Decorated garden walls

Garden Wall Ideas – Create a Boundary and Define Your Space by Decorating a Garden Wall

The best garden wall ideas and decorating tips will ensure that this vital part of your garden design is beautiful and functional.

Garden wall ideas have taken many forms over the past few decades. From concrete stone verticals and painted fences, to elaborate trellis designs and living walls filled with wildlife and foliage, garden wall décor has certainly had a flourish, or an embellishment in some cases. 

With most of us spending more time in our homes these days, beautiful garden ideas have never been more important than now, and walls are no exception. 

Even Shakespeare hired someone to play on the wall in  A Midsummer Night's Dream  , and if the most famous wall of all,  the Great Wall of China ,  could talk, it would probably have an interesting story to tell.

ELEGANT IDEAS FOR THE GARDEN WALL

If you are stuck for garden decoration ideas and inspiration, then you have landed on the right page.

Here are our favorite garden wall ideas and tips for decorating your boundaries, plus tons of design tips. 

1. PRESENT A LIVING WALL

Once the domain of temporary installations, living or green walls have become the must-have decorative design solution for residential gardens.

Colourful, green and providing aesthetic and ecological benefits, living wall ideas use vertical surfaces for planting, particularly useful where space may be limited, but worthy as a striking design feature in their own right. 

In urban areas, green walls can help keep buildings cool, improve air quality and reduce noise pollution, as well as providing habitat for wildlife. They also help keep rainwater away from exterior walls and provide insulation.

2. ADD A COAT OF PAINT.

Accent walls are great indoors, why not outdoors? Give a blank wall, outbuilding or fence a new look by painting them a deep, rich hue and using them as a dramatic backdrop for plants and pots. 

Choose colors according to the amount of sunlight or shade the wall or fence receives, just as you would inside the house. This smoky charcoal shade brings life to woven, steel and wooden accessories.  

Use galvanized pots filled with herbs and decorative zinc watering cans, which can be hung on walls, to catch the light. 

3. FIND THE PERFECT FENCE

Garden fence ideas can define the edges of our garden, provide security, protection and privacy. With the variety of options on offer, there is a lot that a well-chosen fence can do for your outdoor space, so it is worth considering it as an alternative to garden wall ideas.

Having a well-maintained fence is a great way to ensure that you sell your home quickly and get a top price for your property. However, style is just as important as quality, and choosing the right material and look is an important consideration.   

There is a growing demand for unpretentious horizontal linear designs instead of the rustic look. Regardless of the size of the garden, clear boundaries will give your garden privacy and add a smart finish to your space, and a garden fence is an attractive and relatively maintenance-free way to achieve this.  

Fences also provide an ideal backdrop for plants, as well as protecting the garden from the extremes of winter weather. 

4.LINK YOUR GARDEN WITH A STRING OF REUSED STONES

With a big focus on sustainability in 2022, it's no surprise that many of us are looking for areas in our homes and gardens that we can reuse and reclaim.

Often found in quarries and scrapyards, stone can be repurposed into garden wall ideas that are beautifully rustic and visually appealing. Any wildlife living between the stones will only add to the narrative – these types of garden walls provide sheltered homes for newts, frogs and insects. 

5. FINISH A TRADITIONAL WALL

If traditional fence or garden wall ideas aren't on your agenda, don't worry. A tidy boxwood hedge could be the answer to your garden wall prayers. 

Hedges offer many design possibilities and are also great for creating gardens. Understandably, it can be difficult to get excited about hedges. They do their thing quietly, defining the boundaries of our gardens and providing a useful backdrop for other plantings. But they can be much more. 

It is possible to make a feature of hedging by incorporating it into your design when planning a garden and capitalizing on the additional planting opportunities that a hedge offers. “When it comes to design, they play a vital role.” 

‘You can use hedges to divide your space into different garden rooms; taller ones will help you create secret spots, or you can cut a hole in a hedge to capture a view, either taking your eye beyond the garden or peeking into hidden corners.'  

If you're looking for something more classic in design, then the razor-edge precision of a hedge is something impressive, as if the line the gardener drew on his plan had been magnified a thousand times. Who can fail to admire the workmanship that can produce a vivid straight line or a perfect wall of uniform green and black yew? 

6. INCREASE YOUR PLANTABLE SPACE BY GROWING PLANTS VERTICALLY

Are you looking for small garden ideas that maximize planting space? Vertical planting is the solution. 

One of the main ways you can improve the enjoyment you get from your garden is to ensure that every surface of your walls and fences is put to good use. Too many of these potential growth spaces are left empty, when they could be transformed into an elegant feature. 

New planting products, such as wall-mountable bags, now allow you to hang a curtain-like planting drop over almost any wall, and that includes interior walls (given you have a space that receives enough light ). 

They are instant focal points and can be planted with virtually any plant choice – think herbs or colorful climbing plants on a previously unloved garden wall.  

7. LET THE LIGHT IN WITH A TREILLE

For a little more privacy, add a trellis over an existing wall. Trellises and other frames can be erected to encourage delicate plants to grow in desired directions. 

Traditionally, climbing plants have been used to wrap walls with color, and edible climbers, such as blackberries and raspberries, can be trained against a sunny wall.

Trees and shrubs can also be ‘backed', that is, carefully pruned so that their branches grow close to the walls, providing large harvests without encroaching on garden space. 

Alternatively, tall, freestanding planters can be placed in front of bare walls to breathe more life into tired areas, or as additional garden shading ideas.

8. BE UNDERSTANDING OF YOUR EXISTING STRUCTURES

Any garden structure must be considered in relation to the house. That's not to say you have to match, old meets new is very popular in garden design right now, but your choice should be an understanding one. 

Here, the design and materials of a contemporary horizontal slat fence complement the function of modern steel frame gates. As far as garden border ideas go, this design creates a cohesive border, with simple organic shapes of climbing plants softening the linear effect.

HOW CAN I MAKE MY GARDEN WALLS LOOK GOOD?

Regular, even watering is essential and you will get the best results if you can include a drip irrigation system at the same time as building the wall.

Vertical gardening is all the rage and one of the most sensational garden wall ideas to transform a blank wall into a living work of art. 

In its simplest form, a green wall consists of trailing or climbing plants planted in wall-mounted containers or pockets, sometimes with a polythene sheet behind them.

When it comes to choosing plants, think useful as well as decorative. 

A good option is a vertical herb garden that has bushy, creeping thymes with oregano, chives and nasturtiums, which can be cut for cooking and salads.

Alternatively, incorporate scented plants to create a more sensory garden space.

HOW CAN I LIGHT A GARDEN BRICK WALL?

Color is the best way to brighten a brick wall, whether it's paint, flowers or foliage. 

Varying the color and texture will bring an updated exposed brick wall. Remember, lighter colors tend to dominate, so keep dark tones at the bottom for a grounding effect. 

A tempting range of wall mounted planting options are also available to encourage us all to get the best out of every square inch of our plots. Feeders, bags, tubs and other containers can be attached to garden walls and fence posts with sturdy brackets and filled with hanging flowers. 

HOW CAN I HIDE AN UNAESTHETIC GARDEN WALL?

It is relatively easy to hide an unsightly garden wall. If in doubt, consider using plants and foliage to add interest. 

A wide range of herbaceous perennials, grasses, small shrubs, herbs and even fruits and vegetables can be used. Be creative and experimental – try including scented plants, seasonal flowers and bulbs.

However, be sure to check that the plants chosen suit the aspect, microclimate and conditions of the wall on which they will be grown. North-facing garden ideas require very different planting to sunnier south-facing garden ideas, for example.