How to Hang Plants Without Drilling and Walls of Plants

283 Shares

I’m so excited to share my entry way plant wall with you today! I can’t believe it took me this many years to finally put my awkward entry to good use by planting on walls with macrame hangers. Walls of plants are a trend thing right now. But it isn’t a trend for me. I have loved to decorate with plants for years! Today, I’ll show you how to hang plants without drilling for a fun and modern display.

Bichon Frise puppy in front entryway for post on how to hang plants without drilling nails

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I may earn a small commission (at no cost to you) for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, or link to any products or services from this website.

Last summer, we paid an arm and a leg to have our two-story entry and stairwell painted. My Hubs painted the interiors for the entire rest of the house. But we couldn’t figure out a way to paint the two-story entry without hiring out.

And we all know how much I hate spending money on practical things. Haha. Therefore, I have been super conservative with nail holes. It’s funny because the old wall featured a gallery wall with a gazillion nail holes.

This entry is so awkward with that wall just bam in everyone’s faces as they walk in the door. It was a huge turn off to the Hubs when we first toured the house during the buying process. I had faith that with the right statement wall we could make the entry work in our favor. But for the last 10 months, the wall has nakedly greeted guests because I just couldn’t decided what to do.

I love, love, love walls of plants. But I don’t love walls of regretful nail holes and sheetrock damage. So I’ve been thinking out ways I could hang plants without drilling holes.

Finally, one day it dawned on me that I should just dangle some of my macrame plant holders straight down from the stair railings above. Ugh! I don’t know why my brain functions so slowly sometimes! Now, I have my own version of a living wall of hanging plants.

seven macrame plant hangers of varying styles holds plants for ideas on how to hang plants without drilling holes

What is a Living Wall of Hanging Plants?

A living wall is an intentional wall display of plants. Often, the plants all share one large wall planter container with the same watering system. So you might see the whole wall covered in moss or greenery with the plants tucked into a special water or soil system. I find these types of wall displays more challenging because you have to be extremely careful in which plants you pair together.

My “living wall” of hanging plants works by having each plant hanging separately so you still get the effect of a group of plants without the unified system.

What Kind of Plants for Living Walls of Hanging Plants

Plants have such different water and light needs so you can’t just mesh any house plants for a living wall and expect things to go well.

An assortment of pretty succulents make great plants for a living wall because they often need very little water. But succulents also like to be in brightly lit areas so you would need to make sure you use a wall in a bright room.

Otherwise, trailing plants like philodendrons and pothos make great plants for a living wall. Just make sure you put varieties together that have similar water and light preferences.

Again, this is why I like my modified version of a living plant wall because each plant is in its own container, and I can choose when and how much to water each one.

How to Hang Plants Without Drilling Holes

All it took was some strong parachute string, my collection of macrame holders, and my favorite trailing plants. I think the Hubs and I spent a max of 20 minutes getting the wall of plants set up.

This entryway plant wall gives me so much joy…and no nail holes! And my plants have been thriving since moving to this front entry. The plant walls in the front of the house receive evening west facing light. In general, west light can be pretty harsh for planting on walls or…well, any plants. But the light coming in for this particular wall of plants is filtered light through the door and the skylights.

bichon frise puppy stands on front porch stoop in front of plants hanging on wall without holes in front of turquoise door

macrame hangers with plants hanging without nails indoors

I wanted my entryway plant wall to have a boho plant vibe. I didn’t want the macrame to be matchy matchy and I didn’t want the hangers to all be the same lengths. It was important to add a few double decker macrame and triple decker macrame to my macrame hanger display.

I decided to go with a black, white and terra cotta combo color scheme. But you could easily match your walls of plants to your own style and preferences.

How to Water Plants on the Plant Wall

Several people on social media have asked how I water the plants. Very carefully. I actually do not remove the pots most of the time. A few of them do get a “butt chugging” (the plant community’s funny term for bottom watering plants) a few times a month. Otherwise, I just come around with my watering can with a long spout to water them when needed. (I do not believe in over watering plants so I only come around maybe 2-3 times a month.)

The key to watering plants in the plant wall is to use one hand to steady each pot in a flat position and not tilted while I pour just a bit of water with the other hand. I hold the pot steady for a few seconds until the water has settled down, and then I move on to the next.

woman admires plants hanging without drilling holes on wall with green rug on floor

What You Need to Set Up Your Own Walls of Plants

Listen, I know some will say I could easily have made my own macrame plant hangers. But given how affordable these linked macrame hangers were, it would have not been worth my time to figure out how to make macrame plant hangers – especially when you consider supplies.

This pack of 5 macrame hangers had everything I was looking for – multilevel macrame hangers and different looks. One is a double decker and another is a triple decker. The others are all unique from each other. For example, one is a beaded macrame plant hanger. It is an Amazon Choice selection and is part of Amazon Prime. I had my macrame plant wall on display in two days after ordering, combined with two other macrame hangers I already had. I used an odd number of 7 and spaced them out as evenly as I could.
I already had plenty of my own plant pots for my small plants for the plant wall. But if I did need to order some new ones, I would definitely go with plastic pots with a drain hole and a saucer. You do not want heavy pots hanging in your macrame plant hangers, for obvious reasons. Also, you don’t want them to be able to drain right out onto your wall or floor so the little trays are helpful.
Originally, I fished around the house for S-hooks to hang plants and came up short. I had to order some. This set of S-hooks gave me plenty for my plant display project and for future projects.
It was my husband’s idea to use parachute cord, but any strong small rope would work fine.
For the plants, I use live plants. My wall is a living plant wall made of Golden Pothos, Marble Queen Pothos, satin philodendron, Aloe, rope plant, bird’s nest fern, and Monstera adansonii. There are plenty of varieties of trailing plants that look great in macrame plant displays. If you feel you must go with fake plants for macrame hangers, you might try some like trailing string of pearls picks. Of course, you would need to bend the pick sticks to make them fit into the pots.

Other Ideas for Hanging Plants Without Drilling Holes

You may be thinking of how to make a plant wall of a different style. I have seen so many cool ideas out there! Since I have a thing for wood, this set of wooden hanging planters caught my eye. An odd number display across a wide wall would look awesome! You could either use air plants or add some cute little metal can pots for small plants.

And if you have a wall with windows, several sets of this steel rod hanging planter for a window would add a serious statement! They come in several color choices, but my personal favorite is the black and brass!

Whatever you decide, I hope you have as much fun figuring out how to hang plants without drilling in your home as I did!