What Is a Green Wall & How Can You Make One In Your Home?

What is a green wall, how is it different from a living wall, and how can you have one at homeor at least keep your house plant from dying? We asked the expert: Hilton Carter, plant whisperer, visionary green thumb, and star of the upcoming Hulu series You Attention Please, who shared his tips for making the most of plants indoors.

Youve seen them growing in every trendy hotel, lining your Instagram feed, even gracing the likes of Google headquarters. This years undeniably pervasive interior design trend? Green walls. Maybe its because of the studies touting a correlation between plants in homes and the longevity of their occupants, or maybe its just because they add life to a space as nothing else can.

Obviously, for most of our readers, the kitchen is their homes most sacred and lively space, so we thoughtwhat about adding even more vibrancy to your favorite room with a green wall? Who better to give us pointers on building a one than Instagrams green thumb sensation, dedicated father to Frank the plant, and Baltimorean author of the awe-inspiring Wild at HomeHilton Carter. And yeah, hes just as cool and fun as his Instagram looks.

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TIL: Any wall can be a green wall if it tries.

First things first. Hilton wants everyone to know that ANY wall can be a green wall because any wall can technically house a plant, and thats what makes a wall green. (If you need inspo, hes got a whole Instagram and books worthdont forget to drool.) The type of plant wall were specifically talking about, he says, is called a living wall.

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But, whats the difference between a living wall and a green wall?

Anything that has plants growing from the wall is considered a green wall, right? A living wall. I think what makes mine different is that those are all propagations in cradles. Some of the plants that have been living in that wall have been living there for a long timeA normal green wall is stuff growing in soil kinda hanging almost like pouches that overlap each other and are growing down the wall. And most of them have a water system connected to make sure they stay hydrated.

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Okay, got it. So for those of us who rent or cant afford to professionally install a living wall, back to plants in the kitchen! Do you have plants in your kitchen?

I do not show my kitchen. You can scroll through my feed as much you want and youll never see my kitchen. Theres no light in my kitchen, so where theres no light, theres no greenYou wont see shots of my bathroom as much and none of my kitchen because theres not enough light being carried into my kitchen for it to be worth me showing it.

What about air plants? Those can survive without light, right?

Wrong. Hilton explains, Some plants are low light and low maintenance, but dont think of them as plants that can live in no light. If you think about plants in the wild, in a rainforest, plants grow under shaded trees. So, when you think about plants with low light, it means they can tolerate filtered light or less light, but they must still have light and water. You must water them at least once every two weeks, depending where you live. If you have no light, you have to bring in artificial light. There are daylight bulbs that produce artificial daylight.

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What other plants are best for a kitchens climate?

If the place has light, if you have windows in your kitchen? You can do a lot of things if you have light. If the kitchen has low light to bright light, lots of things will work. A variety of pothos would work well. Or philodendrons in general. Theyre all viny plants that like to cascade down a wall. Pothos are a low medium light, low maintenance plant. I suggest those to a novice plant parent who are trying to bring plants into their spaces. They arent typically those that require as much time watering.

What about edible plants? We want to cook with our green wall!

Ive had success with rosemary and basil indoors. Id also say mint works well. If you go to some of these restaurants now that have the hydroponic plants and leafy greensyou see how close those lights are to those plants. They make devices now that can do that for you.

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What materials will you need to build the wall? You have a great tutorial in your book about how to hang a large plant with rope, what else can you use?

It depends on what type of green wall youre building. My cradle wall isnt a wall thats asking for a ton, because all youre doing is filling tubes up with water and cuttings from plants. Now, like I said, a traditional green wall has a system that runs pipes along the wall and these pouches. Many companies can come in and do that for you. There isnt really a DIY for a traditional green wallBut like I said, placing a plant on a wall is a green wall. People can get creative and make their own sort of living wall, with plants randomly hanging on a wall, like youd hang a picture.

For all updates on Hilton Carter, his current book tour, and Frank the plant, check out the Instagram where it all began: @hiltoncarter.

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