WALL GARDENS: A FOREVER OLD IDEA FOR GARDENING IN SMALL SPACES

By Bobbie Mason Texas Garden Clubs, Inc. Trustee Ovilia Garden Club, Dallas

You can put wall gardens on the smallest of quaint areas – fences, whole walls and roofs. Each person is only limited by his imagination: A ship with a United States Shaped Wall Garden, A United States Flag, balconies in New Orleans have many beautiful areas that are small, European Cottages have beautiful walls completely covered.

One side of my home has Virginia Creeper folding around to the front walls with beautiful morning glories from my great grandmother. A copper metal picture frame hangs on a west wall with succulents and sedums. Because it is a wooden wall, my husband put a Plexiglas barrier on the back. Wire hanging baskets cut in half make planters for a deeper plant pocket. Also useful: baling wire from hay for horses. Be very careful when making wall gardens choose plants that have the same water and sun requirements.

The Ovilia Garden Club’s Living Wall (pictured above) on the mental health patio at the Dallas Health South Veteran’s Hospital, brings much joy to the patrons. It measures 10′ x 20′, incorporating 160 eight-inch planters. We provide about twenty flats of four-inch plants according to the season.

Everything is organic. Water is provided by a ten-gallon sprayer on wheels. Watch out for hoses with lead, for animals as well as people. Keeping a wall garden within your imagination is the key to success. If you like orchids, air plats, ferns, succulents and sedum, cactus, trailing ivy or water plants, you only need to consider your location and decorating design preference when choosing your containers. You can plant almost any container with something you love.