How to Make a DIY Wall Garden for Under $20
For apartment dwellers or homeowners without reasonable yard space, an indoor garden is an easy way to get your green-thumb fix. Even better, there are a number of plants that can be grown inside year-round, regardless of the temperature outside.
Whether you fill the containers with herbs, an assortment of indoor plants, or drought-friendly succulents, this modern hanging garden will add a beautiful, fresh touch of green to any wall. Best of all, it costs less than $20 to make.
Materials:
- ¾-inch-thick wood board (roughly 2 to 3 feet long)
- Ruler
- Pencil
- 2 ½-inch flathead screws
- Hanging wire
- Drill
- Eye hooks
- Tins
- Adhesive alphabet stickers
- Small rocks
- Herbs
- Not pictured: picture hook hanger
Directions
Step 1
On the backside of your wood board, mark and drill two side-by-side starter holes, approximately one-fourth of the way down from the top of the board (vertically), and an inch in from each side. Use your drill to begin to screw a ½-inch flathead screw into each hole. Just before the screws have been drilled in all the way, wrap a piece of hanging wire around the back of the screws and tie the wire ends firmly together. Complete the drilling once the hanging wire has been added.
Step 2
Before you add your plants to the tins, determine the spacing on the front side of your wood board. Make sure to keep an equal distance between each container, and use a pencil and ruler to mark the drill spots. For each container, drill a starter hole using the drill before screwing an eye hook into each hole.
Step 3
To ensure proper drainage, add a handful of rocks to the bottom of each tin. Next, add in the plants and any additional soil, if necessary.
Step 4
If you have a framed photo on the wall where you’d like to hang your garden, you can swap it out, as long as the preexisting hook can support the weight of your display. If you don’t yet have a hook in place, secure a strong picture hook hanger to the wall.
Step 5
Hang your garden display on the wall. If you’d like, use alphabet stickers to label each container. Tip: We found it easiest to add the labels once the containers were already hanging on the wall.
Additional tips:
- If filling the containers with herbs, make sure to hang your display on a wall that receives direct sunlight during the day. For indoor plants and succulents, indirect sunlight should be strong for at least 6 hours during the day.
- Infrequent, light watering twice a week is best for most herbs and indoor plants. Most succulents only need a light weekly misting.
- Hang the garden display in a room that gets good air circulation. Do not hang directly in front of an air conditioning or heater vent.
- For herbs, make sure to trim the plants often to encourage growth.