How to Make a Simple and Beautiful DIY Plant Wall

I have a small backyard with a small Lanai (screened in back porch) that lacks any character and charm so it is often unused and wasted space.  So I decided to add this simple and beautiful living plant wall DIY to be the focal point of an outdoor dining/lounge area. This way, we can take advantage of the amazing weather in Florida, especially during the cooler winter and spring months. I want it to have some life and I took that literally by adding a plant wall and the space went from blah to WOW.

Before photo of the outdoor space without the living plant wall:

DIY Plant Wall Tutorial

To begin, let’s start with the materials we used to create this outdoor DIY living plant wall. Note: You can do this inside as well or simply have it as an accent wall without the plants.

Supplies

My plant wall is going to be 9.5′ high x 8′ wide.

1. 4 – 1×2”x8’ Pine boards for the vertical support (I used Pine because I like its simplicity (no knots) and it is budget-friendly. You could use any type of wood. Since the boards are only 8′ long, I had to extend the vertical support by cutting smaller pieces using a 4th board.
2. Tapcon screws – This is because I am drilling into the block wall. You can use regular wood screws if you are doing this inside your home with drywall and woodsheds.
3. Hammer Drill – Since I am drilling into the block wall, I needed something with a little more torque and a hammer drill makes the process a bit easier. You could try using a regular drill and drill bit. It might need a bit more force.
4. Wood Glue
5. Brad nailer
6. 1 ¼” brad nails
7. 2 – 1″x8″x8′ Pine boards
8. 12 – 1″x3”x8’ Pine boards (I actually used 13 because I miscalculated and didn’t want to make another trip to the store). You can see my pattern is off at the very bottom but since it was at the bottom, I didn’t mind it at all.
9. 26 – 1″x2”x8’ Pine boards (I used 24 since I had an extra 1’x3″x8′ board)
10. Wood Filler
11. 1 ¼” wood screws
12. Planters
13. Sealer
14. Level

Instructions for Indoor/Outdoor Living Plant Wall

1. Determine the placement of your vertical boards. I used three boards to support the 8 foot width of the living plant wall.

   

2. Using a hammer drill and bit, predrill all the holse through the wood into the block/concrete wall. I drilled three holes on each board, top, middle and bottom.
3. Using tapcon screws, mount the pine boards onto the wall
4. Using wood screws, secure the first pine board (1×8”x8’) at the top of vertical board. Use a level to ensure the board is level.
5. I used the depth of one of the 1×2”x8’ boards to determine the spacing between each board. Therefore the spacing is ¾”.
6. Once the top board is secured, place the spacer directly underneath the first board, apply glue to the 3 vertical slats where the next board will go. Place the pine board and press agains the wood glue. Nail the board onto the vertical slats.
7. Repeat this process for all your boards, following the pattern. We have our widest board as the first board, followed by 2 – 1×2”x8’ pine board, then 1 – 1×3”x8’ pine board then 2 – 1×2”x8’ pine board, then 1 – 1×3”x8’ pine board. This pattern was continued all the way to the bottom where the last board was 1×8”x8’.
8. Once the wall is completed, fill in nail holes
9. Seal all the boards. I used an old cloth but you can also use a brush
10. Add plants on your living plant wall

Total Cost Without Tools

2 – 1″x8″x8′ Pine Boards      $20.14 x 2 = $40.28

12 – 1″x3”x8’ Pine Boards     $9.16 x 12 = $109.92

30 – 1″x8”x8’ Pine Boards    $5.95 x 26 = $178.50

Total Cost of Pine Boards for the Living Plant Wall = $328.70 plus taxes

I had the everything else required for this project but here are the costs if you had to purchase everything (minus tools)

Wood Filler –          $8.58

1 ¼” brad nails –    $10.98

Tapcon anchors –  $5.75

Polycrylic Matte –  $21.60

Wood glue –           $4.38

Total Miscellaneous Cost: $51.29 plus taxes. You will have a lot leftover after this project so as rough estimate, let’s assume you use 50% of the miscellaneous materials, your cost works out to be $25. So the total cost with pine boards is roughly $330 for this project. 

Final Details of the Living Plant Wall

The wall is complete and it’s now time to decorate. I had a few galvanized hanging planters that I decided to spray paint black for a more modern look. Here are similar hanging planters that I used in this project.

To define the space, I layered in this black and white rug. I brought back our patio table that I DIY’ed last year. You can see the full tutorial on this Ikea Patio Hack in this blog post.

Of course, I made a trip to Home Depot to grab some new plants for the living plant wall, including a $15 fiddle leaf fig tree. I can’t tell you how many times I have killed a plant, specifically that one, so fingers crossed.

Last minute, I found a few scrap pieces of wood that are 3/4″ thick so I decided to use them as floating shelves. I was able to tightly slide them in between the slats with no support necessary (I am keeping the items light on these shelves so it should be ok. If you plan on adding heavier plants on yours, then I would suggest supporting the shelves). Then I grabbed a few smaller plants and of course a few cute pots to house my new babies. I love the little face on this pot.  This white fluted one  and blue and yellow polka dot pot adds a fun element to this space. This side table helped complete the living plant wall diy by acting as a stand for some of my new plant babies.

Shop Supplies to DIY this Simple and Beautiful Living Plant Wall

Shop Side Table, Planter and Accessories for this Living Plant Wall