Building a green wall offers many benefits, creating a natural green space and contributing to a more unique house design. So, what are the advantages and disadvantages of such vertical gardens? What should be considered when designing and constructing urban wall gardens? Read through the article and check out some of the top beautiful and impressive vertical garden designs!
What is an Urban Wall Garden?
An urban wall garden is a wall structure covered by a living plant panel (either whole or partial) planted vertically (minigarden Vertical) with an integrated irrigation and soil system to help the plants live and grow sustainably. Vertical green walls can be placed anywhere in the architecture of a house. Urban wall gardens come in two types:
Indoor Green Walls: constructed on interior walls to create artistic green spaces or building actual green walls in hallways, corridors, or covered areas.
Outdoor Green Walls: constructed on outdoor areas such as balconies, rooftops, gardens, walls around the house, or walls beside gates…
In addition to residential spaces, green walls are also widely used in office architecture, buildings, coffee shops, stores, parks, or shopping centers, creating unique and attractive destinations that enhance the connection between people and nature.
Great Benefits of Urban Wall Gardens
Green walls or beautiful vertical gardens in garden design and construction are becoming a popular living trend chosen by many city dwellers. Green walls offer numerous architectural benefits and advantages for people.
Creates Artistic Landscapes: Green walls are miniature landscapes designed to create artistic green spaces that match the theme and setting, whether indoors or outdoors. For homes, a beautifully designed vertical garden makes the house more special, reflecting the personality and ideas of the homeowner. For public spaces like coffee shops or shopping centers, they make the space more impressive and attract customers.
Saves Space – Time – Cost: In densely populated areas with small, expensive land, building vertical green walls is an optimal solution. With limited space, one can still have a beautiful, cool green garden. Automatic irrigation systems save time and effort in fertilizing. Additionally, green spaces create a spacious, naturally cool environment that helps reduce electricity costs.
Air Purification: Plants help convert CO2 into O2, which is beneficial for health, improves lung function, and prevents illnesses such as allergic rhinitis from dust…
Enhances Mental Well-being: Connecting with nature helps to relax the mind, reduce stress from daily work pressure. The freshness and natural fragrance from plants are considered a form of mental therapy that helps alleviate stress or negative thoughts.
Home Vegetable Garden: You can replace green plants with a clean vegetable system according to the homeowner’s idea, meeting both the green space requirement and personal preferences and needs.
Noise Reduction: Green walls also have the ability to filter out noise pollution, blocking out noise very effectively.
Environmental Protection: Planting trees not only enhances the quality of life but also contributes to environmental protection, reducing pollution and greenhouse effects.
Feng Shui: Vertical gardens built with plants suitable for the homeowner’s Feng Shui bring prosperity, luck, and wealth. Green spaces not only block negative energy (dust, polluted air) but also create positive energy for the family.
Disadvantages of Urban Wall Gardens
Don’t cover all the high corners of the house with greenery. Since the view from inside the house is higher and wider, ensure a greener, more colorful view. Consider the spacing of the green wall, and note that a 100% automated drip irrigation system consumes quite a lot of water…
Considerations When Designing and Constructing Wall Gardens
Unlike traditional gardens, designing a beautiful urban wall garden requires the following basic steps:
Determine Location & Space and Overall Architecture
Constructing vertical green walls depends on the area, the design of the house or outdoor garden, the location of surrounding elements, and must harmonize with the overall architectural space, Feng Shui, and family preferences.
Light Direction is also Extremely Important.
For indoor locations, vertical gardens can be placed in the main lobby, living room, or empty spaces on staircases. For outdoor locations, green walls can be placed on balconies, rooftops, or walls combined with gates…
Develop Design Ideas for the Wall Garden
Ideas are extremely important and play a crucial role from the beginning to the completion of the project. Besides the idea content, attention should be paid to factors such as material costs, labor, and completion time to ensure the best fit.
Required Materials and Equipment
Green walls are created from fabric pockets or plastic frames with plants (commonly referred to as modules). Fabric pockets are cheaper but have a shorter lifespan, while plastic modules are more expensive but have a much longer lifespan. The vertical garden module system requires main materials and equipment such as plants, support frames, and irrigation systems.
Selecting the Most Suitable Greenery
Greenery is an essential material for a vertical garden. It is important to choose plants that are suitable for the construction location, easy to grow, and have good air-purifying capabilities. Some suitable plants for constructing a vertical garden include:
- Pothos: Varieties like golden pothos, devil’s ivy, and other climbing types are excellent for air purification, easy to grow, and do not require frequent fertilization.
- Fern: Good at purifying air, easy to grow, requires minimal care, and thrives well.
- Aglaonema: Beautiful colors, easy to grow, healthy, and low maintenance. This plant helps create a green and striking landscape.
- Peace Lily: Prefers shaded areas, making it suitable for vertical gardens in homes. It absorbs dust and toxic gases from household appliances.
- Anthurium: Thrives in low light, requires infrequent watering, easy to grow, and long-lasting, making it a popular choice.
- Silver Pothos: Grows well and purifies air effectively, suitable for indoor or outdoor planting.
- Marble Queen: Marble Queen creates beautiful green carpets. It tolerates shade but is best for vertical gardens in areas protected from direct sunlight.
- Peacock Plant: Attractive plant with various color options, ideal for interior landscapes or garden settings.
- Ivy: Suitable for outdoor garden design where there is direct sunlight. Ivy helps purify the air, especially in areas with high cigarette smoke.
Supporting Frame System
The support system for vertical gardens includes: Plastic frames measuring 5.2m x 0.2m each, with 3 pockets for inserting 3 plastic pots. Supports and connectors (between modules and supports and between supports) and screws. Next are the plastic pots for planting, sized 19cm x 20cm. The weight without plants is 0.26kg, with plants is 1.5 – 2kg. The density is about 30 pots per square meter.
Automatic Irrigation and Water Supply System
Since it is a vertical garden, an automatic irrigation system is integrated to ensure the plants’ survival and save maximum time and effort for the caretaker. The irrigation system uses a drip method with preset times, and a scientific recirculating flow helps conserve water and provide adequate moisture according to the needs of each selected plant.
Lighting System
In addition to constructing the vertical garden in the right light direction, installing a lighting system also benefits the plants by maintaining their growth: LED lights can aid photosynthesis, sustain life, and increase the aesthetic appeal of both indoor and outdoor vertical gardens. There are many types of lights for vertical gardens such as spotlights, lanterns, etc., with various designs and styles suitable for the homeowner’s preferences and needs. Lights range from 2700K to 6000K with fixed spectral wavelengths suitable for sustaining plant life, and multiple spectral wavelengths to stimulate plant growth.
Maintenance and Care Guide for Vertical Gardens
After construction, vertical gardens require ongoing care to maintain their beauty and lushness. Thanks to modern technology and automation, vertical gardens need less maintenance compared to traditional gardens. However, there are some points to consider to keep the green wall in its best condition.
The power supply for the lighting and irrigation systems must be stable. In case of power outages or machinery malfunctions lasting more than 2 days, hand watering with a sprayer is needed to provide sufficient water for the plants.
Provide nutrients to the plants through the soil every 6 months or when signs of disease appear, such as yellowing leaves, brown spots, small leaves, or sparse growth. Fertilizers can be applied directly to the soil or mixed into the irrigation system.
Trim yellowing leaves, overgrown branches, or replace wilted plants to ensure a uniform appearance for the vertical garden.
Designing a beautiful green wall is not only simple and affordable but also perfectly suited for decorating both interior and exterior spaces of your home. The model includes plastic frames, pots, and greenery, which are core components creating the unique character of the model.
With the advantage of being applicable in various locations, from decorating garden walls to fences around villas to indoor partitions. Vertical gardens offer a complete solution for urban homes lacking green space or sunlight. The greenery of plants and fruits can be found even in the smallest alleys of your home. Let Tây Âu Landscape help design a beautiful and functional vertical garden for your home.
