Vertical garden systems – those living green walls you see in interior design magazines or gracing the exterior of your favorite cutting-edge restaurant – aren’t just for looks. This unique architectural feature provides more practical benefits than you may think, positively impacting everyone from dementia patients to elementary school students and even influencing the future of agriculture (Horticulture Week notes that the UK is already considering how walls might contribute to their food supply).

Here in Sarasota, Selby Gardens plans to incorporate living walls in their ten-year, $67 million transformation, an addition that follows a city-wide trend of restaurants, businesses, hotels, homes and more greening up their vertical spaces.

Living walls are as economical as they are aesthetically-pleasing, bringing plants up off the ground to create open space or to leave room for more plants. And the more plants the merrier – after all, they clean the air. Build them into wall form and they become superstars of efficiency and economy,  regulating the temperature, absorbing sound and protecting buildings.

This is true in the home, too, which we at Beneva Plantscapes know first hand. We’ve brought them to dividing walls, where they become a unique transitional piece, as well as to offices and dining rooms. In every case, they make a stunning impact, adding a lush, organic element to a home.

A variety of plants are available when it comes to creating a living wall. There’s a lot of customization involved in designing your unique piece, and we see that in the plant frames we use, too. How the plants themselves relate to the framing – its color, material, scale – is an important part of the overall look. Whether you opt for a grand wall or a smaller series of panels, the framing offers contrast and, of course, definition.

When you choose a vertical garden system for your interior or exterior walls, it’s like breathing new life into a space. And from a design perspective, greening up your walls adds so much texture, interest and impact, people won’t want to look away.