✨ Interior images are AI-generated. Items shown are similar to those in the video.

Urbano Natural

Balcony with a living wall and a waterfall in the corner

There are two water installations on this balcony and they mustn't be confused: the waterfall, which recirculates the same water forever, and the irrigation for the living wall, which has to be clean water running to waste. Sharing them is the mistake that kills a vertical garden within a season. With that settled, the rest is making the most of things: the fall takes the corner, which is the metre nobody uses, the greenery goes vertical, and the floor is left whole for a chair and a rug.

BalcónMuro vegetalJardín verticalCascada de rincónRiego por goteoCelosía en espigaFaroles de velaHiedraVistas a la ciudadNoche

Design keys

A living wall covering the face either side of the waterfall, with ivy trailing and ferns at the base.
A fine curtain waterfall on a dark brick face, occupying the corner of the balcony.
Two separate water circuits: the waterfall's, which recirculates, and the wall's irrigation, which doesn't.
A herringbone timber lattice closing the open side, with the sconce mounted onto it.
Candle lanterns spread at floor level and none at eye height.
A woven armchair and a round jute rug, at the one spot where waterfall and city are both visible.

Furniture and decor in this design

Items shown are similar to those in the video, not necessarily identical.

Modular vertical garden system

Rigid modules with planting cells, hung on a rail and added together until the wall is covered. Against fabric solutions they take the weight of saturated substrate better and let you remove a whole module to replace plants without dismantling the rest. Check whether the system includes a collection tray at the base: if not, that has to be solved separately before anything goes up.

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Felt pocket planter for a living wall

A felt panel with sewn pockets, the cheap alternative to a modular system. It's light and hangs from a few hooks, but felt breathes across its whole surface, so it dries out much faster and needs watering more often. Put a waterproof membrane between the felt and the wall, because otherwise the damp passes into the structure and a stain appears on the other side.

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Irrigation timer with pump and reservoir

A self-contained unit that draws from a container and distributes by drip, made for balconies with no water supply. It's what makes a living wall viable where there's no tap, and it lets you programme several short waterings a day, which is what a vertical system needs. Use a lidded container with a filter on the intake: without a lid it breeds mosquitoes, and without a filter one blocked emitter leaves half the wall dry.

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Herringbone timber lattice screen

A panel of slats crossed in a herringbone pattern, closing one side without taking light or air. On a balcony it does three jobs at once: it partly screens the neighbour, supports a climber and takes a wall light, which a façade wall doesn't always allow. Outdoors choose pressure-treated or thermally modified timber, and fix it clear of the wall so it ventilates behind.

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Lightweight substrate for vertical gardens

A lightened mix of coir, perlite and bark, formulated to weigh little and drain fast. On a vertical wall the weight isn't a detail but the constraint: ordinary garden soil, saturated, multiplies the load on the fixings and on the balcony slab. In exchange it holds less water, so compensate with shorter, more frequent waterings rather than one long one.

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How to get this look at home

The fountain and the living wall's irrigation are two separate installations and must not share water. The waterfall's recirculates and concentrates salts; on top of that, any algaecide added to stop it greening would go straight to the roots.
On a living wall, the top row dries out and the bottom row waterlogs. Plant drought-tolerant species at the top and moisture-lovers at the bottom, rather than spreading one species across the whole panel and expecting it to behave the same.
A living wall saturated with water weighs far more than a dry one, and the surplus drips. On a balcony you need a collection tray and a route to a drain: without it, irrigation ends up on the neighbour's terrace below, which is where almost all the problems come from.
The waterfall takes the corner, which on a narrow balcony is the metre that never gets used. Furniture there blocks the route, while a flat vertical element against the corner takes no usable floor at all.
The lanterns all sit at floor level and none at eye height. Sitting in the chair, a flame at that height dazzles and cancels the view of the city, which is what you actually came out to look at.

FAQ

Can you irrigate a vertical garden with the fountain's water?

No, obvious as the temptation is with the circuit right there. A waterfall recirculates the same water indefinitely, and with evaporation it concentrates the salts it came in with to levels that burn roots. On top of that there's treatment: an outdoor fountain eventually greens over and gets an algaecide, harmless in the basin and lethal to everything planted in a substrate. The wall's irrigation has to be clean water, running to waste, with its own timer, even if the two reservoirs sit a metre apart.

What do you need to consider for a vertical garden on a balcony?

Three things before buying anything. Weight: saturated substrate weighs several times what it does dry, and a two-square-metre panel adds up to more than you'd estimate by eye. Drainage: the surplus has to be caught in a tray and taken to a drain, because dripping down the façade ends up on the balcony below. And the building: in many blocks, modifying or fixing into the façade needs permission, so ask first and, if in doubt, choose a free-standing system resting on the floor rather than one anchored to the wall.

Why do some plants die on a living wall and others don't?

Almost always because of position rather than species. In a vertical system water travels down: the top row dries first and the bottom row stays waterlogged, so the same plant repeated top and bottom behaves in two opposite ways. What works is planting in bands by tolerance: at the top, species that cope with drying out between waterings, and at the bottom, ferns and things that want constant moisture. Keep the lowest row accessible, too, because that's the one you'll be replacing most while the system settles.

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Balcony with a living wall and a waterfall in the corner

Design keys

Furniture and decor in this design

How to get this look at home

FAQ

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