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Sue Fisher - Growing Up the Wall: How to Grow Food in Vertical Places, On Roofs, and In Small Spaces

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Sue Fisher Growing Up the Wall: How to Grow Food in Vertical Places, On Roofs, and In Small Spaces
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Growing Up the Wall: How to Grow Food in Vertical Places, On Roofs, and In Small Spaces: summary, description and annotation

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Grow up! If you have limited outdoor space and would like to grow your food, this invaluable guide will help you transform previously plant-free zones into thriving, beneficial, and utterly beautiful food-growing areas. Using special containers, you can grow a wide range of edible cropsand grab a salad for lunch without getting your feet wet. The book covers using a wide variety of containers and details how to make them; making the most of wall boxes and hanging baskets; creating edible roof gardens; planning and growing crops on green roofs, including on sheds; and a directory of plants suitable for vertical growing.

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To my family for their support and for helping with weird and wonderful - photo 1

To my family: for their support and for helping with weird and wonderful projects, not to mention eating all manner of edibles without too many complaints.

Producing a book is very much a team effort: many thanks to everyone at Green Books for their expertise, support and enthusiasm, and to the many inspiring individuals, groups and companies who have helped with information and images. Of course thanks to my family; especially my Mum, who first inspired my love of plants and gardening.

CONTENTS



In cities and towns right around the world gardens are quite literally - photo 2

In cities and towns right around the world, gardens are, quite literally, growing up. In just a few years, it has become no longer a novelty to see tall buildings transformed from urban desert into habitat heaven, with the built environment beautified by walls or roofs clothed with a fabulous array of plants. Thanks to new technology, spaces that were previously plant-free zones can now be adapted into thriving, beneficial and beautiful growing areas, with plants in places where we never even realised there were places. This approach to growing offers something for everyone while we may marvel at the Singapore Sky Garden or the botanical and artistic masterpiece living walls in Paris, Madrid and London by living wall pioneer Patrick Blanc, there are also many options available on a more homely scale.

So far the main trend for living walls and green roofs has been as ornamental features, along with the much-touted benefit of boosting biodiversity. But now the creation of these features is starting to meld with the massive upsurge of interest in growing edible plants. For the first time in our history, more than half the worlds population live in cities. Outdoor space is more precious than ever before. Ground space for private gardens is at a premium and it goes without saying that many urban dwellers have no garden at all. Alongside this has come a quiet global revolution a vastly increased awareness of the food we eat, where it comes from, and the environmental costs of raising crops, including the impact of food miles involved in transporting our food to shops and supermarkets. Added to this is the increasing human detachment from nature, held by some to be a strong contributing factor to antisocial behaviour, vandalism and violence, and issues such as climate change and hunger not just the 1 billion hungry people in the world but also the global challenge of a poor diet. All these factors are encouraging countless individuals, schools, community groups and many others to look at ways of addressing these issues by growing even a small proportion of the food they eat.

In 2010 vegetable seeds outsold flowers for the first time ever in the UK as gardeners realised just how good it is to grow their own. If proof of popularity were needed, look to that apogee of garden fashion, the Chelsea Flower Show. The 2011 show was literally dominated by edibles, with the B&Q 9m (30') high vertical allotment towering over other exhibits and winning a coveted gold medal. And Diarmuid Gavins Irish Sky Garden showed that plants could grow literally anywhere, even swinging high in the sky from a hanging pod. Food-growing schemes are springing up around the world, including hundreds of community-supported agriculture (CSA) projects that involve thousands of volunteers. Many projects are aimed at making the most of tiny or previously ungardened spots, such as the Edible Bus Stop project around Londons bus network and Incredible Edible, which began in Todmorden and is now spreading to other towns in the UK.

On an individual level, many edible plants can be grown in the smallest of spaces. For those worried about sacrificing good looks for edibility, fear not. Many new veg and fruit varieties are very attractive, and having plants conveniently close means youre much more likely to grab a salad for lunch, or pep up a dish with a handful of garden-fresh herbs most of which look gorgeous too. Add edible flowers into the mix and suddenly a whole world of bright colour opens up.

The Athenaeum Hotel Mayfair boasts a vertical garden designed by Patrick - photo 3

The Athenaeum Hotel, Mayfair, boasts a vertical garden designed by Patrick Blanc.

BQs Vertical Allotment at the 2011 Chelsea Flower Show Growing crops on the - photo 4

B&Qs Vertical Allotment at the 2011 Chelsea Flower Show.

Growing crops on the vertical and on roofs is a fantastic solution for space-hungry individuals, groups and communities. Whether youre an apartment-dweller with a wall, windowsill, balcony or small flat roof at your disposal, a school with nothing but a tarmac playground, or a group with just a paved courtyard in your community centre, this book is for you. Even if you have a garden already, there are benefits to be gained from growing crops in the wonderfully beneficial microclimate of a sheltered wall or fence. The rewards are many: delighting the taste buds with fresh, still sun-warmed tomatoes or strawberries, and the joy of harvesting ones own crops without any food miles whatsoever. Perhaps most of all, the sheer deep-down satisfaction of not just growing plants in hitherto impossible spots, bringing nature back into stark and bare places, but beauty with a practical purpose.

History and development

While living walls are a recent development, conceived as a combination of new technology and increased pressure on outdoor space, the concept of green roofs has actually been around for thousands of years. Traditional homes in parts of the world that experience bitterly cold winters, such as Scandinavia and Iceland, often had thick turf roofs because of their excellent insulating properties, as well as ease of maintenance. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, built around 600 BC , was the first recorded green roof garden, the great arcaded structure built with ascending terraces, roofed with bundles of reeds, layers of brick tiles and thick sheets of lead to waterproof the rooms below.

Creating growing spaces on the vertical using hanging baskets, window boxes and balcony gardens is a technique that has been in use for centuries. However, the concept of extending growing areas over the whole roof or wall, although relatively new, is edging nearer the centre of mainstream gardening. The relentless increase in population and urban growth, coupled with increased environmental awareness and the threat of climate change, has inspired a real sea change in the approach to buildings and development. Vertical and roof growing is made possible with modern materials such as highly efficient waterproofing membranes, irrigation systems and lightweight growing media, to enable the greening of buildings on a grand scale. And while government policies vary around the world, of course, the change in attitudes that can be seen in many countries is immensely heartening.

To give just a few examples: in the UK, living (green) roofs and walls such as those at the O2 Arena, several shopping centres and the South Downs water treatment centre, have become major features of prominent new developments, both public and commercial, and are often a major consideration in allowing planning permission to be granted. Some states in North America, and some Canadian cities, offer tax incentives and subsidies for these features. In cities such as Copenhagen and several in Switzerland, it is now law for all roofs from flat up to a 30-degree slope to be planted. While in the main it is these large-scale commercial developments that grab the headlines, there are many inspirational small-scale features benefiting from spin-offs of the same technology. And, while commercial projects are bound to an exceptionally high standard in terms of quality of materials, on a domestic scale there is more scope for experimentation and DIY with simple, affordable projects using both new and recycled materials.

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