and parsley all do well in 5 and 6 inch pots. Trailing plants such as pothos and ivy soften the edges of a panel indoors. On an outdoor wall in the GTA, favour plants that tolerate wind and direct sun, and put the thirstiest ones in the lower rows where water collects.

How to Water a Living Wall

Water the top row and let gravity carry it down. Upper pots dry out first because they drain into the ones below, so check the top before the bottom. An indoor wall usually wants water twice a week; an outdoor wall in July can need it daily. Our guide on how to build a living wall covers layout, mounting and drainage in more detail.

Living Wall Supplies You Will Also Need

The kit covers the planters and the hardware that holds them. Beyond that you need potting soil, the plants themselves, and something under the bottom row indoors to catch the occasional drip. We stock bagged soil and triple mix at the yard, so the soil can go in the same trip as the kit.

Living Wall Kits in Mississauga and Across Canada

See the kits in person at 6000 Ninth Line in Mississauga, or order online for shipping across Canada. If you are planning a larger wall, bring your measurements and we will work out how many sets it takes.

Living Wall Questions

What is the difference between a living wall and a green wall?

Nothing. Living wall, green wall and vertical garden all describe plants grown in a wall-mounted structure instead of in the ground. Green wall is used more often for offices and commercial installs, living wall more often for homes.

How much light does an indoor living wall need?

Bright indirect light suits most foliage plants. A wall set well back from a window generally needs either a grow light or low light plants such as pothos and philodendron.

Do living wall planters drip?

Water the pots directly rather than flooding the panel and there is very little runoff. Indoors, a tray or mat under the bottom row catches the occasional drip.

Can a living wall stay outside through an Ontario winter?

The plants are the limit rather than the planters. Herbs and annuals will not come through a GTA winter outdoors, so treat an outdoor wall as a spring to fall display and either move pots inside or replant in May.