ecospace via treehugger
I was working from my home office this week with my window open, the sun shining, the birds chirping, and the lawn mowers rumbling, and I couldn’t help but wish I could be working in the garden. Trouble is I don’t have one and I have a black thumb.
My best alternative? To peruse through treehugger’s website to find great ‘green’ and modern garden ideas. That's when I stumbled across some articles about vertical gardens. They are a fabulous solution in urban centres where outdoor horizontal space is limited and the only place to go is up. They can be used in many applications. There are numerous advantages to these vertical gardens, not the least of which are their beauty and their environmental benefits.
Madrid's newly opened CaixaForum Museum
These green walls are not only for commercial or public outdoor spaces. They can also be created at home - indoors and outdoors. They make for a gorgeous design option for small spaces such as balconies. Your choice of greenery need not be limited to decorative plants and flowers, think vegetable garden!
When used indoors, a living wall offers many benefits. It enhances indoor air quality, helps cut down on your energy bill as it significantly reduces indoor summer heat, not to mention the visual impact it will add to your space, serving as a colourful organic bas-relief.
Plant selection is important when designing your living wall. You can play with textures, colours, even smells. Some plants are more effective at purifying the air, so be sure to do your research beforehand.
For the beginner, vertical garden kits can be purchased in many hardware stores and gardeners supply stores and if you're adventurous and are the 'do-it-yourself' type, the Container Gardening blog offers tips and ideas to get you started.
Looking for inspiration? Feast your eyes on Patrick Blanc's work - a veritable master of the art form. Closer to home are some great award-winning landscape architects - Martin Wade Landscape Architects, Sharp & Diamond Landscape Architecture Inc.
Hmmm... Wonder if I could give it a go and if a vertical garden could survive my 'gardening skills'?
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