Landscape Architect Articles

Vertical Gardens and Living Walls06-16-09 | News

Vertical Gardens and Living Walls

The native plant-inspired vertical garden in Hotel Modera?EUR??,,????'?????<Source: Ruth Mullen; ruthmullen@news.oregonian.com.

In a city that prides itself on sustainability, it was only a matter of time before we began gardening up our patio walls and skyscrapers.

One that?EUR??,,????'?????<

Living walls are a natural extension of the green building movement a boon to environmentalists and backyard gardeners alike because they can cool tall buildings, clean the air and absorb storm-water runoff even as they attract birds, insects and honeybees to the urban core. These thin vertical layers of plants and soil absorb heat, gobble up carbon dioxide and reduce noise.

And unlike green roofs, which are rarely seen and enjoyed by the public, these living walls can create instant color and impact. They can also help lower building temperatures in summer and help prevent heat loss in winter. They are much more complex than the ?EUR??,,????'?????<

California poppies line Hawthorne Hostel?EUR??,,????'?????<

Today, living walls are ready-to-install vertical planting systems, which include soil-filled plastic modules that are fixed to exterior walls or specially designed metal frames. A variety of companies market different systems, but all of them require regular maintenance, including watering, soil amendments and fertilization.

Condo owners with only a narrow patio could grow herbs and edible greens just steps from the kitchen, or create lush vertical greenspaces with patchworks of mat-forming sedums and waterfalls of ferns and grasses on patio and retaining walls.

For small residential projects, hand-watering is typically done from the top, allowing moisture to seep down into the structure before collecting in a tank at the bottom. Larger installations often require a built-in drip system with plastic tubing that runs through the structure. Waterproofing the wall before installing the garden is a must, says Hansen, as is proper engineering to support the weight of the soil. These concerns give many architects pause, even with ready-made systems from companies such as G-Sky.

Landscape architect Pat Lando designed the hostel?EUR??,,????'?????<

Landscape architect Pat Lando of Portland says he has spent years trying to persuade architects to let him design vertical gardens on their buildings. Vertical greenspace is crucial to absorbing storm-water runoff in dense urban settings, he says. Last year, Lando decided to create his own living wall on a two-story addition to his 1961 ranch home. Already known for his work with ecoroofs, Lando used plant matter to visually soften and minimize the structure. ?EUR??,,????'?????<

He hauled in a semi-truck load of soil that now covers the roof and one side of his house. Instead of buying a ready-made, pre-grown system, Lando designed and built the structure, then planted it with a series of shallow-rooting sedums and strawberries. By the end of this summer, the wall should be fairly bursting with plants. ?EUR??,,????'?????<