A Green Wall in Your Urban Balcony

If you live in the city, or just feel the urge to freshen up your home scenery - this DIY project is a MUST. I easily put together a soon to be green wall in my balcony, and I can't wait for it to grow.

You'll need:

• a medium size planter
• a draining platter
• roughly 50 L of planting soil
• fertilizer
• about 3X1 meters parrot net
• 15 or more iron holders
• 2 bricks
• a silicon glue gun
• construction glue
• a meter
• marking tape
• plastic restraints
• a Japanese knife (optional)
• a cutter (Optional)

Select your desired wall. Imagine how it would look, try to estimate how big will the green wall be there. Will it fit in nicely? will it leave enough place to pass to to use the balcony.

Another thing to take into account is the amount of shade/sun there. Try checking the wall and floor under it a few times in different times the same day to see how much direct sun it gets.

Now use the meter to measure the width and height of the wall, before going to the plant nursery.

Take some photos of the wall and surrounding objects.

Go to your go-to plant nursery. Every one would suit.

Show one of the gardeners your desired wall.

Ask for a rectangular ±50 cm high planter with a platter.

Consult the gardener and choose 2/3 CLIMBING plants to plant there according to your planter and wall width - consider about 35 cm for each plant. I have some direct sun so I used the Alamanda plant.

Plant the plants in the planter.

You're set to head back home.

Collect (or steal :)) from your local construction site 2 sidewalk blocks.

Locate the bricks planter width apart and put your planter + plants on the bricks, under the wall.

Put the draining tray under the planter.

It is important for plants to have the ability to discard water they don't need, or else the roots and soil can rot and create decays in the plant. The bricks are there so water have room to drain down to the draining platter located under it, keeping your green wall safe and healthy.

Use your meter to measure and mark the location for the iron hangers.

Top hangers - mark 1 hanger for each 30 cm

Side hangers - mark 1 hanger for each 35 cm

Remember, the net is stiff! Mark your hangers in straight lines to each other. Plus, your right side of hangers better be a bit too far from the left ones than to close - or else your net won't fit in the middle.

Ready to use the glue gun? Don't worry, it's an extremely easy tool to use. For some basic instructions here's a quick tutorial.

First use some wet wipes or cloth to clean the spots you are about to glue. Construction glue works best over clean and undusted surfaces.

Glue 15 iron hangers or more to your wall.

Keep the width between the right and left side at least 3 cm wider than your actual parrot net.

Use a thin layer of glue on each hanger, no need for too much.

Let it dry for at least 1 day before proceeding to the next step.

If you need to remove dry glue - use a Japanese knife with care.

First, make sure the glue has completely dried - try to softly turn the hanger to check if the glue moves a little bit or is solid hard. Don't hang the net if it is not solid hard.

Use some normal plastic restraints to connect the net to the hangers. If needed, use the cutter to cut small parts of the net so the net can fit in nicely.

Tight the plastic restraints enough to straighten the net. Don't pull too hard, the hangers won't hold any force.

Well done, you're almost set!

Welcome to the last step of your project!

All you have left is to put the planter back on the brick under the wall and net.

Take some newborn branches from the plants - they should be thinner more flexible branches, with some small flower buds, and connect them to the net. Some of the branches should be intertwined in the net but the end should be be outside of the net - so the branch will have room to grow.

Use a big bucket to do your first massive watering - until you see some water draining down to the draining tray.

That's it! Sit back and enjoy the show! It may take some time, but in a few months you should already see a massive part of your balcony wall covered in nice green leaves, and colorful plowers.

Don't forget to water almost every 2 days - keep the soil moist but not too muddy, and get ready for your next project :) Hope you had fun. Feel free to share your process or final result in the comments.