Your garden may be a delight, but what about those stark house walls - all bare masonry and mortar. If your house is suffering from a case of BVD (Brick Venereal Disease), there are some simple curse you can try.
It’s just a matter of coaxing the garden to clamber up the walls. This will soften the whole effect and create a garden on the vertical plane. The simplest approach, of course, is to plant a climber. And if you plant climbers with scented flowers around windows, their perfume can fill the house.
Walls are big empty spaces just begging for plants.
Four (4) easy steps to change the scene
- Paint: Brush the bricks free of dirt and apply a coat of paint suitable for masonry.
- Hang it: Wall baskets are the quickest and easiest way to introduce plants to a solid wall. Use trailing plants for a cascading effect and make sure the plant suits the aspect
- Add a shelf: To frame a window attractively, you need to add plants at sill height. Install a simple shelf for pots or planter troughs, using self-supporting brackets which fit into the grout lines between the bricks.
- *Hanging without hassle: Securing features to a brick wall usually involves power drills, masonary bits and wall plugs. But there’s an easier alternative, courtesy of a new fitting which simply grips onto the raked mortar between the bricks and can be used to support pots, hanging baskets or even a timber shelf.
- Green up: Climbing plants are indispensable for landscaping a wall, but avoid self-clinging climbers such as ivy, on walls which have been painted - their suckers will pull off the paints. Instead go for twining climbers like star jasmine, giving them a climbing frame such as this decorative metal trellis. Remember, the larger the plant leaf, the larger the holes in the lattice need to be so the plant can climb easily. To help secure the plant to the trellis, use plastic shower rings. They’re easy to hook on and their soft edges won’t cut into the plant.
Every house has at least four (4) of them, and they’re usually pretty bland