Phase 2: Planting the Living Wall

The living wall is located on a north-east facing wall of the Denningberg Centre which receives some sun in the morning, and for much of the day is in shade. To the left of the wall is Bridge Street, to the right the entrance to the Denningberg Centre.

Our planting intention is to have edible plants and herbs to the right, furthest from the road and any possible pollution. What Next is working in partnership with plant-based community cookery charity, Joyfull Greens. Closer to Bridge Street we want to put plants that are good for pollinators.

In the first year of any garden, you are really experimenting with what works and what doesn’t. As well as thinking about edibles and pollinators, we need to consider what will provide greenery or colour over winter. Another consideration is cost. We had a budget of around £100 for plants. We also had generous donations, including from a local garden centre, and we took surplus plants from our own gardens.

We are grateful for 100 litres of peat-free compost from Godalming Town’s horticulturalist. We mixed this with grit to aid drainage.

On 11^th April we planted the living wall with the following:

Edibles

Chives, rosemary, chard, parsley, sage, thyme, violas, calendula, nasturtiums, sorrel, trailing tomatoes, wild strawberries.

Pollinators

Ivy (various varieties), selfheal, periwinkle, erigeron daisy, thrift, alchemilla, red clover, wild geranium, herb robert.

In the pallet-wood planters we have various types of mint, including spearmint and after-eight in one of them, and sedums in the other.

Vertical gardening means using a ladder! There are ten tiers of troughs. The lowest six or seven are fairly accessible. The top three or four tiers need a ladder.

Planting is relatively straightforward. The plants can’t be too big as the troughs are only 15cm deep.

At the end of an afternoon of vertical gardening, we were pleased with the outcome.