Do you want to turn your dull walls into a vibrant, green space? Indoor vertical gardening is the answer. This method allows you to use small spaces wisely and turn any room into a beautiful area.1 Want to know more about vertical gardening and how to start? We will explore the best plants for your indoor vertical garden and give you tips for a flourishing living wall.
Create an image of a lush indoor vertical garden, filled with a variety of plants in different sizes and shapes. The plants should be arranged in a visually appealing manner, with taller plants at the back and cascading vines at the front. The color palette should be rich and vibrant, featuring shades of green, purple, and pink. The lighting should be soft and natural, with sunlight filtering through a nearby window. The garden should be set against a neutral background, allowing the plants to take center stage.
What is Vertical Gardening?
Vertical gardening means growing plants up, not out, using frames or structures.2 You can do this with beds, pots, or a frame. It’s a great way to create more garden space.3
The Concept of Vertical Gardening
Growing up gives you more area for plants in all directions.3 It’s ideal for small spaces like city apartments or tiny yards. You also get a beautiful garden feature with more use of space.
Benefits of Indoor Vertical Gardens
Vertical gardens indoors give you more room, clean the air, and look great.4 You get more crops from the same space.3 Plus, your plants stay healthier up high, away from soil-borne diseases.
Vertical Gardening Structures
For vertical gardening, you can use wall planters, hanging baskets, and more.2 They come in many sizes and might need regular care.2 The right soil mix includes peat moss and vermiculite or perlite.2
Plants For Indoor Vertical Garden
Pothos: Ideal Vertical Garden Plants
Pothos – renowned for its ease of care and lush, verdant foliage, Pothos is a top choice for plant enthusiasts and beginners alike. This resilient plant can climb and trail up to 20 feet, making it perfect for creating a cascading wall of greenery. Additionally, Pothos can thrive in a variety of light conditions, from low to bright indirect light, making it a versatile addition to any indoor space. Its ability to purify the air is an added bonus, contributing to a healthier indoor environment. Whether you’re aiming for a small green accent or a dramatic living wall, Pothos can help you achieve a beautiful, natural look with minimal effort.
Lipstick Flower: Spicing up your vertical garden
The lipstick plant is an excellent choice for enhancing your indoor space. Its shiny green leaves and striking red flowers create a captivating display that adds a touch of elegance and vibrancy to any room. The flowers bloom continuously, ensuring that your space remains lively and colorful throughout the year. This plant is particularly well-suited for vertical gardens, where its cascading growth habit allows it to flow beautifully down the structure, creating a lush, waterfall-like effect. Easy to care for and visually stunning, the lipstick plant is a perfect addition to your indoor garden, bringing nature’s beauty right into your home.
Ferns: Perfect for indoor environments
Ferns are another excellent choice for your living wall, offering a lush and vibrant addition to any indoor garden. Species such as the Boston fern, rabbit’s foot fern, and medusa fern are particularly well-suited for vertical gardens due to their trailing nature. These ferns can elegantly cascade down your living wall, creating a beautiful, flowing effect. They thrive in shaded areas, making them perfect for indoor environments where direct sunlight may be limited. Not only do they add aesthetic appeal with their delicate, feathery fronds, but they also contribute to a healthier indoor atmosphere by improving air quality. Easy to care for and visually striking, ferns are a fantastic option for bringing a touch of nature into your home.
Philodendron – A Tropical Touch
Philodendrons are great for adding a tropical feel to your home. They do this with their big, shiny leaves.7 These plants belong to the Araceae family, which has many kinds.
Heartleaf philodendron and split-leaf philodendron are just some of the types that grow well upwards. These plants can go over 10 feet if they have something to climb on. Two more favorites for climbing are the Florida Green, which can grow between 2 and 10 feet, and the Silver Sword, which can go from 3 to 10 feet.
Care Tips for Philodendrons
To flourish, philodendrons like a lot of moisture in the air. So, they might need to be lightly misted often, especially in colder times.8 They’re happiest when it’s between 65° and 85° F by day and about 60° F at night.8 If you take care of them well, they will grow beautifully on a trellis or hanging pot.8 Remember, the leaves can hurt both humans and pets if eaten.8
Colorful Crotons for Vertical Gardens
Crotons work great in every indoor garden. They come in many types, each with different colored leaves and shapes. It’s an evergreen shrub that loves light and water.9 With their unique leaves, crotons are perfect for interior vertical gardens.
These plants need bright, but not direct, light to grow their best. Let the top soil layer dry between waterings to keep their leaves from falling off. This shows they like their water just right. Give them food in spring and summer, not too often. They like it around 70°F. Keep the air a bit humid, which is good for their growth.
Be careful, crotons are a bit toxic if eaten and can make people or pets sick. Make sure they are kept away from places kids or animals might get to. There are many croton types with lots of different leaf colors. Click here to see some of the cool varieties. They make homes and offices more beautiful.
One kind, Mrs. Iceton, has green leaves that turn to gold, yellow, orange, and red. This looks amazing. Mammy Croton’s leaves twist and curl, bringing fun textures and colors indoors. Gold Star and Magnificent Croton have leaves with shiny gold and vibrant green, red, orange spots. They really stand out, making any space look great.
Baby’s Tears: A Delicate Sprawler
Baby’s tears is a tiny, trailing indoor plant known for its easy care. It’s perfect for vertical gardens or hanging planters. These plants grow fast and need minimal care. Their fragile roots can be easily damaged, so avoid rough handling or overwatering.10 To make your baby’s tears thrive, keep their soil moist. They have small, green leaves and like humid environments.
Chinese Evergreen: A Resilient Choice
The Chinese Evergreen is a hardy plant thriving indoors and out.1 It loves indirect light and can stay healthy in droughts and full sun. It usually grows up to two feet tall and features pretty grey-green leaves.1
Varieties of Chinese Evergreen
This evergreen plant comes in many shapes and colors. It’s ideal for anyone, easy to look after.1
Caring for Chinese Evergreen
Mist your plant often, as it prefers humid air.1 It also does well in low light, perfect for inside spaces.11
A close-up view of a healthy Chinese Evergreen plant with glossy and broad leaves, standing tall and proud in an indoor vertical garden. The light is softly illuminating the plant, highlighting the intricate patterns and stunning shades of green on each leaf. The plant appears strong and resilient, radiating a sense of tranquility and peacefulness.
Peperomia – Versatile and Vibrant
Peperomias are perfect for indoor gardens. They do well in a greenhouse or outside. With the variegated type, leaves change color as they get older. They go from green to red, pink, and yellow. But you can also get the non-variegated kind. Peperomia plants have beautiful leaves and are easy to take care of. They can be grown in deep water and survive with little watering, which is ideal for new indoor plant lovers.
The Peperomia family has over a thousand species, making it rich in variety. These plants are great at cleaning the air, removing up to 47% of formaldehyde. According to NASA, plants like the Napoli Nights need just enough water and some humidity to grow.12 The Piccolo Banda loves the shade and stands out with its interesting leaves.
Wedding Vine: A Fragrant Flowering Plants
One top choice for growing on walls is the jasmine Madagascar, or wedding vine as some call it. It can do well in a hanging pot or climbing a trellis. This vine comes from the milkweed family and originates from Madagascar.13
The flowers are a creamy white and bloom often. The leaves are shiny and dark green, nearly 4 inches long. This Madagascar jasmine can bloom year-round if it gets enough light, humidity, and warmth. It’s a great choice for greening up your wall.
Create an image of a lush green vine with delicate white flowers blooming all over it, set against a light-colored wall. The vine should give off a fragrant aroma and appear to be thriving in an indoor vertical garden. Show the plant in full bloom, with small buds and leaves sprouting from various parts of the stem. Use warm, natural colors to depict a serene and peaceful atmosphere. Make the viewer feel like they are standing in front of the plant, taking in its beauty and fragrance.
Air Plants: Unique and Low Maintenance
Air plants are members of the bromeliad family known as Tillandsia. They offer a unique way to create indoor vertical gardens. Instead of using roots, they get their water and nutrients from the air. This makes them perfect for being displayed vertically with little effort.6 They stand out because of the tiny hairs, known as trichomes, on their leaves. There are many types to choose from, all bringing something special to your vertical gardening design.14
Air plants’ life span can vary from the amount of light they need. For example, some like Tillandsia bulbosa do well in low light. While others, like Tillandsia xerographica, prefer more light.14 There’s a wide range of air plants to pick from. Each type offers its own unique look and care needs for indoor gardening.
Source Links
- https://www.chhajedgarden.com/blogs/all/15-plants-for-indoor-vertical-garden
- https://lawnlove.com/blog/what-is-a-vertical-garden/
- https://www.almanac.com/how-grow-vertically-your-garden
- https://farmtojar.com/vertical-indoor-food-gardening/
- https://www.verticalgardensupply.com/blog/plants-for-vertical-garden/
- https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/houseplants/hpgen/houseplants-for-growing-vertically.htm
- https://www.rogersgardens.com/blogs/current-news-events/philodendrons-and-why-you-should-grow-them
- https://www.gardendesign.com/houseplants/philodendron.html
- https://cityfloralgreenhouse.com/product/croton-houseplants/
- https://east-side-patch.livejournal.com/
- https://indoorverticlegardenbasics.com/top-10-air-purifying-plants-for-vertical-gardens-in-your-home/
- https://greenkin.in/blogs/plant-talk/unique-varieties-of-peperomia-care-guide
- https://www.elephantjournal.com/2013/07/top-10-plants-for-an-indoor-vertical-garden/
- https://www.homesandgardens.com/gardens/types-of-air-plants
- https://www.fleximounts.com/blog/the-allure-of-indoor-gardening-and-vertical-solutions
- https://green.org/2024/01/30/the-science-of-vertical-gardening-why-plants-thrive-in-vertical-spaces/
- https://nusaplant.com/blogs/plants/the-ultimate-guide-to-vertical-gardens-space-saving-greenery-for-plant-enthusiasts
