Re: vertical gardens/living walls

Hi Gill -

Interesting idea.  I was about to suggest thymes, low rosemaries & Teucriums
and other spreading Mediterranean natives (Olivier Filippi grows many of
these!).  I would also suggest some of your native sedums, such as S.
sediforme, S. reflexum, S. acre, S. album.  Sempervirens might make good
accents, I'd use Echeverias locally, our average winter temps being higher
than yours.

I assume that this wall might be high (for drama) and had to reach, so plants
that produce few flowering stems and other growth that needs trimming
routinely for best effect might be best avoided.  With the burgeoning interest
in "green roofs" I'd check those plant lists as well for possibilities.

I imagine there are numerous Mediterranean natives that grow on cliff faces in
a variety of areas, but perhaps some of these produce too much season deadwood
for your purposes?

Yes, please do report your progress to the group!

Seán A. O'Hara

> Gill Pound wrote:
> David - thanks for your comments.  I think that the Blanc interior walls in
> Paris would be too tender for us here.  My instinct is to go dry and to try
> and go for low level irrigation, not least cos anything else would look
> weird set in a local arid landscape.  Frost hardiness is indeed an issue as
> we can get -8°C here quite often.  I'm thinking about using a felt base plus
> small planters with a well drained substrat with lots of perlite etc  All
> very experimental at the mo but an interesting idea to play with.  Am
> wondering if anyone has any experience of using plants such as creeping
> thymes, rosemary,  etc in such situations - to make it very "Med"
>
> Gill
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "david feix" <davidfeix@yahoo.com>
> To: <gill.cei@wanadoo.fr>; <MEDIT-PLANTS@ucdavis.edu>
> Sent: Monday, July 09, 2007 7:19 PM
> Subject: Re: vertical gardens/living walls
>
>
>> Gill
>> Interesting that you post this now, as I have been
>> asked to consult on a plant list for a similar living
>> wall to be built here on an east facing wall for a
>> San Francisco school.  Of course Patrick Blank has
>> done interior living walls in Paris that use
>> subtropical/mediterranean plants that certainly could
>> as easily be done outside here in our mild marine
>> influenced medit climate, that as easily accomodates
>> subtropicals with year round irrigation, as it does
>> mediterraneans.
>>
>> I would suggest that you either go dry and use
>> exclusively medit/succulent plants, or go more
>> subtropical/ripararian mediterranean species that will
>> handle the constant irrigation.  I also assume that
>> frost hardiness will be an issue for you?  We
>> typically don't need to worry much about that here in
>> Berkeley/San Francisco, where we are borderline USDA
>> zone 10.  I don't think you can mix the two
>> successfully without specializing the irrigation
>> system to zone it for wet/medium/dry.  Having seen
>> Patrick's plant lists for at least one interior
>> project outside Paris, I was surprised to see so many
>> plants that I ordinarily use in California gardens
>> from South Africa, Brazil and Mexico as part of his
>> mix.  In particular, I wouldn't have thought using
>> Cussonia paniculata would work, as they get tree sized
>> here, so it would be interesting to see how some of
>> his walls hold up over time.
>>
>> Have you decided whether to use small planters with
>> soil, or strictly the felt with plants from cuttings
>> for your wall?  This will of course affect your plant
>> choices.  Keep us informed of how your wall
>> progresses, they certainly look interesting in Patrick
>> Blank's web site photos, and I would like to see more
>> of them here in the USA.  I have even been considering
>> doing one in my next spec home/garden project here in
>> the Berkeley Hills, but haven't decided if it really
>> fits in with a Morroccan themed house and garden,
>> which is the design brief from my client.
>>
>> I must admit that your planting zone, USDA 7/8 is abit
>> outside my typical/preferred range of experience, as I
>> mostly deal with 9/10 plant lists,(and really enjoy
>> working with subtropical desert gardens or true zone
>> 11/12 tropical gardens),  but I would be happy to vet
>> your list and offer suggestions as I can.  I would
>> tend to emphasize plants that colonize from the roots,
>> don't get too tall, and maybe emphasize plants that
>> drape nicely in nature, and would be useful to drape
>> over a planter wall, and would be equally happy
>> hanging from a vertical wall.  This description of
>> plant type lends itself to ferns, gesneriads,
>> succulents, bromeliads, etc in our climate zone.
>> Plants such as coast redwood understory or woodland
>> plants in general such as Heucheras would also do
>> well.
>>
>>
>> --- "gill.cei" <gill.cei@wanadoo.fr> wrote:
>>
>>> ViergeI and a couple of associates want to make a
>>> living wall/vertical garden/mur vegetal that is
>>> appropriate to our local climate - Mesditerranean,
>>> zone d'olivier, approx = USDA zone 7/8  Our plan is
>>> to make a sample, experimental panel this autumn
>>> and, all being well, to construct a large version
>>> next year.  Most of the references I have found so
>>> far use plants which aren't very "Med" in character
>>> - does anyone have any experience of living walls in
>>> Med climates that they would be prepared to share?
>>> Ideas for appropriate plants (I already have some
>>> but would be interested in others)?  All comments &
>>> suggestions gratefully received.
>>>
>>> Gill Pound
>>> Nr Carcassonne,
>>> Languedoc
>>> France
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
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