Getting plants to grow well on a vertical surface is a specialist job and companies whose speciality it is have researched and experimented for years to achieve a balance of framework, substrate type, species mix, feeding and irrigation. With expense and effort the results can look absolutely stunning, who wouldn’t rather look at a living assembly of perfect plants than a bare wall.

Well, the people who prefer an artificial plastic equivalent I guess, but we won’t go there, suffice to say I would never suggest its use in a domestic or any other type of garden, never, ever, no way!

What I would suggest though is that we look at how mother nature deals with our vertical surfaces. Where there’s enough moisture, shade and most importantly lack of human interference, she does a cracking job. Under trees or overhanging vegetation, facing north where light levels are lower and where rain is reliably frequent, mosses, lichens and ferns can create beautiful textural forms in every shade of green.

We do grumble about the weather here in Wales, but all this wet does have its compensations.