Living wall Grow your own glorious green backdrop

This month, Claire Bishop from Dobbies Garden Centres shares her top tips

You may have seen them as backdrops for store windows and swanky hotels, but now you can create your own living wall. it’s a great way to introduce greenery and refresh a space indoors or out.

YOU WILL NEED

Living wall planters (£9.99 each, Dobbies) wooden battens Electric screwdriver and screws watering can

Plants of your choice

1 CHOOSE A LOCATION Decide where you want your living wall to be and fix battens to the wall for the planters. 2 ATTACH THE PLANTERS Slot them into place one by one. Use an electric screwdriver and work from the bottom up, attaching the plastic planters to the battens on every third row in staggered rows. Remember to insert a plug or filter to conduct the water flow.

3 GET WATERING Use a hosepipe or watering can to water the top level of planters. The water will then cascade down to the other planters. The internal reservoir system is designed to keep plants watered for up to two weeks.

4 START PLANTING Fill the planters with your chosen plants (ensure the pots are 12-13cm). Remove them from their pots and place them in the planters. Or if you’d prefer to keep them in the pot (so you can swap plants out easily as and when you need to), then simply make sure the pot touches the reservoir base in each of the planters.

Living wall threepocket planters, £9.99 each; Alexander Rose Roble four-seater Tivoli set, £1,499; Stone Grey Hartley cushion, £24.99, all Dobbies ‘Use these plant pockets to create diverse greenery, from lush and leafy ferns to practical indoor herb gardens’