How To Make a Portable Vertical Garden Tower

What You’ll Need

• 1x wooden board 12 inches wide, 4 feet long, and 1 inch thick
• 4x #8 flathead screws, 3/4” long
• 4x Wally Eco planters (installation brackets included)
• 1x 8 oz. sample container of paint (Sherwin-Williams' Quaint Peche)
• 1x 4” paint roller and paint tray
• 2x bags of Miracle-Gro gnat-resistant indoor potting soil (for indoor use)
• Gardening trowel and gloves (optional)
• 4x 6” plants of your choice
• Ruler and meter stick or measuring tape
• Pencil and scissors
• A power drill with a 1/8” drill bit and screwdriver bit
• Cardboard to cover your floor (plastic sheeting or a tarp would work as well)

Painting

First, spread out cardboard or whatever you have to cover your floor in a medium area (around 6 square feet of space is plenty). Lay out your wooden board flat in the middle alongside your painting supplies, pouring a bit of your paint into the paint tray. For this project, we chose Sherwin-Williams' Quaint Peche, a nice, warm pink. Get your roller evenly saturated with paint, and begin!

Pro Tip: move your roller in small, vertical ‘V’ motions to get even coverage of paint while blending the edges of your strokes.

You may need to let your paint dry (about 30 minutes is usually enough time) before applying a second coat, if necessary. Let your paint dry again and paint the edges and top of your board. 

Planting

Once your board is painted and dry, move it aside. Bring your soil, gardening tools if you need them, 6” plants, and Wally Eco planters into your workspace. Start by using scissors to open your first bag of soil by cutting a large triangle off of one corner of the bag. Then, set up your Wally Eco wall planters by removing the perforated water channeling panel, flipping it around, and firmly re-inserting it into the slot at the back of the planter. Also remove all hardware included in the planter basket at the bottom (1 bracket, 1 screw, and 1 drywall anchor in each). You will only need the brackets for this project, but move them aside for now.

Next, use your trowel or your hands to lay down a layer of soil in the bottom of your Eco, at least a couple inches thick.

Take one of your 6” plants and gently squeeze around its base to help it come out of the plastic container more smoothly, then place it in the center of your Eco. Fill the sides with soil, packing it firmly around the plant.

Pro Tip: to avoid water running over the top of the soil and down the front of the planter when you water your plants, make sure the soil reaches above the perforated holes in the water channeling panel.

Measuring & Drilling

Place your board against a wall, painted side up, and measure your midpoint along the top, marking it with a pencil. From there, using your meter stick or measuring tape, make marks down the center of the board at 4” down and every 11 inches down from that mark (at 15”, 26”, and 37” from the top).

Pro Tip: after marking where your holes will be drilled, take a screw and make a small indentation with its tip at each mark. This will make it easier for your bit to stay in the right spot while you’re drilling.

Next, make sure your drill is loaded with a 1/8” drill bit, and drill perpendicular to the wood about 1/2” in at each mark. To get an idea of how deep your bit needs to go, hold up your drill bit to the side of the board and make a note of where you think it should end up, and how far down the drill bit that is.

Installing

Once all your holes are drilled, replace the drill bit with the screwdriver bit and gather your #8 flathead 3/4” long screws as well as your 4 Eco brackets. To install a bracket, simply place your screw through the hole in the center of the bracket, place the head of the screw on your drill tip, place your drill tip on one of your marks, and drill until it’s tight, making sure the bracket is oriented correctly (curved side up).

Rinse and repeat for all 4 brackets!

Hanging

One of the wonderful things about the Wally Eco is its mobility; for example, if you hang one of your planters on the bottom bracket and decide you want that plant featured up top instead, it’s easy to take it off that bracket and onto the top one! With that being said, hang your planted Wally Ecos in any order on your board and - Voila! Your finished, portable vertical garden tower!

Easy Clean-up

When you’re all done, you can easily brush your soil into a dustpan and fold up your cardboard or tarp, and there’s no mess underneath. The only thing that's left to do now is enjoy your new portable vertical garden tower!