Vertical Greenery

Introduction to Vertical Greenery

Vertical greenery represents an innovative dimension in greenery-related infrastructure, where plants are incorporated onto vertical surfaces. Traditionally, vertical greenery involved climbing plants with self-clinging roots growing directly on the building surfaces, twining plants growing on trellis and pergolas, or plants growing within the crevices of stacked rocks. In recent years, numerous new systems have been developed to grow a variety of plants on vertical surfaces.

Green wall at Keppel @ Changi

Types of Vertical Greenery Systems

Vertical greenery systems fall into three broad categories: planter systems, pocket systems, and support systems.

Components of a Vertical Greenery System

Regardless of the system type, a successful vertical greenery system generally relies on three key components:

Irrigation and drainage should be considered together to maintain suitable moisture levels while preventing excess water from accumulating around the system.

With the basic components in place, careful plant selection is equally important to ensure that the greenery can thrive under the site's conditions and maintenance regime.

Plant Selection

Plant selection is crucial to the success of vertical greenery. The types of plants selected depend on system type, design intention, environmental factors, budget, and expected degree of maintenance. There are numerous plant species that can be grown vertically.

Head to our plant resources page for recommendations of plants for green walls.