For my birthday I committed to build my first living wall. I have specified several living walls in the last few years for their lush beauty they bring to a space. This wall is special in a few ways, it is an exterior freestanding living wall in a rainforest environment and situated in the path of a breeze way. The eventual plan is to continue the wall in two more sections to the right and also have planting on both sides. Materials and sizes were increased to compensate for these challenges.
instructions :
FOUNDATION: Earth was removed and a form was created to pour two 24" deep concrete bases. A standoff column base was added into the concrete so the wood posts would never sit in water, the exposed portion of the metal brace was sprayed with rustolium.
FRAME: All wood pieces are primed and painted with the first coat of black before assembly. The wood frame was assembled with douglas fir wood (sizes listed below). The larger deck screws were used along with angle brackets and T-shaped brackets at each of the connections. The smaller deck screws attach the horizontal rails, then the entire frame was painted with the second coat of black.
FABRIC: Weed control landscaping fabric is stapled on to the frame to create pockets for plants. It is easiest to start at the top and let the roll rest on the ground. Because the eventual plan is to have plants on both sides 10" of fabric was used for the pockets. To catch the soil on either end of the pocket 4" of extra fabric was left on each side.
PLANTING: The location of each plant species on your wall should be determined by drainage and sun needs. Soil was all reused from old pots and mixed with the plants current soil. Orchids were wrapped in additional weed control fabric for easy mobility, as they will be brought inside when blooming. This wall took about 200 plants in 4" containers to fill.
FRAME: All wood pieces are primed and painted with the first coat of black before assembly. The wood frame was assembled with douglas fir wood (sizes listed below). The larger deck screws were used along with angle brackets and T-shaped brackets at each of the connections. The smaller deck screws attach the horizontal rails, then the entire frame was painted with the second coat of black.
FABRIC: Weed control landscaping fabric is stapled on to the frame to create pockets for plants. It is easiest to start at the top and let the roll rest on the ground. Because the eventual plan is to have plants on both sides 10" of fabric was used for the pockets. To catch the soil on either end of the pocket 4" of extra fabric was left on each side.
PLANTING: The location of each plant species on your wall should be determined by drainage and sun needs. Soil was all reused from old pots and mixed with the plants current soil. Orchids were wrapped in additional weed control fabric for easy mobility, as they will be brought inside when blooming. This wall took about 200 plants in 4" containers to fill.
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