New plant wall
Hot waxed plywood, 45 mil EPDM rubber and felt.
I’ve been planning this new plant wall for a while. I’m not giving detailed directions because, trust me, the method sucks for general application. I have to test this dead cheap method to see if it’s viable. If I can prove it viable I’ll share the method. For now, suffice it to say I’ve got plywood backing . . . again. <wince> Sorry ’bout that.
So here we are, new 5′ wide by 4′ tall plant wall. This one actually has a frame! Woohoo. The layers are:
- Totally whimpy plywood (3/8″) hot ironed with lots of paraffin wax
- 45mil EPDM pond liner purchased from www.pondliner.com
- Carpeting pad felt
The frame is recycled old growth 2×4 with a groove to accept the plywood. The plywood is screwed to the frame.
The gutter is 6″ schedule 40 pvc pipe cut lengthwise from the stash Dan supplied. The ends are aquarium siliconed scrap plastic. The drain hole is in the center. The gutter is screwed onto the back and stabilized with nylon strapping.
So far, so good. I've got one plant (right hand side) that's probably not going to make it.
So far I’ve planted areca palm, wood fern, waffle plant, some sort of flowering succulent (the stand-alone green blob – I have three of these, only one planted so far), the stripey plants I got on my latest run (4 of those) and two dumb cane, one of which has neophyte roots. I have one more chunk of dumb cane to plant.
I still have a lot to put in the wall but cutting the holes without piercing the rubber backing is a PITA and time consuming. I think the end result will be worth it.
6" schedule 40 half-pipe with center drain. The oyster shell in the bottom is to moderate our 6.0 PH water to a more comfortable (for both fish and plants) 7.4
Here are the things I’ve learned so far.
- The drill bit I used for putting holes in the 1″ pvc I’m using for the dribble tube was too big. I should have picked up a smaller drill today (lost the one I had originally) so I could remake the dribble tube.
- The proper way to orient the holes is horizontally toward the wall (duh).
- When stapling the felt to the backing make SURE you put the shiny side out. I can make it work with the shiny side against the backer but I think the wall would heal in faster if the shiny side faced out.
- ½” stainless staples aren’t long enough. I’m making them work but they pop out if you look at them funny which doesn’t make me happy.
I saw something similar to this done on HGTV (or DIY, one of the two) and wondered if this would work! I’m anxious to see how it turns out for you.