Depending on the look you are going for, there is a large variety of plants which would look wonderful as part of a living wall. Whether you would prefer a foliage-first green wall, a flowering display, or even a more practical herb wall, there are many plants to choose from.

When it comes to green living walls, you want to try and keep it interesting through use of different textures. This is because the colour will be pretty consistent, so using different leaf shapes and plant structures will ensure your wall stays exciting. It is also best to choose evergreen plants, to maintain a consistent effect throughout the year and to give colour in winter.

Green walls, as the name suggests, tend to be made up of plants predominantly chosen for their verdant foliage. This doesn’t necessarily mean all your living wall plants need to have green leaves, as breaking them up with some variegated foliage such as variegated Ivy with its cream or white features, or warm brown Heucheras, such as Heuchera ‘Coral bells’, can produce a lovely effect.

A combination of many foliage-heavy plants is sure to produce a lovely and relaxing atmosphere. Plants such as evergreen ferns like Polystichum aculeatum for that classic feathery fern look, or the dappled and gentle look of the Blechnum spicant, the lovely and delicate deer fern.

Perfect for indoor and outdoor living walls, having an herb garden growing on your wall is an ideal space-saving and convenient choice. Plenty of herbs can thrive in smaller, 1-litre pots, which is ideal for Wonderwall’s living wall kits too.

The smaller starter living wall kits are perfect for this, allowing you the perfect number of planting pots to allow for variety, whilst also allowing you to repeat some of your favourites. With room for 12 plants, you’ll have plenty of space for herbs to liven up any meal. Plus, with the different leaf shapes, textures, colours, and heights of the plants, they make an attractive and fragrant display too.

Herbs are also notoriously tolerant of being grown indoors, so are ideal for both indoor and outdoor living walls. Ocimum, Basil, has a lovely peppery flavour and benefits from frequent cropping, which makes it a great herb to grow from seed. A lovely compact herb, Petroselinum crispum, Parsley, is wonderfully fragrant when added as a garnish or used to create a delicious sauce. Or perhaps Mentha, mint, would be the perfect herb choice for you, particularly if you make a lot of sweet treats and desserts.

You can also grow other productive and edible plants in your living wall, some which are suitable outdoors, and others which will tolerate indoor growing. It is also best if the plants are able to This can be a great problem solver if you want to grow your own fruit and vegetables at home, but don’t have a great deal of planting space.

Make sure to choose compact edible plants which can cope well with regular pruning to keep them to their smaller shape. Strawberries are a great choice, growing well in smaller and more compact conditions. Their attractive flowers between April and June produce an enjoyable display, followed by their jewel-like sweet fruits between June and September.

There are also several savoury meal options, including a large variety of salad leaves like rocket and spinach, plus lettuce greens such as upright Cos or mini-Romaine plants. Being able to grow fruits and vegetables such as these and crop them straight from your wall means you can enjoy them immediately and completely fresh, making your meals healthier and more flavourful.

Flowering plants are lovely when grown on a living wall, adding a colourful display provides you with many options with structure and design plans. Finding plants that flower at similar times and work well in a display together is the real task, along with considering the aspect of your living wall. If it is indoors, your plants need to be more shade-tolerant. Outdoors, depending on their location, they need to be able to live well in well-lit spaces.

For sunny locations, there are plenty of compact ornamental flowering plants to consider. Campanulas, for example, are lovely dwarf perennials, which don’t require a lot of space but create a big impact with their star-shaped purple or white flowers. They will also tolerate semi-shade as well as full sun, which is ideal for wall growing. Or perhaps Fuchsias, for their vibrant perennial pink and purple flowers for a real talking point.

Shadier locations have plenty of options too, such as the fragrant Erysimum, wallflower, which comes in a wide variety of colours to suit any planting scheme or design. Heucheras can also offer some interesting evergreen foliage in several shades of green, purple, red, orange and brown, alongside variegated varieties, their striking flowers appear in the summer for an additional shade-friendly display.

No matter what your preference for your living wall, Wonderwall’s kits create the perfect opportunity to create a productive and visually appealing display on a vertical surface inside or outside your home.