Courtyard and Side Garden Green Walls, Unley

Joel and his family were finishing their new home in Unley and had two spaces to solve. The first was a large blank rendered wall facing the courtyard, the backdrop to their outdoor living area. The second was the narrow side way outside the master bedroom, where a full-height window looked straight onto a Colorbond fence and the house next door.

They wanted a lush, green outlook from inside the house, and privacy from the neighbours without losing the light.

Both walls sit mostly in shade, so we chose shade-loving plants and used colourful foliage to keep them bright. We went with a blocked design, planting each variety in bold sweeps rather than mixing them, so the pink and lime Syngonium form flowing drifts across the wall against a backdrop of ferns and variegated Spider Plant.

In the side way, a steel frame in front of the fence carries the garden, screening the neighbouring house completely and turning the bedroom window into a picture of greenery.

Our patented vertical garden system was made in-house, and the plants were grown to maturity in our own nursery, so each pot went onto the wall already full and established. The mesh panels were fixed to the walls first, then planted row by row. We fitted automated irrigation across four zones, each programmed for its own conditions, so the courtyard wall and the side way are watered to suit their positions. The full 40 m² was installed in four days, giving Joel a finished garden the moment we packed up.

The blank wall is now the centrepiece of the courtyard, and the master bedroom looks out onto a private, lush garden instead of a fence. From inside the house, both spaces feel calm and green all year round, and Joel absolutely loves it. The gardens are on our maintenance program, with a visit every four weeks to prune, feed, check the irrigation and keep them looking their best.