Re: vertical gardens/living walls

It does look like the Madrid Patrick Blanc wall does
use many groundcover type mediterranean species such
as Allysums, Cerastiums, etc.  The close up also shows
that he is using water loving things as well, such as
the Pieris shrubs shown, which are planted in slits in
the fabric with a small amount of soil, which seems to
be the most common technique in his wall systems.  It
would be interesting to know how the irrigation is
zoned, since the technique uses a drip system at the
top of the wall which then runs down the often several
story walls  and is caught and recycled and pumped
back up to the top again.  I would assume in most of
his applications that this system in almost constantly
on, and therefore rather moist, as there is very
little soil involved, and the exposure and lack of
rooting subtrate would rapidly dry out.  I would also
assume that even using drought tolerant plants, due to
the nature of the walls, the irrigation would need to
be pretty constant and moist.  It would also seem that
the drier loving plants should be closer to the top
where they would not stay quite as saturated.  I also
wonder if the preponderance of vertical drifts of
plants is a more practical design application that he
seems to continually favor in most all the designs of
his I have seen; perhaps being a cleaner look and
easier to maintain over time.  In his interviews about
his various walls, it would appear that maintainance
is not all that high, and pruning is limited to
several times a year.  I would assume that the
fertilizing is done by injection unit with the
irrigation, and probably uses a dilute application on
a fairly frequent basis.  These are all assumptions on
my part, and it would be interesting to get a little
more history first hand on how these various walls are
maintained.  

The walls shown on Patrick's web site range from dimly
lit interiors of malls and parking garages, to
interior walls in houses and office buildings in both 
temperate France and tropical southeast Asia, to
exterior walls in France and India.  Certainly he is
working with a wide range of plants for all these
different applications, and some require artificial
light to survive.  I wonder about insect and disease
control as well, knowing that my indoor client's
gardens are some of the most troublesome to maintain
in good health without constant attention to monitor
insect infestations before they get out of control.
--- Tom Schweich <tas27@schweich.com> wrote:

> Gill,
> 
> Perhaps you are aware that there is a vertical wall
> in Madrid.  
> 
> Photos at:
> http://www.schweich.com/fn2007.html#Para20070330030 
>  
> 
> Couldn't tell you about the species planted there,
> but it looked quite 
> wet and perhaps they are not really Mediterranean
> plants. 
> 
> Tom
> 
> gill.cei wrote:
> > I 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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