Sunday, January 17, 2010

Vertical gardening


Living walls have transfixed my imagination since 1998 when I stumbled upon one of Patrick Blanc's installations at the Fondation Cartier in Paris. For the last decade I have tried, without avail, to create some small version of my own. The first attempt was with an old shoe holder that had plastic pockets. I grew plants in yogurt cups and popped them into the shoe pockets on top of felt made from recycled bottles for drainage. This effort worked well but was not very visually pleasing. The next step, with the help from my husband, was sewing a planter out of recycled felt and and old shower curtain. Because our sewing machine could not handle the density of the fabrics, we had to hand-sew most of the sections. This was a lot of work. Recently we found a similar version by the Woolley Pocket Gardening Company at Vessel (our favorite store in Boston.) Because these products were on sale at half price, we were able to justify the purchase and got two small wall planters. The next step was to go to Logee's in Danielson, Connecticut while visiting friends. This nursery has the largest collection of exotic houseplants I have ever seen. It is a horticultural wonder world! After surveying our options, we chose some sturdy succulents. We still want to make our own planters but it is nice to put some greenery up in the meantime.
Get inspired and check out Patrick Blanc's website at www.verticalgardenpatrickblanc.com.

No comments:

Post a Comment