Coronado - Grow a Living Wall

Are you concerned about bees and colony collapse? Why not design a lovely, flowering pollinator wall that attracts bees and butterflies and gives them a safe refuge? This is a great example of what I mean when I say vertical gardens with purpose.

IMAGINE A REVOLUTIONARY PLANTING technique that lets you plant more than thirty plants in a floor area that is only one square foot. The trick is simply to grow up, not out. Gardening with this technique is amazingly simple and easy to accomplish for anyone, just by planting a living wall garden. Sited on fences, gates, walls, balconies, and even doors, living wall gardens save enormous amounts of space, while producing an abundance of flowers, perennials, herbs, and vegetables.

I came up with the idea of planting more vertical or living walls on my own property when I picked up a 24-by-7-inch window box, did a little math, and discovered that its footprint was exactly 1.16 square feet. Then I thought: What if I stacked five window boxes on top of one another and fastened them to the wall? That 1.16-square-foot garden would increase its planting capacity five times. In about one square foot of floor space, I could plant nearly 6 square feet of plants. This would enable me to plant between thirty-five and forty-five plants. Hows that for efficient? And what if small-space gardeners all over the world would adopt this vertical growing method? That would mean more food for the hungry and more flowering plants for pollinators. Planting vertically could truly help a family make a difference for themselves and their community.

What else can living walls do? They can help save energy and reduce utility expenses, solve challenging design issues, mitigate urban heat issues, inspire therapeutic living, grow aphrodisiac plants, contribute to your culinary kitchen, save water, help beautify a community, help save the pollinating insects, and even help you entertain your friends. Do you love herbal tea? Design a garden with all the herbs you need to make your favorite herbal tea blends. Imagine having a cute little kitchen garden or cocktail herb garden that can reside right on your balcony or patio. The point is, these distinct, self-contained gardens are just the right size to make any statement or develop any theme you want, from the frivolous to the life-affirming. With a living wall you can make a difference by creating something that is both attractive and useful.

While the practical applications for living wall gardens are virtually unlimited, for many people the best reason to grow one is simply that they are beautiful and truly artistic conversation pieces.

Living walls offer brilliant solutions, such as creating privacy for home gardens by blocking neighbor sightlines into patios and balconies. Plant Connection, Inc.

What IS a Living Wall?

A living wall is a self-sufficient vertical garden growing on the side of a building, fence, gate, or balcony. Within the living wall system is a structural support that is fastened directly to the supporting wall or fence that holds the plant roots and soil system. It can be soil-based or water-based, and some have built-in watering systems. Plants receive their nutrients from within the vertical structural support system. Garden walls that have plants with their roots in the ground, such as walls filled with ivy or covered with honeysuckle, are not considered a living wall.

Several other terms are used to describe a living wall. For example, green wall is a common synonym for a living wall system. Other names include ecowall, biowall, hydrowall, vegetated wall, plant wall, or vertical garden. Within this book you will see both living wall and vertical wall garden used interchangeably to mean the same thing: most typically a garden that can be attached to a wall or fence of some kind or even function as a standalone multi-tiered garden that is not directly attached to a wall at all. Living walls are remarkably versatile and afford the ability to grow in spaces that are much smaller than the traditional garden.

More Fun, Less Work

Most living walls require far less work than traditional in-the-ground gardening. There is no weeding involved. Gardeners everywhere jump up and cheerno weeding is a reason to celebrate!

Living walls can save you a lot of time. Many of the new living wall products have self-watering systems to automate your watering. If they do not come with a watering system, it is easy to install one for your particular living wall situation. Because you will spend less time weeding and watering, you will have more time to do important things like read a book or drink herbal martinis with your friends or bike the Yukon.