Vertical gardening in an apartment is a fairly popular way today to revitalize a home, decorate unsightly walls, create a visually attractive interior with green spaces growing in a vertical direction.
Vertical gardening is a good solution!
In addition to significant space savings, this method of interior decoration is a good solution, because it creates coolness in the hot season, protects the room from bright sunlight and reduces city noise, divides the apartment into zones if necessary, cleans the air of dust and significantly improves the internal microclimate.
The simplest and most used solution for vertical wall decoration is planting vines, which, climbing to a height with the help of various devices, hide obvious surface errors. But this method has remained in the past, and it was replaced by more advanced technologies and design ideas, in particular, vertical gardening with one's own hands in an apartment. The photo fully conveys all the originality and beauty of such a bold, but already quite popular idea of designers.
A little imagination ...
Vertical gardening in the apartment can be arranged by yourself, with only a little effort and maximum desire to have such incredible beauty in the house. One of the popular elements of vertical gardening is the phytowall - a special design with plants planted in it.
The original composition can be made using phytomodules characterized by small sizes and various forms, which are assembled into one composition like a puzzle. A little imagination, and the space of the apartment will be decorated with an unusual painting-garden of living green plants. The vertical design can be purchased in specialized stores, which is quite costly, but you can try to build it yourself.
Components of phytomodule
The phytomodule for vertical gardening consists of:
- a frame (wooden or plastic) that is sealed on the back side and thus protects the wall to which it is attached from getting wet and damp;
- cells placed on a vertical base, where plants are planted;
- water tank ;
- motor for water up;
- humidity sensor, which is installed in store products; with a minimum value of moisture, the automatic irrigation system is triggered (if a specific program for supplying water is necessary for the growth and development of plants).
Do it yourself!
Do-it-yourself vertical gardening is a process that gives great pleasure when creating your own, unlike anyone else's green composition. Of course, one should start with the construction of the phytomodule, the basis of the living picture. To do this, to the frame, which can be made of boards or PVC, using a stapler, you need to attach a film, preferably greenhouse (this will create waterproofing), and in the lower part of the frame, fix a water tank to collect excess liquid after watering the plants. Pockets for planting green beauty are made of felt fabric (or any other, not subject to decay) and also attached to the base.
In store models, there is often a drip irrigation system, which you can also try to do on your own using improvised material. At the top point of the structure, it is necessary to fix the tank with the lid, attach to it a medical dropper system with small punctures made in advance (using a needle) and distribute it evenly over the entire vertical field.
Types of vertical gardening
You can give the room originality and individuality in different ways. For example, hanging baskets with special slots made on their sides will be interesting. Plants are planted in them, forming a bright spectacular ball. To keep the earth and moisture inside the basket lined with a material that does not allow moisture and holds the soil well; it can be coconut fibers, wool or wood processing waste.
The most complex and original design of vertical gardening is a phytowall - a gigantic-sized curtain made of porous material with many pockets in which various house flowers are planted.
A great option for vertical gardening is a phytocart (otherwise a phytomodule), constructed independently. To create it, it is recommended to purchase a frame for a picture, a plywood canvas according to the size of the purchased frame, and a wire mesh that has small holes (sold in any building market). The frame must be turned down with the front side and fixed on it with a stapler (furniture or building) wire mesh.
Then, without turning over the future masterpiece, it is necessary to lay moss, universal soil with added perlite on the grid, and fix it with plywood. Next, planting should be done using a stick: first give priority to large specimens, and then supplement the picture with small details using small plants. So that the latter are well rooted, in this position they should be left for two weeks, irrigating by spraying. And then the fruit of your imagination, characterized by a variety of colors and unpredictability of forms, can be set upright and admire such beauty with sincere enthusiasm.
The advantages of a vertical gardening method
Do-it-yourself vertical gardening has enough advantages for each owner to try to diversify and decorate his home in this way.
- Green walls form a huge aesthetic effect, they look fresh, elegant and noble.
- The design (phytowall or phytomodule) allows you to collect a huge number of plants on a small area, which leads to space saving.
- The weight of the structure is relatively small, which allows you to mount the phytomodule to the wall.
- There is the possibility of automatic watering, which greatly simplifies the care of plants.
- Planting is carried out without land, which guarantees a cleanliness.
Green harmony in everyday life
Almost all small green plants are suitable for vertical gardening. They are planted in pre-prepared cells, each of which is required to be filled with fine expanded clay with a third. As planting soil, it is recommended to use sphagnum moss, a characteristic feature of which is the complete absorption of moisture and its long-term retention. Moss also has disinfectant and antibacterial properties, which prevents the development of fungal diseases of plants and protects them from decay.
To properly perform vertical gardening in an apartment, you need to know the correctness of planting flowers in cells. To do this, shake off the whole earth from the plant, shorten the tips of the roots by a couple of centimeters, which they then wrap in moist sphagnum. In this form, the flower must be placed in a pocket; the remaining voids are recommended to be filled with moss. Plants are recommended to be planted in one piece so that the greens completely cover the planned area.
Features of planting plants in a felt phytomodule
Plants for vertical gardening are planted in a felt phytomodule slightly differently than in a PVC construction. The roots need to be shaken off the ground, washed, shortened and wrapped with prepared soil in rags of felt fabric. Then insert the resulting pot with the plant into your pocket. For plants, it is required to use special soil, which is much lighter than ordinary earth, which makes the construction easier. For water retention, it is necessary to add part of the sphagnum moss to the soil.
Such a phytosystem is often not equipped with an automatic watering system, so plants need to be watered as the soil dries. With proper and careful operation of the structure and timely care of plants, such a phytostall will serve faithfully for about 5 years.
Plant Care Vertical Composition
So, the original composition already pleases the household with a fresh look and the advantage of green. What's next? Vertical gardening in the apartment requires mandatory care of the plant, which consists in periodically adding water and various top dressings to the automatic watering tank. Spraying plants is not required, because peat evaporates moisture, thereby creating a comfortable humidity and a special microclimate required by plants. As you grow, you need to remove dried flowers and leaves, trim bulging shoots.
How to choose the right plants?
Vertical gardening in an apartment (photo) requires a competent selection of plants: the most suitable are instances with a short or curly stem and a well-developed root system that can firmly hold in an upright position.
It is optimal if the leaves are bushy and have a small size. It grows well and quickly grows, completely covering the structure, ampelous plants, in particular, hoya, scindapsus, spathiphyllum, chlorophytum, phytonia, fatsia, ivy philodendron. If it is impossible to water frequently or in a hot room, you can effectively place a composition of low sansivieres, groundcover (thyme, bryozoans, clover, stalks, goryanka), small succulents (sedum, regrowth, stonecrop) or mosses of different varieties; they maintain a given form of composition for a long time and are able to do without watering for a long time.
In the original composition, such plants for vertical gardening in an apartment as cacti will look original. You can use one type of plant and plant, for example, only spathiphyllum or anthurium, or make a harmonious composition of flowers of different species. In the kitchen, a composition of spicy herbs, small varieties of salad, dill, basil and mint will look very appropriate.
Lighting is an important aspect in the vertical gardening of an apartment
Do-it-yourself vertical gardening in an apartment needs a small but very important nuance - lighting, thanks to which you can stylishly highlight the created composition. Lamps with the help of decorative self-tapping screws can be mounted by directing them to plants in a phyto-picture (top, bottom, sides).
A special effect of the green composition will be given by LED backlighting, for the arrangement of which a wooden block is required to be attached from above and from the back of the frame. On the free edges of the structure and on the back, glue the LED strip on a double-sided tape and connect it to the mains. The lighting will create the effect of soaring a vertical composition in the air.