Creating the Perfect Home and Garden

How to Use Wiremesh to Create a Living Wall in Your Back Garden

Many people love the idea of being surrounded by nature, when they step out into their back gardens. Yet often, they live in congested urban villages where the neighbours never seem to be too far away. If you have walls surrounding your property, you may be thinking about ways to create a more natural look, and if so, you really should think about using mesh suppliers to get wiremesh and enable you to create a "living" wall instead. What do you need to know about this approach?

Creating Your Vertical Garden

Even though a wall does not have to be uninspiring, the fact remains that they are usually of a set colour and consistency and tend to clash with greenery, flowers and plants that may live nearby. With a certain amount of work and ingenuity, however, you can bring these walls to life to create additional insulation, extra privacy, shade and significant, aesthetic appeal. So long as the wall itself is well built and substantial, it is certainly possible to use it as a growing medium so that the plants you introduce can actually take root and thrive along its length and height, with proper attention.

Step-By-Step

To begin with, you will need to get some galvanised, welded wire mesh from your supplier, ideally precut to the height of the wall. Once you've got it, lay it out carefully and begin to measure the raw material that will provide its base. Begin by introducing some shredded mulch before covering the mesh carefully with a layer of sod. In an ideal world, the soil should have a high clay content to enable it to hold as much moisture as possible.

Consider introducing a drip irrigation line at the top of the mesh that will (especially in the early days) provide the necessary nutrient to feed your vertical garden, as it grows. Once the irrigation has been carefully tied to the wiremesh, secure the sod with zip ties in strategic locations.

You will need to add some very sturdy posts to the area immediately in front of the concrete wall and these posts will need to be sunk into the ground to a sufficient depth to provide support. The wiremesh must be tied to the posts and you should make sure that the sod, mulch and soil hides the existence of the posts.

Choosing the Plants

Once you have introduced everything and the wiremesh wall is standing straight up against a concrete wall, you are ready to introduce the plants. Have a word with a horticulturalist to choose the right ones for your type of climate and location, especially those that do not require a great amount of water or have very complex root structures. Look for plants that spread quickly or specific varieties of climbing vine.

Get Creative

With some patience and a degree of ingenuity, you can create a significant additional dimension to your outdoor space.


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