1. All those who pass by The Borough Hall, due to the enhanced greenery and aesthetic value of the living wall. Studies indicate that green spaces, including vertical green spaces, can have a positive impact on well-being.
2. The community of people who create and maintain the living wall will feel sense of achievement and connection.
3. Members of the public who wish to know more about living walls and wildlife planting may wish to create their own either in residential, commercial or other settings (such as schools, churches etc).

In the research we did, we settled on and installed two systems. We wanted more than one so we can compare them and that way give people anyone else interested in creating an external living wall some insights. We can’t make any recommendations as ultimately there is a lot of personal preference and other factors involved.

The grant we had from Godalming Town Council allowed us to buy two equally sized systems that are 2 metres high and 1.2 metres wide.

The system on the left in our installation is called Plantbox. It’s made from recycled plastic. The widest size available is 60cm so we have put two columns next to each other. The system is readily available from quite a number of suppliers with a fast delivery time. 

The system on the right is from Wall of Plants. It’s made to order in metal, and delivery time is a little longer.

Both systems operate in a very similar way. You have a planting trough, underneath which is a water reservoir. Through a wicking system water goes from the reservoir into the planter. We opted for systems with manual watering. This means we have to water at least once a week through the growing season and a little more often when it is very hot. For both systems we have set this up, so we just attach a hose which then waters from the top. Both systems use a cascading system so once the top reservoir is full the water flows into the next one down and so on, until the bottom reservoir is full. It is possible, at least for the Wall of Plants system to have automated watering if you have direct access to a water supply.

Both systems require some DIY skills to install. It is likely most people will attach outdoor system to a stone or brick wall. A hammer drill is essential for this work.

For the metal Wall of Plants system (upper right), you attach two vertical rails to the wall. Starting at the bottom, each trough is then mounted onto the rails. The watering system of hoses that connect each trough to the one above is in the space between the troughs and the wall, and you connect each as you go. Some precision is required to make sure the two rails are exactly vertical and the correct distance apart. Once this is done, fixing the troughs is simple.

For the plastic Plantbox system (lower right), because we were placing the troughs on an uneven stone wall, we secured vertical battens to the wall first. Even with a brick wall, this is probably the easiest way to get the boxed lined up and we noticed that this is what the RHS have done with their Plantbox system and RHS Bridgwater near Manchester. As wit the Wall of Plants system, getting the battens correctly sited is the most important part, as once you have the lowest trough correctly fixed, it’s a fairly simple process to build up the layers and screw each trough to the battens. There are no hoses to connect with the Plantbox system. The troughs interlock and the watering system is on the left-hand side. Unlike the Wall of Plants system, with Plantbox the troughs do need to be assembled prior to installation, which is relatively straightforward. What is handy with Plantbox is that each trough has an indicator to show the water level in the reservoir.

Wall of Plants System

Plantbox System