Design Sleuth: Vertical Garden of Terra Cotta Pots

In Australia, where drought is nothing new, we often spot clever ideas for creating eco-friendly, low-water gardens.

In this case, interior designer Claire Larritt-Evans used a custom version of an off-the-shelf vertical garden system to cover a brick wall in a townhouse garden with a grid of terra cotta pots.

With Larritt-Evans’ help, we tracked down the components to recreate the look:

Above: A one-story-high vertical wall of potted plants provides enough greenery to create an entire garden on a small, enclosed city patio. “We chose plants that provide a gentle fragrance for the owners and are also selected to best suit the climate and thrive in the existing conditions,” says Larritt-Evans.

Above: Created by eco-garden proponent Joost Bakker, Vertical Walls and Vertical Garden Columns are available in several sizes and configurations.

Suitable plants include fragrant Mediterranean herbs, which thrive in a sunny, dry climate.

“The system we used can be custom made to size,” says Larritt-Evans, “and we opted to have an inbuilt irrigation system on a timer.” The irrigation system limits water use to a bare minimum and delivers moisture directly to the plants’ roots. 

The mossy, aged look of the terra cotta pots looks particularly good against a brick wall. To soften the too-orange color of new pots, try our DIY: Transform Terra Cotta Pots Into Instant Antiques.

Above: For more details about the metal Vertical Wall Columns, see our previous post about Joost Bakker’s Vertical Wall Gardens.

Above: The Vertical Walls and Vertical Garden Columns are constructed of steel rods, available in two finishes: black powder coat or galvanized. For pricing and ordering information, see Schiavello.

Want to cover a wall with plants? See all of our favorite Vertical Gardens, plus a genius DIY Living Wall, Lazy Person’s Edition.