Vertical Garden Plant Suggestions
At Vertical Gardens Direct, we know that the right plants can completely transform your space. Whether you're building a lush green wall indoors or creating a vibrant outdoor living space, choosing the right plants is key. Below are some of our favourite plants that thrive in vertical garden systems, providing beauty, texture, and easy maintenance.
Designing the Ideal Plant Layout for Your Vertical Garden
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Top Section: This area usually gets the most sun and dries out the fastest, so choose plants that love direct sunlight and drier conditions like ornamental grasses, succulents, and Mediterranean herbs. These hardy varieties will handle the heat and still look great year-round.
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Tip: Mixing a wetting agent into the top rows can help the soil retain moisture a little longer between waterings.
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Middle Section: This is the sweet spot for most plants. It gets a balance of sun and shade with moderate moisture levels. Choose varieties such as ferns, spider plants, and English ivy who all thrive here where water naturally filters down from above.
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Bottom Section: The lowest rows stay cooler, shadier, and more humid making them ideal for peace lilies, philodendrons, and ferns. These moisture-loving plants will enjoy the extra shade and pronlonged dampness.
By matching your plants to their natural water requirements and sunlight exposure, you’ll create a garden that’s not only beautiful but also easier to maintain.
Plants for Vertical Gardens
Liriope muscari (Lilyturf)
Ideal for: All-rounder (full sun to part shade)
Light: Full sun to partial shade
Water: Moderate; drought-tolerant once established
Characteristics: Liriope muscari forms dense, grass-like clumps with elegant purple flower spikes in summer. It’s hardy, low-maintenance, and perfect for planting in clumps to create seamless, flowing patterns on your vertical garden.
Carex ‘Moon Falls’
Ideal for: All-rounder (full sun to part shade)
Light: Partial shade to full shade
Water: Keep the soil moist but well-drained
Characteristics: This graceful sedge has soft, arching green and cream foliage year-round. It thrives in sun or part shade, adding gentle movement and contrast, perfect for planting in clumps to create natural patterns.
Boston Fern (Nephrolepis exaltata)
Ideal for: Middle to Lower Rows
Light: Partial shade to bright, indirect light
Water: Keep the soil moist
Characteristics: Known for its lush, feathery fronds, the Boston Fern adds texture and greenery to vertical gardens. It thrives in high humidity and needs consistent moisture to maintain its vibrant green foliage.
Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum)
Ideal for: Middle to Lower Rows
Light: Bright, indirect light
Water: Water when the top inch of soil is dry
Characteristics: Spider plants are known for their arching, grass-like leaves and small “pups” that dangle from the mother plant. They adapt well to different light conditions and are resilient, making them a great choice for busy gardeners. Great for the lower portion of your vertical garden so pups can cascade down.
Succulents (Various)
Ideal for: Top Rows
Light: Full sun or bright, indirect light
Water: Allow the soil to dry completely between waterings
Characteristics: Succulents store water in their leaves, allowing them to thrive in drier conditions. They come in various shapes and colors, providing interesting visual texture to vertical gardens while requiring minimal care. Great for the lower portion of your vertical garden so they can cascade down.
English Ivy (Hedera helix)
Ideal for: Lower Rows
Light: Bright, indirect light
Water: Water when the top inch of soil is dry
Characteristics: English Ivy is a classic climbing plant with glossy green leaves. It's great for creating dense coverage in a vertical garden and grows well in low-light conditions, making it a versatile option.
Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum raddianum)
Ideal for: Middle to Lower Rows
Light: Prefers indirect light
Water: Keep soil moist but not soggy
Characteristics: Delicate and elegant, the Maidenhair Fern has fine, lacy foliage and thrives in humid environments. It’s sensitive to drought and requires regular misting or moisture retention in the soil to maintain its delicate fronds.
Herbs (Basil, Mint, Thyme, and More)
Ideal for: Top to Middle Rows
Light: Full sun to partial shade
Water: Water when the top inch of soil feels dry
Characteristics: Growing herbs in vertical gardens is both practical and beautiful. Herbs like basil, mint, and thyme are easy to care for and provide fresh ingredients for cooking. They thrive in sunny spots and add pleasant fragrances to the garden.
Philodendron Scandens
Ideal for: Middle to Lower Rows
Light: Medium to high, can tolerate lower light
Water: Keep the soil moist but allow it to dry out before the next watering
Characteristics: Known for its heart-shaped leaves and climbing vines, Philodendron Scandens is a low-maintenance plant that adapts well to low light. It’s perfect for adding vertical greenery that softens the space.
Philodendron Scandens 'Mica'
Ideal for: Middle to Lower Rows
Light: Medium to high, can tolerate lower light
Water: Keep the soil moist but allow it to dry out before the next watering
Characteristics: Similar to the standard Philodendron Scandens, the ‘Mica’ variety has a mix of green and yellow leaves that offer a subtle variegation. It’s easy to grow and adds color contrast to your vertical garden.
Scindapsus Aureus ‘Marble Queen’
Ideal for: Middle to Lower Rows
Light: Low to high light, prefers moderate light
Water: Keep the soil moderately moist
Characteristics: The ‘Marble Queen’ has beautifully variegated white and green leaves that brighten up any vertical garden. It’s relatively easy to care for and tolerates varying light conditions.
Siderasis Fuscata
Ideal for: Lower Rows
Light: Low to high light
Water: Keep the soil moderately moist
Characteristics: Also known as the “Bear’s Ear” plant, Siderasis Fuscata has velvety bronze leaves with silver bands, adding texture and color to the lower parts of your garden. It thrives in both low and moderate light.
Aglaonema Silver Queen/Maria
Ideal for: Middle to Lower Rows
Light: Medium to high light
Water: Moderate, allowing the soil to dry out before re-watering
Characteristics: The Aglaonema Silver Queen has striking silver variegation and is extremely hardy. It’s a popular choice for indoor vertical gardens because it thrives in low to moderate light and requires minimal watering.
Dracaena Compacta
Ideal for: Middle to Lower Rows
Light: Low to high light
Water: Keep the soil moderately dry but do not let it dry out completely
Characteristics: Dracaena Compacta has sleek, dark green foliage that grows in tight, compact clusters. It’s slow-growing and thrives in low-light conditions, making it perfect for indoor vertical gardens that need structure.
Aeschynanthus (Lipstick Plant)
Ideal for: Middle to Lower Rows
Light: Medium to high light
Water: Allow the soil to dry slightly between watering
Characteristics: The Lipstick Plant gets its name from its bright red tubular flowers. It thrives in well-draining soil with moderate light, adding vibrant color to vertical gardens.
Asplenium Species (Bird's Nest Fern)
Ideal for: Middle to Lower Rows
Light: Medium to high light
Water: Allow the soil to dry slightly between watering
Characteristics: This fern is perfect for adding lush greenery to your garden. Its wide, bright fronds can tolerate moderate light and consistent, but not excessive, moisture.
Peperomia Carparata (Silver & Red)
Ideal for: Upper/Middle Rows
Light: Medium to high light
Water: Keep soil moderately moist
Characteristics: This compact plant has heart-shaped leaves that range in color from deep red to silver, making it perfect for adding visual interest to the lower sections of a vertical garden. It thrives in moderate light and doesn’t require heavy watering.
Variegated Flax Lily (Dianella tasmanica)
Ideal for: Middle to Lower Rows
Light: Partial to full shade
Water: Moderate watering, prefers moist but well-drained soil
Characteristics: The Variegated Flax Lily is a hardy plant with striking green and white striped leaves. It adds beautiful contrast to vertical gardens and thrives in partial shade, making it ideal for areas with moderate light. It’s drought-tolerant once established but prefers consistent moisture.
Get Creative With Plant Selection
Use our plant list as inspiration, but remember almost any plant suited to pots can thrive in a vertical garden. Get creative and browse your local nursery for ideas. Chat with a nursery staff member too and they’ll help you choose plants that suit your climate and light conditions best.
Creating a Balanced Vertical Garden
When planning your vertical garden, think about balance and contrast. Combine trailing plants like ivy or pothos with upright growers such as ferns, grasses, or herbs to add depth, texture, and movement to your wall. Group plants together to create patterns and flow.
Designing the Perfect Planting Layout
The layout is just as important as the plant selection. Arrange plants in a way that mimics how they’d grow in nature as this helps them thrive and keeps maintenance low. Consider how sunlight and water move through your wall for the best results.
Top of the Green Wall: Sun-Loving, Drought-Tolerant Plants
The top rows dry out the fastest because of direct sun and water runoff, making them ideal for hardy, drought-tolerant plants. You can also add a wetting agent here to help the soil hold moisture between waterings.
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Succulents: Perfect for the top section, they store water in their leaves and handle heat with ease. Varieties like Echeveria, Sedum, Haworthia, and cascading String of Pearls look stunning from above.
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Herbs: Mediterranean favourites such as thyme, rosemary, and oregano thrive in dry, sunny conditions and are easy to care for.
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Golden Pothos: Adaptable and fast-growing, Pothos can sit near the top so its vines can trail gracefully down the wall.
Middle of the Green Wall: Plants That Love Balance
The middle section gets a mix of sun and shade, with steady moisture as water filters down. It’s the ideal zone for plants that prefer moderate light and regular watering — not too dry, not too wet.
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Boston Fern: They enjoy consistent moisture but don’t like sitting in water, making this the sweet spot for their lush, arching fronds.
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Spider Plants: Tough and forgiving, Spider Plants grow well in varied light and send out cascading baby “spiderettes” that add movement and texture.
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English Ivy: This classic trailing plant enjoys the balanced light and moisture of the middle rows, creating soft, cascading greenery.
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Liriope muscari: With its grassy foliage and purple flower spikes, Liriope adds texture and contrast. It tolerates both full sun and part shade, thriving with moderate moisture.
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Carex ‘Moon Falls’: This graceful sedge has soft, arching green and cream foliage that cascades gently, bringing a sense of flow to the middle of your wall.
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Aglaonema Silver Queen: Hardy and elegant, it handles filtered light beautifully and brings silvery tones that brighten the centre of your garden.
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Philodendron Scandens: A reliable favourite with heart-shaped leaves, perfect for moderate light areas where it can trail softly or climb.
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Asplenium (Bird’s Nest Fern): Great for adding volume and bold texture. It enjoys humid conditions and indirect light.
Bottom of the Green Wall: Shade-Loving, Moisture-Loving Plants
The bottom rows stay cooler and more humid as water trickles down. This makes them perfect for plants that like consistent moisture and less direct sunlight.
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Ferns and Mosses: Bird’s Nest Fern, Maidenhair Fern and Asparagus Fern thrive here, along with mosses that add texture and softness to shaded areas.
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Peace Lilies (Spathiphyllum): Ideal for damp, shaded conditions — they’ll reward you with lush leaves and occasional white blooms.
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Philodendrons: These humidity lovers grow thick and full in the lower rows, creating a dense green finish to your wall.
Experiment and Adjust Your Vertical Garden Plant Layout
Most vertical garden systems let you rearrange pots easily, so don’t be afraid to experiment. If something’s not thriving, move it to another position and see how it responds. Over time, you’ll get to know the little microclimates within your wall and where each plant truly flourishes.