You may think that the only way to enhance the walls of your home or office is by adding some well chosen pictures. But a concept that is gaining popularity is that of using plants as wall accessories.
Not only is a living wall good for the environment, it is also a work of art – and it is definitely a conversation piece.
A living wall consists of plant arrangements designed to give the effect that plants are growing on or out of the wall.
Climbers on walls or buildings are nothing new and it’s this concept that has been brought indoors, with technology harnessed to provide sustenance and irrigation. You have to look after your living wall as you would any other indoor plants or, in some cases, use the services of a professional.
“It takes a bit more planning as it requires a more intricate irrigation and feeding system than your regular indoor plant,” says Brian Tucker, owner of Vertical Plantscapes, a company that installs vertical gardens in KwaZulu-Natal and other provinces.
Tucker has been creating vertical plantscapes for 10 years and says an indoor living wall can be a lot more gratifying than a single plant here or there.
“If you have a limited amount of space for indoor plants, a living wall can be the answer as it does not take up any floor space. The size of your living wall can range from a small picture frame to your entire wall.”
Tucker says there are health benefits to keeping indoor plants as they remove the pollutants and toxins from our indoor air.
There are two types of installations – soil-based and hydroponic, which is soil-free. Tucker favours the soil-based ones but if clients want hydroponic vertical landscapes, his company will install them.
He says outdoor vertical gardens create a micro environment along a wall.
“And do not forget about garden edibles like herbs, lettuces, spinach, peas, beans and tomatoes, to name a few. These plants can take up a lot of room in a garden bed, so getting them off the ground and on to supports frees up room for other garden additions.”
Durban installation artist Brendon Edwards has completed 13 vertical gardens in homes and businesses in the past five years.
He favours hydroponic installations, though they require more maintenance than soil-based ones. “Besides looking beautiful, vertical gardens keep buildings cooler and use a fifth of the water used in a normal garden, as it is recycled,” he says.
“They are good for biodioversity, particularly in a concrete jungle. Plants do so well in this system and I have even seen walls where birds have nested.
“A frame is built on the wall over which a waterproof membrane is fixed. Placed over this is an inert matrix, which acts as the soil into which the chosen plants are bedded, and through which a microdrip irrigation system is woven.
“Water and plant food are pumped through the system and filtered down to a gutter, from where the water is recycled,” he says. “Over time, the garden becomes its own self-sustaining ecological environment.”
Edwards says plants do well are agapanthus, crassula as well as some ferns, grasses and succulents, but many factors affect their well-being, including light, aspect, air conditioning, and air movement in the building.
One of his installations, created three years ago, is in the foyer of Barrows, a retail marketing company in Springfield Park.
Human Resources manager Keith Hickman says local and international clients admire it as they walk through the front door. It’s a pocket of green and calm in this vibey, arty business that has creative types designing retail displays on the same premises as a factory that makes them.
“The culture of our company is one of sustainability, so a vertical garden fits in perfectly,” says Hickman.
Rose Buttery of uMhlanga had a vertical garden installed with herbs, lettuce, dhania, rocket, parsley and more, right outside her kitchen, earlier in the year.
However, the shade from a flat crown tree in the summer affected the growth of the vegetables so she had some of the plants changed. In autumn, she will have her vegetables and herbs replanted.
Buttery’s garden was installed by Grospace and uses a modular system of pots, called Veripot, in a honeycomb formation, mounted against the wall with a bracket. It is automated with a pump and simple irrigation system.
“With the honeycomb formation of the pots we are able to be more flexible in the positioning of plants, giving the installation a more natural look,” says Bruce Wacher, owner of GroSpace. “The system is quick to install and we can do it at a rate of 10m to 15m a day.
“Veripot can be installed on any indoor or outdoor wall surface provided there is sufficient light available for the plants selected, and this depends on the environment chosen and the position of the vertical garden.”
Because the system is simple, Wacher intends to launch a DIY system on his website in the near future, which will be cheaper than professionally-installed systems.
Joe Dawson of Foodscape, who did Buttery’s planting, says vertical food gardens are perfect for people with limited space or who want a decorative garden outside their kitchen door. “They are convenient and take no more maintenance than a normal herb and vegetable garden,” he says. “You would trim and replace just as you would with any other garden and the irrigation system is automatic.
“We do recommend a maintenance system though.”
The Star