Gardens that grow on walls - awesome!

[Liberal_in_LA]

pretty cat too!





GIVEN the chance to accompany a team of botanists on a plant-collecting expedition to South America, most gardeners would probably be satisfied with the experience. They wouldn’t come home and try to recreate the rain forest in Manhattan.


But Michael Riley isn’t like most gardeners. Mr. Riley, a former commodities trader turned plant expert who went on to become assistant director of the Horticultural Society of New York, was eager to move beyond potted plants in a way that hadn’t yet occurred to many others. It took a number of expeditions, a lot of research and more than a decade and a half, but by 2003 he had figured out how to grow a wall of plants inside his Upper West Side apartment.

“In the rain forest, I realized that plants didn’t need to grow in pots with labels,” said Mr. Riley, 64. “I wanted to grow plants in ways that were natural to them.”

With his partner, Francisco Correa, a Spanish teacher who is now 52, Mr. Riley attacked a corner of his living area, stripping the walls of plaster and affixing exterior-grade plywood to new and existing building studs. On top of the plywood went bitumen roofing to protect the walls. Cork bark was then stapled over that, and plants were inserted into pockets in the cork. Sprinklers and lighting were installed overhead, trenches were put in at the base of the walls to catch water that trickled down, and pools were added in the middle of the room to increase humidity.

These days, Mr. Riley’s project isn’t that unusual. Vertical gardens — which began as an experiment in 1988 by Patrick Blanc, a French botanist intent on creating a garden without dirt — are becoming increasingly popular at home. Avid and aspiring gardeners, frustrated with little outdoor space, are taking another look at their walls and noticing something new: more space. And a number of companies are selling ready-made systems and all-in-one kits for gardeners like Mr. Riley who want to do it themselves. (For those who prefer to leave it to the professionals, landscape designers can build vertical gardens for a hefty fee.)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/garden/06vertical.html?hp

[truedelphi]

1. Thank you for posting this.

Over the last several months, I have had dreams about accomplishing something like this.

And my spouse is the one trying it in the real world, but I hope at some point one of our walls will resemble such a lush and pretty environment.

i will download the photo as inspiration.

[Sebastian Doyle]

2. You know what the kitteh is thinking

"Oh yeah, I'm definitely climbing this shit. And shredding the hell out of it."

[Electric Monk]

4. and there's gotta be birds in it somewhere....

[kath]

10. Oh, yeah. Our cats, one in particular, could do some SEEEEEERIOUS damage to that plant wall

in NO time. And have a blast doing it! Forget kitty condos and that type of lame bullshit -- that plant thing is the freakin' ULTIMATE kitteh playground.

[glitch]

3. Very cool. K & R. nt

[Luminous Animal]

5. Check out Patrick Blanc's vertical gardens here

http://www.verticalgardenpatrickblanc.com/mainen.php

[uppityperson]

6. k&r for something positive and cool

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. How beautiful!

I never cease to be amazed at our creativity!

[izquierdista]

8. ...to increase humidity

Uh, no thanks Mike. I keep the dehumidifier running from May to October. I want my home to be an oasis of dry in the middle of Georgia.

[donco6]

9. I'd like to use this technique on my graffiti plagued walls here.

I have many exterior school walls that get tagged with gang marks every week. I'd like to create walls like this to give them less opportunity to pissmark.

[complain jane]

11. I love this!!