Living Wall

The First Meeting

The Bauers meet with landscape designer Ahmad Hassan, who wants to create a focal point that will separate the driveway from the new garden area. First he will dress up the plain wire deer fence by making lattice out of inexpensive bender board, then landscape the area with plants, pathways and furniture. A living wall with real plants and flowers will prevent guests from driving in the mud.

Day One

Contractors Fred Norgaard and Mike Meehan help Jennifer attach horizontal pieces of bender board, evenly spaced along the wire fence. Then they weave vertical pieces in front of and behind the horizontal pieces, for a lattice look that will also afford them some privacy (figure C).

The weeds are cut down with a weed eater, the ground is tilled with a roto-tiller and the area behind the living wall location is graded.

Day Two

The living wall is constructed like a sandwich, with two sheets of wire as the bread and soil in between. This unique wall will add interest and color to the yard. Unlike an ordinary redwood fence, though, this wall will house fragrant pockets of flowers that will attract butterflies and hummingbirds. The cost of a living wall is about the same as a fence.

The galvanized wire mesh is rolled out on a tarp on the ground and cut to the size of the wall. The mesh is spray-painted brown for camouflage. Shredded redwood mulch and wet sphagnum moss are spread on top of the mesh, followed by sod. Ahmed doesn't use sod for the grass but rather for the sheet of soil underneath. The grass side goes on the interior of the living wall. They use zip ties to attach the sod to the wire.

The living wall is attached to the front of the posts, and another sheet of wire mesh goes on the back. More sod and soil are stuffed between the two sheets of mesh. Irrigation lines run through the soil to keep the plants moist. The wire at the top of the living wall is bent inward to contain the soil and will be camouflaged with plants.

Ahmad has chosen a variety of plants for the living wall; ground covers and succulents work especially well. For the side yard, he chooses taller plants for the back, along the fence, and low-growing plants for in front. He plants white potato vines, which grow very fast, to climb the fence.

In the area behind the living wall, they lay out landscaping fabric to prevent weeds and cover it with crushed granite. Then Ahmad adds a couple of wooden benches and potted flowering plants and a climbing vine focal point in the center of the garden.

The muddy, weedy side yard has been transformed into a colorful, fragrant garden (figures F and G). The woven bender board fence allows more privacy and serves as a trellis for climbing potato vines. The benches are placed to enjoy the small circular garden in the center. And the living wall is a unique, welcoming alternative to an ordinary fence.