Bringing a Wall to Life with Greenery

If you’ve been building up a plant collection, you might be running out of spaces in your home to set more plant pots. It’s frustrating to feel like you don’t have room to integrate any more of your green friends. Or, maybe you don’t love the esthetic of most of your plants being on the same level. Adding height and variation can elevate the style in a room and highlight each unique plant you have. 

Instead of looking for more flat surfaces to set your plants on, consider going vertical with your houseplant displays. Here are some ways to use the vertical space in your home to show off your awesome plant collection.

Shelves

One of the first options for using vertical space is to add shelves to your walls. Shelves are a great way to add plant space and give trailing or vining plants room to do their thing. 

Shelves can also really add to your home decor. There are many different styles of shelves, from industrial metal to antique wood to classic minimalist white or black. If you choose to mount shelves on the wall, make sure you anchor them properly in the studs and check the total weight capacity before loading them up with plant pots. 

For floating shelves, it’s a good idea to stick to smaller or lighter plastic pots, so you don’t weigh it down too much. 

Pro tip: weigh all your plants right after they’ve been watered, when all the soil is damp. Then you’ll know how many of your plants you can put on a shelf.

Free-standing shelves are also a great choice if you can’t install wall mounted shelves. 

Hanging Planters

Adding hanging planters is also an excellent way to take advantage of your vertical space, and it gives your trailing plants lots of room to hang down as far as they like. There are a few different ways you can add hanging planters to your home.

Another way to take advantage of wall space is to give vining plants something to climb.

Ceiling hooks are surprisingly simple to install in a drywall ceiling. Just make sure you buy a hook and ceiling drywall anchor that can handle the weight of your hanging plants. This is another time when knowing the heaviest weight is important just after they’ve been watered. 

Another popular idea is to install a curtain rod across your windows. Use appropriate mounting brackets and a strong rod. A 1.5 to 2-inch thick diameter piece of wood dowling is an excellent option. It’s also essential to keep weight in mind when doing this. Hang lighter plants near the middle and any heavier ones near the mounting brackets. The wider the window (like an expansive living room window), the less weight your rod will be able to support across the span, so be careful. Don’t overload it!

Encouraging Vining Plants

Another way to take advantage of wall space is to give vining plants something to climb. There are a few different ways you can do this, and you’ll want to keep an eye on these plants, as things like Pothos or Philodendron can remove small pieces of paint from the wall if they are allowed to climb it. You can prevent this by managing the climbing.    

You can encourage vining plants to climb various things, from trellis to rope to moss poles. If you have a plant that already has long vines, the tiny clear 3M sticky hooks can be a great way to arrange the vine on your wall. If your plant doesn’t have any long vines yet, but you’d like to encourage it to grow, you can use the clear 3M hooks or tiny nails and string fishing line tightly between them. With this technique, you can create unique patterns and turn your plants into natural artwork. 

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Wallygro Planters

Wallygro planters are an awesome option for taking advantage of vertical wall space. Wallygrow features several different planters, including the Hanging Felt Pocket Planters that fit several plants, the Individual Loop Planters with a cute and easy hanging system, and the classic Eco Wall Planter that fits 2-3 plants. All of Wallygro’s products are made of 100% recycled products.  

Wallygro planters come with everything you need to hang them, including the drywall anchors. Their innovative system makes it super easy to build your very own green wall. They remind buyers of the Felt Pocket Planter that if they are using them indoors, it’s a good idea to hang a transparent plastic sheet (like a shower curtain), behind the pocket to ensure an extra layer of protection since the felt does absorb some water. 

Swing by the garden center soon to have a look at these innovative and eco-friendly planters!

Curating Your Plant Collection

Last but not least, we hate to be the ones to tell you to cut back on your plant collection… But, we know, that you know, how carefully curating your decor, just like some people do their Instagram feed, can take your home from typical to magazine-worthy. 

We’re not saying you should stop buying plants. But, start to be picky about what you buy. Review your current plant collection and think hard about what you already have. 

• Do you have duplicates of several plants? Consider giving a few away to friends; you probably don’t need 3 pots of the same variety of snake plant. 
• Are some of your plants looking a little rough around the edges? Clean them up and give them some TLC. If they don’t perk up in a few weeks, maybe it’s time to let them go to plant heaven.
• Is your plant collection pretty monochrome? There’s nothing wrong with monochrome, but if all your plants have similar foliage colors and shapes, try to branch out a bit. Add some plants with colorful foliage like the ZZ Raven, or the super fine-textured leaves like Asparagus Fern. Or switch it up with some really coarse texture like Dracaenas or Palms, or just something on a different scale like a Monstera deliciosa for its massive size or Living Stone plants for the smaller scale.
• Decide what plants belong at the top of your wishlist. Identify your biggest must-haves and try to refrain from buying anything else.