How I designed an easy diy outdoor living wall

Since it’s Memorial Day and the unofficial 1st day of summer today, I thought I’d share with you my latest outdoor DIY. I have to say I am delighted with how this one turned out. It’s my take (which means easy) on an outdoor living wall. I have wanted to add a living wall to an outdoor space forever, and I finally decided to go for it. I am sharing how I made it, why I choose the plants I did, and what I will do differently next year!

I decided to add the wall to our outdoor space at the Airbnb. Once I had chosen the space, I decided it would be fun for the guests to add the Giant Letter Board. I’ll share that portion of the DIY in an upcoming post.

The first thing I did was chose where it would go and how large I needed it. I knew I did not want something permanent. I wanted something we could change if we decide to sell the house.

This is the space I choose for the Living Wall.

We started with 2- 4 x 8 pieces of plywood that we cut 6 inches from, giving us a base of 7 ft x 8 ft.

We then secured them together with one strip of plywood from what we had cut off the original pieces to the back of the plywood to give it some additional support.

Once we had our base we built a frame around it. I wanted the plants to sit inside a frame. We secured with screws, 4- 2 x 4 x 8 pieces which we cut to size all along the outside.

Once the frame was completed, I stained the plywood with Minwax Early American stain and the frame with Minwax Ebony a black for some contrast. Then I used 3 coats of polyurethane to seal the entire piece for added protection against the elements.

Using Min Wax stain in Early American and Ebony.

Now it was time to add the vertical grow pockets. They are made of a heavy-grade felt material. I used these large vertical wall pockets for 4.5-inch plants. I mixed a variety of the 7 pocket version and 12 pocket version. I laid them out for spacing before we secured them.

Vertical Wall System/I like to visually lay things out.

We used screws to attach the grow pockets to the plywood

Once the vertical wall pockets were attached, it was time to plant. Since I was using 4-inch plants (which tend to dry out quickly I also used a product that I have success with in the past. Miracle Grow Water-Storing Crystals. These were very helpful with my patio containers last year, and I have my fingers crossed they save me some watering this year. When planting, mix in the crystals with the soil (I like to avoid the roots).

The plants I choose:

Moonbeam Coreopsis

Vinca Vine

Ajuga Bugleweed

Campanula (white)

Asparagus Fern

I choose these particular plants because they are drought tolerant and will thrive in full sun. This combined with the water storing crystals will help immensely with watering this summer.