I thought I would share my latest project, that was inspired by Patrick Blanc's vertical gardens.
I have his book 'The Vertical garden' Its a very good book for those interested in that kind of thing. He goes into detail on how he developed his method and how he constructs his living walls.
I think that vertical gardens go great with ponds. They make a great backdrop to a pond and the fish wastes nourish the plants, while the plants purify the water.
They are also fairly easy to construct.
I copied Blanc's system but I had to use Capillary cloth covered with polyester felt, instead of irrigation fabric because I couldn't source it. I also used corflute (real estate signs) instead of expanded pvc because I'm cheap..
here are some pics of the wall. Its been planted for about 6 weeks
The pipe running along the top has holes drilled into it to spray water into the capillary cloth. The pump is on a timer- three minutes every hour.
I used cuttings and plants from the garden, because I wasn't sure of how well plants would do growing in just fabric, and I hate wasting money..
Most of the plants are growing well but its still a work in progress.
This close up shows how the plants grow in the fabric. The babies-tears is growing especially well.
This is the most exposed part of the wall. I've planted* crucifix orchids, fuchsia, babies-tears and native grasses and mosses. In a few weeks all the fabric should be covered with new growth.
*planting it done with scissors and a staple-gun
I will post update pics over the next few weeks as the wall fills out for those who are interested..
I have his book 'The Vertical garden' Its a very good book for those interested in that kind of thing. He goes into detail on how he developed his method and how he constructs his living walls.
I think that vertical gardens go great with ponds. They make a great backdrop to a pond and the fish wastes nourish the plants, while the plants purify the water.
They are also fairly easy to construct.
I copied Blanc's system but I had to use Capillary cloth covered with polyester felt, instead of irrigation fabric because I couldn't source it. I also used corflute (real estate signs) instead of expanded pvc because I'm cheap..
here are some pics of the wall. Its been planted for about 6 weeks
The pipe running along the top has holes drilled into it to spray water into the capillary cloth. The pump is on a timer- three minutes every hour.
I used cuttings and plants from the garden, because I wasn't sure of how well plants would do growing in just fabric, and I hate wasting money..
Most of the plants are growing well but its still a work in progress.
This close up shows how the plants grow in the fabric. The babies-tears is growing especially well.
This is the most exposed part of the wall. I've planted* crucifix orchids, fuchsia, babies-tears and native grasses and mosses. In a few weeks all the fabric should be covered with new growth.
*planting it done with scissors and a staple-gun
I will post update pics over the next few weeks as the wall fills out for those who are interested..