Discover the best living wall plants and options you can choose from to build your outdoor living wall.
Living walls
A green wall can either be a simple planting of climbers, wall shrubs or trained fruit, or a more complex engineered system, using all manner of high-tech gizmos from hydroponic mats to automated irrigation systems. On a smaller scale at home, specially designed modules or pockets filled with compost are ideal. They’re easy to handle and quick to install (see How to Make a Living Wall). Maintenance is pretty straightforward too.
Importantly, always pick plants with the orientation of the wall in mind, as the climate can differ enormously. Look after plants as you might any other container planting.
Plants for living walls
Prostrate, low-growing shrubs, ferns, perennials, and grasses can all be grown in living walls, as long as they don’t have invasive tendencies. It’s also possible to add fruit and vegetables for a display that really is good enough to eat!
Annuals, perennials & grasses
Sunny walls (more than half a day of summer sun)
- Ceratostigma plumbaginoides
- Ehgeron karuinskianus (Mexican fleabane)
- Euphorbia myrsinites (spurge)
- Festuca glauca (blue fescue)
- Helianthemum nummularium (rock rose) and cultivars
- Helictotrichon semperuirens (blue oat grass)
- Jasione laeuis (sheep’s bit scabious) and cultivars
- Nepeta racemosa ‘Walkers Low’ (catmint)
- Origanum laeuigatum (marjoram) and cultivars
- Origanum uulgare (wild marjoram) and cultivars
Shady walls (less than half a day of summer sun)
Note: Given plenty of water, all will tolerate a sunny position
- Ajuga reptans (bugle) and cultivars
- Bergenia cordifolia (elephant’s ears) and cultivars
- Brunnera macrophylla (Siberian bugloss) and cultivars
- Carex morrouiii ‘Variegata’ (sedge) and other cultivars
- Cornus canadensis (dwarf cornel)
- Ferns (eg Asplenium trichomanes, Blechnum spicant, Polypodium uulgare)
- Heuchera ‘Can-can’ (coral bells) and other cultivars
- Hosta ‘Ginko Craig’ (plantain lily) and other cultivars
- Pachysandra terminalis (Japanese spurge)
Fruit, vegetables & herbs
Sunny walls (more than half a day of summer sun)
- Basil
- Cherry tomatoes
- Chives
- Coriander
- Oregano
- Purslane
- Sage
- Strawberries
- Thyme
Shady walls (less than half a day of summer sun)
- Alpine strawberries
- Lamb’s lettuce
- Lettuce
- Mizuna
- Parsley
- Red giant mustard
- Rocket
- Runner beans, dwarf
- Spinach
Climbing high
For creating the easiest (and cheapest) living wall, climbers are hard to beat. Choose plants that flower at different times to get two periods of interest from the same space, or pick another climber that flowers at the same time for brilliant complementary colour or contrast. Climbing roses partnered with clematis are a classic duo. You can even pair climbers with tall hedges, large shrubs or open spreading trees.
- Free climbers So-called free climbers need no support and therefore little maintenance. Ivy (Hedera) climbs using aerial roots, while Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus) has suckers to adhere to the surface. Free climbers often spread rapidly and are useful to cover larger areas. However, you need to consider plant vigour carefully; these climbers are tricky to control once they get going.
- Twining climbers Twiners such as wisteria have winding stems to pull themselves up; grapevines (Vitis) and clematis use twining tendrils or leaves. A l l need trellis or stout wires for support. Don’t scrimp here. Healthy climbers grow fast, and mature plants are very heavy. Substantial support is essential right from the start. For modern designs, stainless-steel cables and fittings are available from specialist suppliers, and these look good with or without plants. Note: The tendency of most twining climbers is to grow upwards, so, if you do want them to spread out, their shoots need to be tied in regularly.
- Wall shrubs As they don’t naturally climb, wall shrubs benefit from the support of a wall. Shoots need to be tied in regularly to horizontal supports. Rambling and climbing roses (Rosa) fall into this group of climbers needing support.
Tidy climbers & wall shrubs
Sunny walls
- Aainidia kolomikta
- Clematis armandit ‘Snowdrift’
- Clematis ‘Bill MacKenzie’
- Clematis ‘Niobe’
- Cytisus battandieri (pineapple broom)
- Fccremocarpusscober (Chilean glory flower)
- Itea uirginica ‘Henry’s Garnet’ (sweetspire)
- Rhodochiton atrosanguineus (purple bell vine)
- Trachelospermum jasminoides (star jasmine)
- Vitis uinifera (grapevine) Shady walls
- Azara microphylla (box-leaf azara)
- Berberidopsiscorallina (coral plant)
- Chaenomeles speciosa ‘Moerloosei’ (flowering quince)
- Clematis ‘Nelly Moser’
- Carryaelliptica ‘Evie’ (silk-tassel bush)
- Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris (climbing hydrangea)
- Pileostegia uiburnoides (climbing hydrangea)
- Rosa ‘Zephirine Drouhin’
- Schizophragma integrifolium (Chinese hydrangea vine)
- Tropaeolumspeciosum (flame nasturtium)
Information sources
There’s a lot of information available on how to build living walls and green roofs-some good, some bad. This is the best of the bunch.
- Living Roofs website
- The Greenroof Industry Research Portal
- Green Roofs for Healthy Cities
- Small Creen Roofs: Low-Tech Options for Homeowners by Nigel Dunnett, Dusty Gedge & John Little
- Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls by Nigel Dunnett and Noel Kingsbury
Reprinted with permission from Urban Gardener by Matt James and published by Mitchell Beazley, 2014. Buy this book from our store: The Urban Gardener.
