Do it Yourself Greenwall

Plant Wall DIY

Nori from Nori’s Stuff has a green wall going that she built herself. She used heavily oiled and waxed plywood as the backerboard and used a piece of PVC pipe to catch the water to pour it into a bucket. Then a pump pumps the water from the bucket back up to the top through some tubing underneath flooring felt that’s attached to the backerboard. The tubing has holes in it which lets it slowly drip water out into the felt and through the plants.

You can read the detailed construction post for the vertical garden here and she has more updates on her living wall on her blog.

She now even started seeds through this wall. That’s great for those DIYers looking to make a vertical garden on a budget so you can save on some plant costs. Just by having a pocket of dirt in the flooring felt, you can plant your seeds and watch your wall grow.

Below are the basic construction steps Nori took to make her green wall:

Start with a PVC pipe running along the bottom of the planter as a water catcher. Cut a 1/4″ slot in the top to hold the water and cap one end of the pipe with a PVC cap.
Wax or oil the plywood HEAVILY on the side you will be stapling the felt to. I ironed a wax and oil combo into the wood until it wouldn’t take any more.
Place the felt over the plywood and staple it on, running a row of staples around the edges at 3″ apart. Do NOT wrap the felt to the back. You can run the tubing from the pump under the felt.
Trim the felt leaving a bit of an overhang at the sides and a bit more of an overhang at the bottom.
Place the wall felt side down with the bottom side extending off the edge of the table. Slide the poly pipe onto the bottom edge and mark the screw hole locations on the poly pipe. These will need to be drilled at an angle so the screws can go straight into the wood. Make sure the plugged end is at the shorter end of the wall.
Screw the poly pipe to the bottom of the wall. The idea is to have the poly pipe hang with the slot level front to back and slanted toward the drain end.
Cut a piece of the 3/8″ tubing 1″ longer than the top of the garden wall.
Poke small holes in the tube so water will leak out gradually and water the plants
Lightly lubricate (I used olive oil) the ends of the tubing. Insert the plug in one end and the elbow in the other. Be mindful of where the row of holes is in relation to the elbow. You want the water to come out of the tubing and go into the felt. Don’t point the holes straight down. When looking at the end, the holes should be at 5 o’clock, pointing down and toward the front for going into the felt.
Connect the supply tubing to the elbow.
Run the tubing between the felt and the backer board and fasten it in place.
Run the pump end of the tubing down the side of the plant wall and into the slot in the poly pipe, then out the drain end of the pipe. This will help hold the supply tubing in place.
Connect the pump.
Hang your garden and put the pump in the water and turn it on.
Cut slits in the felt for the plants.
Put enough staples in around the plant to secure it, but no extra as you want to ensure roots have room to grow.