I used to think vertical gardens were just for people with too much time and those weird Instagram accounts where everything’s aesthetically curated within an inch of its life.
Then I spent three months trying to keep a single pothos alive in my apartment—a plant that supposedly thrives on neglect—and watched it slowly turn the color of old newspaper. The thing is, I’d been thinking about plants all wrong, treating them like decorative objects instead of living systems with actual needs. Succulents, though, operate on a different wavelength entirely. They evolved in environments where water is scarce and conditions are harsh, which means they’ve developed storage systems in their leaves and stems that let them survive weeks without attention. When you mount them vertically on an indoor wall, you’re essentially replicating the rocky cliff faces and volcanic slopes where many species naturally grow, sometimes at angles that seem to defy basic physics. I’ve seen Echeveria clinging to near-vertical stone in Baja California, their roots finding purchase in cracks barely visible to the human eye. The vertical orientation actually helps with drainage, which is critical because root rot—caused by sitting in waterlogged soil—kills more succulents than any other factor, and I mean that’s not even close.
Here’s the thing about installing these systems indoors: the structural planning matters way more than the plant selection, at least initially. You need to locate wall studs using a stud finder, because drywall alone won’t support the weight of a fully planted vertical frame, which can easily reach 40-50 pounds when the soil is moist. I guess most people skip this step and then wonder why their living wall ends up as a living floor situation three weeks later.
Wait—maybe I should back up and explain the actual frame construction, because that’s where things get messy in practice, not just theory.
The pocket system I ended up using involves a backing board (half-inch plywood works, though reclaimed wood adds character if you’re into that), covered with landscape fabric stapled at roughly six-inch intervals to create planting pockets. Some tutorials suggest using pre-made felt systems with built-in pockets, which defnately look cleaner but cost about three times as much and don’t let you customize pocket depth. Succulents like Sedum, Sempervivum, and smaller Crassula varieties need only about two inches of soil depth, while larger specimens—Aeonium or trailing varieties like String of Pearls—want closer to four inches so their root systems can actually anchor properly. The soil mix itself can’t be regular potting soil, which retains too much moisture; you need a gritty mix that’s roughly 50% inorganic material like perlite, coarse sand, or even small lava rock. I’ve tested mixes ranging from 30% to 70% grit, and honestly, the plants tolerate a pretty wide range, but drainage speed is the key metric—water should move through in seconds, not minutes.
After mounting the frame securely to studs using 3-inch wood screws and potentially L-brackets for frames exceeding three feet in height, you fill the pockets with soil and then comes the part nobody warns you about: planting vertically is awkward.
Your instinct is to stick the succulent in root-first like you would in a normal pot, but gravity becomes your enemy immediately, pulling soil and sometimes entire plants out of their pockets before they’ve established any grip. What actually works—and I learned this after losing a $12 Graptoveria to the floor—is laying the frame flat, planting everything, letting the roots settle for about five days in a horizontal position, then carefully tilting the frame upright in stages over another week. The roots need time to grow into the fabric and soil matrix, creating a living anchor system that holds everything in place even when vertical. Some growers use floral pins or small pieces of wire to temporarily secure plants during this establishment period, which sounds fussy but prevents that sinking feeling when a carefully arranged composition just slides out onto your carpet. Light requirements depend on species, but most succulents want bright indirect light for at least four to six hours daily—south-facing walls work best in northern hemisphere locations, though you’ll need to watch for sunburn on sensitive varieties like Haworthia, which can turn brown and crispy if the light’s too intense.
The watering rhythm takes some calibration, I won’t lie.
Vertical systems dry out faster than horizontal pots because of increased air circulation and the drainage orientation, so you might water every 10-14 days in summer versus every three to four weeks for the same plants in traditional containers. I use a spray bottle for spot watering individual pockets, which gives more control than trying to water the whole frame evenly—and inevitably creates that one pocket that stays soggy while others turn to dust. You’ll know you’ve dialed it in when new growth appears at the center of rosettes and the leaves feel firm and plump, not soft or wrinkled, though honestly some trial and error is just part of the process no matter how many articles you read beforehand.
