Grow a Living Wall

March 15, 2015

In her latest garden book, proponent of green-style living, photographer, columnist, and garden lecturer Coronado (Illinois Getting Started Garden Guide; Indiana Getting Started Garden Guide) urges readers to "grow up" by using vertical space in creative and purposeful ways. Twenty themed projects employ an array of various hardscape and plant materials to create living walls. Step-by-step instructions outline plant selection, required tools and materials, and installation techniques. The colorful photos supplementing the text show that many of these compact hanging or standing gardens look like garden-show entries. A range of budgets and styles are offered. Projects may be simple, such as hanging a planted container on a gate, or more challenging, with greenery that covers a wall. Readers can choose from examples of culinary, herbal, pollinator, or aromatherapy gardens. Several plans address different environs and types of spaces--balconies, for example, or shaded areas. Each project has at least one purpose, which may be to help the environment, set a mood, embellish landscapes, or grow edibles. The author successfully demonstrates how to grow imaginative and purposeful space-saving gardens on an upright plane. VERDICT A green thumbs up! All levels of garden hobbyists and landscapers will enjoy this upbeat book.--Deborah Broocker, Georgia Perimeter Coll. Lib., Dunwoody

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