There’s also no rule against creating a stand-alone vertical planter using this method. Concrete and timber garden boxes are both great alternatives to full-size walls. You can use them to line a privacy fence, patio border, or to create a one-of-a-kind container garden.

If you have no room for a garden bed, skip it and turn your entire stone retaining wall into a DIY vertical garden. You can start from scratch or turn an existing structure into a living wall. You’ll want a retaining wall featuring a variety of natural stones (they should not fit together perfectly).

Add some gardening soil to the gaps, and you’re good to go. For this type of vertical gardening, reach for plants with small root systems — succulents, stonecrop, creeping thyme, etc.

6. Modern Garden Wall Ideas

In both interior and exterior architecture, modern design is all about building sleek lines while keeping ornamentation to a minimum. For peak modern aesthetics, nothing does the trick better than a poured concrete retaining wall painted white or black.

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Since your garden wall’s overall shape will be quite simple, look for other ways to add interest to your garden design. One of the easiest ways to do this is by using a range of colors in your wall.

Opt for stone with natural inlaid designs or concrete blocks molded to mimic wood grain texture. It’s fine to use rough-edged stone blocks in your wall, but be sure to contrast this material with a polished layer on top.

Stay away from more traditional wall decorations like lanterns or ornate fence caps. Instead, accent your garden wall with built-in lighting or bench seating. Incorporating recessed garden beds in your modern garden wall can help add dimension to your landscape as a whole.