Vertical Gardens were a highlight at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show (MIFGS), 2009. What a difference to visit MIFGS this year and see the very genuine interest from designers, as well as the visitors to the show, in vertical gardening. There is nothing new about 'walls' being built to house gardens at the show but this year, many of them were vertical gardens, dripping with living foliage. In the recent history of MIFGS as it's known, we have seen a great emphasis on low water plantings and water harvesting/saving products and this year was no exception, there were plenty of drought busting natives and a plethora of succulents as expected but what we also saw this year was a very real trend towards keeping our outdoor living places lush and fantastically green rather than minimalist and Spartan, with loads of emphasis on vertical gardening and green walls. Some of these green walls hugged around windows and doors, other vertical gardens were grown in combination with solar panel 'walls', others housed edible plants.
There was also a research project of the Melbourne University Burnley Campus which was a living, green roof, smothered with low growing plants proving that we space starved gardeners will contemplate growing things on just about any surface! Imagine how much cooler the shed, or house for that matter, would be on a 45 degree day if covered with sod or living plants! No doubt the research will also show improved water quality in storm run off as well as improved thermal properties.
Why garden vertically? So, is vertical gardening about gobbling up our greenhouse emissions, keeping our living spaces cooler or about creating our own green sanctuaries in the concrete jungle? Well, probably more than a touch of all those things. There is no doubt that plants can play a very real role in reducing our green house emissions and of course, take in pollutants from the air while realizing life-giving oxygen.
There is a also a real benefit in the thermal properties of soil media and plants; it's true that you can keep your home cooler by 'insulating' it with a soil-filled living wall or vertical garden, in fact studies show that an entire city's ambient temperature could be reduced by covering a percentage of its walls and roofs with greenery as the heat-sink of elements such as masonry, roofs and bitumen are essentially reduced and replaced with cooling foliage. Reducing the emissions caused by heating and cooling, as well as the associated costs is pretty appealing to commercial ventures, governments and home-owners alike.
Then there's that whole feel-good factor, green makes us feel better. People heal faster in hospitals with a garden aspect from their window, we know that productivity is increased in building where greenery is present and these is also a role for plants to play in the reduction of certain airborne chemicals from our atmosphere from the microbial activity in the soil media that the plants grow in. Plants are beautiful and make us feel good about being in a space and in these days of space-starved dwellings and high density living is it any wonder we want to garden vertically to maximize the ground we have? When you consider all these benefits and the fact that you can even eat the produce that comes from these vertical gardens or green walls its no wonder people are getting pretty excited about the vertical garden concept.
So which 'vertical' garden is for you? There are a couple of systems around so you need to assess your situation. Some vertical garden systems are simply a frame that supports lots of small pots, obviously these would dry out quickly and need regular attention. Some vertical gardens or green 'walls' are narrow and lightweight, working on a self-contained hydroponic type system making them like a 'set and forget' living picture of small clumping and ground covering plants to hang on the wall.
Then there's Garsy 'Mobiwall', a vertical garden system featured in the Oasis Horticulture site at MIFGS [http://www.melbflowershow.com.au/index.php?section=1] this year, dripping with flowers, fruits, herbs and salad greens. The Garsy vertical garden system is a modular, tiered frame that works on a more traditional method of actual gardening where a huge variety of ornamental and edible plants are able to be grown in a large mass of soil media and then changed around at the whim of the gardener. This soil media or potting mix in the Garsy vertical garden system can simply be planted into - just like planting into a pot of potting mixture without all the issues of plants drying out so rapidly and becoming root bound!
For safety and stability, once planted, these vertical Garsy garden units are not light or easily lifted by hand - a crane or forklift does the job. A lightweight soil can be selected for this type of vertical garden to reduce the weight and an additive such as 'hydrocell', while reducing weight, also helps retain moisture and keep plants in good health. Whatever you choose, have great fun gardening vertically! Gardening in spaces other than the actual ground is the way of the future!
Berna have been writing articles for nearly 2 years. Come visit his blogs more often for tips and advice that helps people with the interest for landscaping melbourne and great passion and knowledge for landscape design melbourne and all the different options & providers available in the market today. Find out for more info also here acmaintenance.com.au
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