Skip to content

Top Navigation

Midwest Living Midwest Living
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Home
  • Garden
  • Holidays & Entertaining
  • Videos
  • Sweeps and Contests

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Email Preferences
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout

More

  • Win Your Dream Getaway!
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Magazine Issues
  • Destinations
Login
Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Midwest Living

Midwest Living Midwest Living
  • Explore

    Explore

    • 40 Favorite Comfort Food Recipes

      Macaroni and cheese, Amish apple dumplings and chicken pot pie are among our Midwest comfort food favorites. Read More Next
    • 50 Romantic Midwest Getaways

      Romance, of course, can be wherever the two of you are. But wonderful surroundings help. We found some of the most romantic places anywhere in the Midwest—in the city and country. All you have to do is get away together! Read More Next
    • 50 Decadent Chocolate Dessert Recipes

      Chocolate lovers, these are for you: 50 of our best rich-and-gooey chocolate dessert recipes, including pie, pudding, cake, cookies, fondue and brownies. Read More Next
  • Travel

    Travel

    See All Travel

    50 Midwest Resorts We Love

    Our favorite Midwest resort destinations range from cozy lakeside lodges to indoor water park behemoths. Dive in to check out our top picks for a fabulous Midwest getaway.
    • Illinois
    • Indiana
    • Iowa
    • Kansas
    • Michigan
    • Minnesota
    • Missouri
    • Nebraska
    • North Dakota
    • Ohio
    • South Dakota
    • Wisconsin
    • Around the Region
    • Free Travel Info
  • Food

    Food

    See All Food

    Midwest Living November/December 2020 Recipes

    • Comfort Foods
    • Desserts & Baking
    • Breakfast
    • Quick & Easy
    • Chicken
    • Soups & Stews
    • Midwest Favorites
    • Fruits & Vegetables
    • Fish
    • Grilling
  • Home

    Home

    See All Home

    50 Quick and Easy Holiday Decorating Ideas

    Give your home holiday style in a flash with these simple yet creative decorating projects.
    • Quick Decorating
    • Featured Homes
    • Organizing & Storage
    • Outdoor Living
    • Seasonal Decorating
    • Room Decorating
  • Garden

    Garden

    See All Garden

    14 Cheerful Winter Container Gardens

    Create bountiful outdoor winter arrangements with a little help from Mother Nature.
    • Container Gardens
    • Flowers
    • Featured Gardens
    • Midwest Gardening Calendar
    • Garden Ideas & Inspiration
  • Holidays & Entertaining

    Holidays & Entertaining

    See All Holidays & Entertaining

    40 Easy Christmas Crafts

    Decorate your home, make a gift or create an ornament with our 40 ideas for fun and easy Christmas crafts.
    • Christmas
    • Valentine's Day
    • Easter
    • July 4th
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
  • Videos

    Videos

    See All Videos
    • How to Make an All-Butter Pie Crust
    • How to Make Pumpkin-Spice Icebox Cake
  • Sweeps and Contests

    Sweeps and Contests

    See All Sweeps and Contests

    Warm-Weather Getaways Sweepstakes

    • Winter Getaways Sweepstakes
    • Warm-Weather Getaways Sweepstakes

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Email Preferences
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout

More

  • Win Your Dream Getaway!
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Magazine Issues
  • Destinations
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Midwest Living
  2. Garden
  3. Container Gardens
  4. How To Create a Vertical Garden

How To Create a Vertical Garden

By Editorial Assistant: Brandi Dye
July 11, 2016
Skip gallery slides
Pin
Vintage frames accent nature's own living artwork in these beautiful DIY projects.
Start Slideshow

1 of 10

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Vertical garden

With supplies from a hardware store, a vintage frame, potting soil and succulents, you can make a vertical foliage display.Click or tap ahead for step-by-step instructions on how to make this display, as well as for other examples of vertical gardens.

1 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 10

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Step 1: Gather materials

You'll need moss, vintage vent, wire, snips, coconut fiber, screws, drill, wooden box, spray paint, wire mesh, soil and succulents.

2 of 10

3 of 10

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Step 2: Paint the vent or frame

A vintage portrait frame or heating vent, used here, both work well to frame your vertical garden. A coat of paint or polyurethane varnish helps prevent moisture damage.

3 of 10

Advertisement

4 of 10

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Step 3: Make a planting box

Create a planting box out of a durable wood, such as red cedar. Your wooden box should be about 4-5 inches deep with the same width and length as your vent or frame. Back the planting box with additional wooden planks for stability and drainage. Seal all of the wood with a polyurethane finish. Then, line the inside of the box with wire mesh.

4 of 10

5 of 10

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Step 4: Add fiber mat and fill

Before filling with potting soil, add a coconut fiber (or coir) liner to the planting box. The liners, which typically can be found in garden centers near the hanging baskets, help prevent soil and water loss. Then fill the planting box with a potting soil that includes a slow-release fertilizer. The lightweight nature of potting soil, versus heavier soils like loam, is essential for vertical gardens.

5 of 10

6 of 10

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Step 5: Attach vent or frame

Using a drill or screwdriver and screws, attach the painted vent or frame to the planting box.

6 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 10

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Step 6: Plant

Fill the miniature garden with low-water plants, like succulents. In this garden, sedum's tiny green leaves brightly contrast blue-gray Echeveria.

7 of 10

8 of 10

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Living art

This piece of living art includes silver-gray Echeveria towards the bottom of the frame with clusters of Sempervivum, sedums and creeping thyme throughout.

8 of 10

9 of 10

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Succulent displays

These framed boxes serve as shelving for a selection of potted succulents. The painted frames are mounted on backless 4-inch-deep boxes. 

9 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

10 of 10

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Picture-perfect

This lush vertical garden joins a vintage sewing box and a vintage picture frame, supported by the wooden legs of an old piano. The sewing box overflows with potted plants and the picture frame grows succulents and accents with gardening tools.

10 of 10

Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Editorial Assistant: Brandi Dye

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook
Trending Videos
Advertisement
Skip slide summaries

Everything in This Slideshow

Advertisement

View All

1 of 10 Vertical garden
2 of 10 Step 1: Gather materials
3 of 10 Step 2: Paint the vent or frame
4 of 10 Step 3: Make a planting box
5 of 10 Step 4: Add fiber mat and fill
6 of 10 Step 5: Attach vent or frame
7 of 10 Step 6: Plant
8 of 10 Living art
9 of 10 Succulent displays
10 of 10 Picture-perfect

Share options

Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Login

Midwest Living

Magazines & More

Learn More

  • Contact Us
  • Help
  • Free Newsletters this link opens in a new tab
  • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
  • Customer Service this link opens in a new tab
  • Renew this link opens in a new tab
  • Advertise this link opens in a new tab
  • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
  • Affiliate Program
  • Free Travel Info this link opens in a new tab
  • Special Promotions this link opens in a new tab
  • Sweepstakes this link opens in a new tab
  • Video
  • Home Advisor this link opens in a new tab

Connect

Follow Us
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Other Meredith Sites

Other Meredith Sites

  • 4 Your Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Allrecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • All People Quilt this link opens in a new tab
  • Better Homes & Gardens this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Insights this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Surveys this link opens in a new tab
  • Cooking Light this link opens in a new tab
  • Daily Paws this link opens in a new tab
  • EatingWell this link opens in a new tab
  • Eat This, Not That this link opens in a new tab
  • Entertainment Weekly this link opens in a new tab
  • Food & Wine this link opens in a new tab
  • Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Hello Giggles this link opens in a new tab
  • Instyle this link opens in a new tab
  • Martha Stewart this link opens in a new tab
  • Midwest Living this link opens in a new tab
  • More this link opens in a new tab
  • MyRecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • MyWedding this link opens in a new tab
  • My Food and Family this link opens in a new tab
  • MyLife this link opens in a new tab
  • Parenting this link opens in a new tab
  • Parents this link opens in a new tab
  • People this link opens in a new tab
  • People en EspaƱol this link opens in a new tab
  • Rachael Ray Magazine this link opens in a new tab
  • Real Simple this link opens in a new tab
  • Ser Padres this link opens in a new tab
  • Shape this link opens in a new tab
  • Siempre Mujer this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living this link opens in a new tab
  • SwearBy this link opens in a new tab
  • Travel & Leisure this link opens in a new tab
Midwest Living is part of the Meredith Home Group. © Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
© Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.midwestliving.com

View image

How To Create a Vertical Garden
this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.