Just Add Jungle
Chicago interior designer Jennifer L. Hawn spices up her client's mask collection with an entire wall of living jungle.
The Florafelt pocket panel system was the perfect low-profile dripless vertical garden solution.
This naturally lit stairwell is the perfect place for plants and an even better home for these wild african masks.
Jennifer L. Hawn
Interior Designer
jenniferhawn.com
Landscape Architecture Student Benjamin Heim Grows an Inspiring Vertical Garden
Years of finesse have allowed Benjamin Heim to create this botanical masterpiece for his clients vertical garden in San Francisco. Created with Florafelt Pocket Panels, this copper-framed custom living wall started with mostly ferns and has evolved into an intense mixture of exotic species inspired by curiosity and experimentation. The result is astounding.
An aging bromeliad roots into a Florafelt Root Wrap.
A spontaneous and inspired vertical garden masterpiece. Florafelt Vertical Garden by Benjamin Heim of Groundcover Landscaping.
Performance Design: Why Your Office Needs a Living Wall
Jared designed and built a living wall for his workplace using Florafelt in Providence, Utah.
In the modern workplace, "luxury" is often defined by high-end coffee machines or ergonomic chairs. But there is a more profound luxury emerging in office design—one that doesn't just look expensive, but actively works to improve your biological well-being. This is performance design, and it starts with the vertical garden.
Integrating greenery into a workspace isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s about engineering an environment that supports the human machine.
More Than a Pretty Face: The Science of Vertical Greenery
When you install a living wall, you are actually installing a sophisticated, multi-functional technology. Here is how performance design impacts your workday:
Natural Acoustic Damping: Hard surfaces like glass and concrete bounce sound around, leading to high-stress noise levels. A lush wall of foliage acts as a natural acoustic buffer, absorbing sound waves and creating a quieter, more focused atmosphere.
Biological Air Filtration: Plants are nature’s air purifiers. Through phytoremediation, they scrub toxins from the air and release fresh oxygen, reducing the "stale office air" feel that often leads to afternoon brain fog.
Biophilic Stress Reduction: It is scientifically proven that looking at nature lowers cortisol levels. By bringing the outdoors in, you provide your brain with the visual breaks it needs to maintain high-level creativity and productivity.
Real-World Results: Jared’s Workplace Transformation
The theory of performance design is best seen in practice. Take Jared from Providence, Utah, who recently decided to upgrade his workspace using a professional-grade vertical system.
Jared utilized four Florafelt 12-Pocket Living Wall Panels to create a custom-built installation. This isn't just a row of potted plants; it’s a towering mix of tropicals that creates a seamless wall of life. To keep the design sleek and professional, Jared cleverly hid the water tank inside a discrete chest at the base, ensuring the focus remains entirely on the greenery.
"I ordered 4 of the Florafelt 12-Pocket Living Wall Panels a few weeks back. I've got them installed and (mostly) planted out and they're working beautifully! Definitely exceeded expectations." — Jared, Providence, Utah
The Verdict: Fun Meets Function
At the end of the day, having a garden at work simply makes it a bit more fun to be there. It changes the energy of the room from a sterile box to a living, breathing ecosystem. As Jared’s wall grows in and fills out, it will continue to purify the air and provide a serene backdrop for his daily tasks.
Tropical plants are used for the indoor living wall. Florafelt system.
Custom designed Florafelt recirculating living wall for an office in Providence, Utah.
This Little Free Library Is Adorable Enough, Then Add a Mini Vertical Garden
Tiny Library designed by landscape architect Alec Hawley using Florafelt Vertical Garden Planters
Kids love their new Tiny Library in San Francisco's Inner Richmond Neighborhood. This little treasure was conceived by landscape architect, Alec Hawley and crafted by Richard Walker. Florafelt Vertical Garden 4-Pocket Planters create little living walls on each side.
Design Concept Sketch for the Inner Richmond Tiny Library by Alec Hawley
Tiny Library designed by landscape architect Alec Hawley using Florafelt Vertical Garden Planters
The project was a community led effort to improve our neighborhood and make space for our youngest and most curious residents. It not only serves as a Little Free Library, but also as a teaching tool and a sensory and edible garden for the entire Inner Richmond neighborhood.
“It would not have been nearly as unique or feel as warm without the Florafelt pockets and plants.”
This library is the culmination of eight months of discussion, design & effort by the Peter’s Place Nursery School Parents and Teachers. Design by landscape architect, Alec Hawley. Fabrication by Richard Walker. Living walls created with Florafelt Vertical Garden Planters.
The tiny library is located at 227 Balboa St., San Francisco, CA.
Yoobi Los Angeles adds a Breath of Fresh Air to their Headquarters with a Vertical Garden by Tucker Warner Design Build
Florafelt Vertical Garden for Yoobi Los Angeles by Tucker Warner Design Build
A luscious green plant wall at Yoobi headquarters cleans the air while it adds oxygen. This custom Florafelt vertical garden created by Tucker Warner recirculates water from a storage tank at the base that is cleverly hidden with a beautiful enclosure of reclaimed wood.
Tucker Warner, CSBA, LEED GA, FE - Design - Build - Consult
Contact: 802-355-2459 - tuckerhwarner@gmail.com
Architect Marika Shiori-Clark's Living Wall Bursts With Life for Cleveland's Hingetown Neighborhood
Hingetown is coming to life with Cleveland's largest living wall taking center stage. Architect Marika Shiroi-Clark envisioned this neighborhood's transformation by developing core buildings to build vibrant public spaces to the once-desolate neighborhood. The vertical garden creates an iconic destination that softens the once industrial area.
Marika made the green wall experience using Florafelt Vertical Garden Planters with the help from public watershed incentives and community volunteers. The Florafelt system is easy and affordable enough for everyone to get involved. The ongoing love and care the wall receives makes it the beauty it is today.
See how it was constructed here: Urban Renewal Grows in Cleveland
Florafelt Aquaponics Fit for a King
King Charles learns about growing organic food with Florafelt hydroponics and live fish at the Humble by Nature Aquaponic Greenhouse in Wye Valley, UK.
A Tropical Reception
Nathan Brown of The Turf Jockeys in Eaton Rapids, Michigan used Florafelt Vertical Garden Planters to build a beautiful living wall for his clients reception area.
"The pocket style design allows for quick installation as well as replacement should one want to change out different plants."
Ian Nunez, a foreman at Turf Jockeys shows the ease and efficiency of the Florafelt system which lets his creativity soar. He shows us how he uses wood spacers mounted to the wall to create an air gap that keeps the building's structure dry. Rigid plywood is added as a support structure. He then applies a layer of rubber pond liner that keeps water in the plant wall. Rubber flexes to waterproof around the deck screw attachments.
Nathan explains, "The Florafelt system is easy enough to use that my 11 and 14 year old could wrap plants and install them. Even my kids wanted to help! They kept singing that jingle, "Hot pocket", only it was "plant pocket"
"The three walls we have installed this far are doing very well."
"The 5 sided wall at Lakeside Fire and Grill in Mason has 10 of the Nuvo metal halides shining on it. The track lighting system was a real treat though! The wall really looks awesome with the full spectrum grow lights on."
"Florafelt has changed the way we inspire spaces vertically. Florafelt is extremely user friendly, adapts to almost every build out situations and most of all it's simple. Everyone at Florafelt is very helpful and passionate about what they do and what we as designers are creating."
Nathan Brown
The Turf Jockeys
Eaton Rapids, Michigan
Nbrown@theturfjockeys.com
Florafelt Root Wrapped plants are added to the pockets to quickly create a custom design.
Nathan also created an exciting and dynamic 264 plant wall install at Lakeside Fire and Grill.
Because water flows through the Florafelt supportive growing medium roots are just happier. Air also moves into the system which creates an ecosystem that plants can thrive in. This also means it's crucial to provide a gutter at the base of the wall to drain water away.
Nathan Brown. The Turf Jockeys. Lakeside Fire and Grill. Eaton Rapids, Michigan. Florafelt Pocket System.
"We even began to switch out some plants in our first installation because they saw other plants installed in the other walls with different colors. It was very easily to accommodate their request due to your pocket system. The root wrappers are the way to go."
"Florafelt will definitely help to inspire people in Michigan. You can call me a Florafelt Fanatic!"
"I really enjoy working with your product! Great invention Chris!"
Living Canvas Vertical Garden
Landscape architect Alec Hawley explores a dynamic collection of succulents for his own backyard living wall using the Florafelt Pro Vertical Garden System.
Alec experimented with a wide variety of succulent species to identify the most successful for the environment.
A wide variety of species are artfully mixed together create delightful experience.
The succulent garden is the focal point of the yard and provides a backdrop to the children's play area. It's an inspiring place to discover and learn.
A year after planting, nearly all have thrived and a sweeping expanse of color and texture creates a dynamic and exciting landscape element.
DESIGNER INTERVIEW Alec Hawley
Landscape architect Alec Hawley explores a dynamic collection of succulents for his own backyard living wall using the Florafelt Vertical Garden System.
Alec Hawley
Landscape Architect
San Francisco
Linkedin
Bromeliad Wall Vertical Garden
Laura Mast of Kingwood Center Gardens adds an exciting new addition to their showcase greenhouse. Florafelt Vertical Garden Planters are hung from a metal unistrut frame and filled with a colorful combination of root-wrapped bromeliads. The historic house and gardens are located in Mansfield, Ohio.
Urban Green Luxury Remodel
Luxury remodel in San Francisco's Cole Valley gets a big dose of urban green. Florafelt Living Wall System are used to fill the 30 foot tall window well with ferns. Joanna Wong and Durkin Inc. created a living wall as a focal point for their luxury remodel located in San Francisco's Haight Ashbury area.
Real Estate Developer Joanna Wong describes her experience using the Florafelt Vertical Garden System to design and construct a 3 story plant wall to create verdant views where once there were walls.
Phils and Ferns Vertical Garden
Designer Chris Bribach, Plants On Walls designed and installed a custom recirculating living wall for his client in San Francisco's Glen Park home using Florafelt Vertical Garden Planters.
Chris Bribach, designer and
Inventor of the Florafelt Living Wall System
Plants On Walls, San Francisco
chris@plantsonwalls.com
415-658-5498
Toronto Style Vertical Gardens
Designer Hande Ersoy created two living walls for "Untitled by Flaunt Boutique” in Toronto with Florafelt Vertical Garden Planters.
Hande Ersoy, Designer
Toronto, Canada
Phone: 1 (416) 276 0624
Email: hello@thatshande.com
Site: thatshande.com
Instagram: @thatshande
Wisdom and Age Grow Vertically
Landscape designer Davis Dalbok boasts his masterful aging vertical garden works on display at Living Green Design showroom gardens in San Francisco.
The entitled 'Birds of Prey' vertical gardens were transferred here after the 2013 Decorators Showcase in Pacific Heights. The Florafelt Pro System infrastructure was reconfigured into a large single living wall.
Blue Star Ferns and Leather ferns fill the lower areas that have more moisture while the Japanese Maples go dormant and lose their leaves for winter.
Leather Ferns mingle near the moist lower areas of the living wall. Woody stems of Conifers from the original installation begin to thicken with age. Grasses finish out their season with an undergrowth of dieback.
Living Green Design
Davis Dalbok
livinggreendesign.com
Luxurious Urban Oasis Fern Walls
San Francisco's foggy Fillmore district is ideal for grottos of lush ferns that enhance a spa and shower hidden within the plant wall. A total of 2000 plants are growing in three massive living walls throughout the home, the tallest of which towers 25 feet. They transform this luxurious urban home into a natural oasis.
Rock and Rose worked with landscape architect Tim O'Shea to design these massive vertical gardens. They used the Florafelt Pro System with direction by Chris Bribach of Plants On Walls, system installation by Mike Long of Longevity Construction, and final planting by Michael Bonicci of Showplant Nurseries.
Tim O'Shea chose a collection of practical yet lush ferns for the cavernous, low-light conditions including Mother, Maidenhair, Bird Nest, and Blue Star ferns. Babytears and Soleirolii provide a variety of textures and colors that grow into a smooth delicate carpet with a subtle wave of contrast from the yellow flowers of Maroon Oxalis.
The gardens are maintained monthly by the team at Showplant Nurseries who use tall ladders to keep the living walls manicured to perfection.
Humble by Nature Aquaponic Vertical Garden
A cute little cafe in England's Wye Valley uses vertical gardens and aquaponics to deliver fresh organic vegetables and greens for its customers.
This sustainable food experiment is called Humble by Nature after its founder Kate Humble who works with talented gardeners willing to take on this visionary challenge.
Fish tanks provide fertilized water for all the plants in the greenhouse.
A vertical garden component is featured within the greenhouse to create additional growing space.
Alongside the flooded growing beds, Florafelt Pocket Living Wall System adorns the Northern wall where tomatoes and other vegetables provide year-round food.
The cafe serves delicious meals made mostly from food produced from the greenhouse and nearby farms.
The learning farm offers classes on home-grown agriculture and provides adorable overnight cabins.
Caretaking The Conservatory of Flowers Vertical Garden
by Steph Kantorski
A redesign of the vestibule in San Francisco’s historic Conservatory of Flowers has created a breathtaking introduction for visitors to this world-famous Victorian structure. One of the largest and most beautiful vertical green walls in the city is now on full display for visitors inside North America’s oldest public wood-and-glass greenhouse.
This dramatic 360-pocket wall (created with 30 Florafelt 12-pocket panels) reflects the spirit of the Conservatory. It was created with donated materials and labor by people with an enthusiastic love for plants. The result is an exquisite display of tropical greenery, flowering varieties and colorful vines for a luscious eye-catching wall that stirs the imagination.
It all began with the 2012 San Francisco Decorator Showcase that featured an exterior green wall designed by Davis Dalbok of Living Green Design and member of the Conservatory’s Advisory Council. The planted entry wall was made using the Florafelt vertical garden system invented by Chris Bribach of Plants On Walls.
Jane Scurich (above right), Director of Development at the Conservatory of Flowers, remembers the Decorator Showcase wall as “breathtaking.” After the event, she asked Davis about acquiring a section of the display. Davis replied, “You don’t want a postage stamp, Jane, you want it to be the whole wall.” Davis contacted Chris about the project, who donated a custom-designed system to one of San Francisco’s most prestigious and beloved institutions. It was installed behind the greeter desk with special requirements to preserve the integrity of the elegant Victorian structure.
Around that time, volunteer Conservatory greeter Marilyn Singer passed away and her family donated many of the first plants in her memory. Later San Francisco Foliage donated more greenery. Senior Nursery Specialist Guadalupe Cota culled prime specimens from her greenhouse. As the number and variety of plants grew, it became clear that a stunning attraction was being created.
A dripline water and nutrient-delivery system also donated by Plants On Walls kept it lush and beautiful. Not long after, Guadalupe left the Conservatory and Nursery Specialist Mario Vega maintained it for the next few months. That’s about where I came in.
Originally volunteering as a docent, I switched to the horticulture side in 2013 out of sheer fascination with the plants themselves. I was beyond thrilled when Mario put me on “vertical garden duty.” The last three years have been an invaluable education in what tropical flora do when prepared in Root Wraps, or the recycled PET “diapers” (as I affectionately call them), and stuffed inside pockets to grow vertically.
As I worked with the vertical garden, I found that plants were so happy they began to take over. The vanilla orchid vine grew with such force it pushed its neighbors up out of their pockets. The bromeliads flowered furiously and the philodendrons’ roots clamped on so ferociously I had to cut out entire pockets. Gesneriads, lipstick vines and exotic grasses spilled over and fought for light.
When the wall garden was finally tamed, I added more specimens to vary the color and texture. Now there’s a habanero pepper plant and two carnivorous Nepenthes, which I keep neatly trimmed because they tend to take over.
Horticulturist Steph Kantorski describes her experience using the Florafelt System for the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers vertical garden.
In early 2016, the Conservatory welcomed its new Director Matthew Stephens. Among his other exciting plans, the greeter desk was moved to the other side of the entryway allowing everyone to experience the living wall up close. The larger foliage at the top has been trimmed to reveal the building’s beautiful original stained glass. With the wall now on full display, this unique and astounding vertical jungle finally feels complete.
For a small entry fee you can visit the Conservatory of Flowers and take a free tour or stroll around on your own. You can also just step into the vestibule without a ticket to experience the living wall for yourself.
VIDEO: Chris Bribach of Plants On Walls installs a Florafelt Vertical Garden at the Conservatory of Flowers. September 2012.
Urban Renewal Grows in Cleveland
Architect Marika Shioiri-Clark revitalizes a neighborhood by working with the community to construct Cleveland's largest living wall using the Florafelt System.
Watch extended interviews with the architect and neighbors.
Florafelt Vertical Garden Planters were mounted to horizontal lumber supports bolted to the brick facade.
Architect Marika Shioiri-Clark and a group of dedicated community volunteers bring the head-turning beauty of living walls to Cleveland's up-and-coming Hingetown district.
A wide variety of sedums and hearty grasses will grow into a seamless cliffside of cascading foliage.
Reclaimed water from rooftop rain runoff will irrigate the vertical garden for an exciting, eye-catching and ecological icon in an area flourishing from urban renewal.
Green Marketing Gone Vertical
Rebecca Sheedy of Floraform Design is thrilled that her first living wall is also one of her most visible. Marx Foods may be the first, but Rebecca has since spent five years creating living walls, and ran a business maintaining gardens for several years before that. “I just love plants and always find a way to be out there with them,” she says.
Marks Foods reception desk living wall by by Rebecca Sheedy, Floraform Design Seattle, framed Florafelt Compact Kits.
She honed her expertise while studying botany at the University of Washington and The Evergreen State College. “I’m really into color, contrast, texture and shapes,” she says. In fact, her expertise is international. “During college, I did research in Costa Rica to estimate the biomass of forest canopy. We found there’s more biomass in the canopy than on the forest floor.”
Marks Foods reception desk living wall by Rebecca Sheedy, Floraform Design Seattle, framed Florafelt Compact Kits.
Rebecca's first living wall serenely packs a green marketing punch from its post overlooking the Marx Foods checkout area. “I started small with a Florafelt Compact Living Wall Kit with 8-pockets for the first 6 to 8 months,” Rebecca explains. “I learned what plants were happy where. Now there are 7 Compact Kits lined up together for 56 pockets.”
Plus a gorgeous frame that beautifully sets off the plants within. “The frame was Marx Foods’ idea. To hide the freezers, we incorporated the garden into the freezer wall. The garden sets Marx apart, makes a statement and generates a lot of buzz.”
Rebecca Sheedy of Floraform Seattle uses two Florafelt Living Walls to create a larger install.
Rebecca selects plants as carefully as Marx Foods shops for their clientele. The garden includes Homalomena, Medusa Bromeliads, Kangaroo Paw Fern, Vresia (a mottled leaf bromeliad), Spathiphyllum, Anthurium, Aglaonema (has a good sprawling habit and fills in the edges"), Philodendron and Schefflera 'Soliel,' which has stunning chartreuse leaves.
Green healing: A Seattle doctor's examination room living wall by Rebecca Sheedy, Floraform Design Seattle, wall mounted Florafelt Compact Living Wall Kits.
Rebecca shopped around before settling exclusively on Florafelt Products. “Back then a lot of people created walls themselves in a Patrick Blanc style, stapling felt to a wall. But I made sure to use a Compact Kit – it’s fully contained and operates on its own. I like how the hardware is invisible. People saw it and got in touch with me.”
Since then, Rebecca has created distinctive and beautiful vertical gardens for restaurants, homes, wine shops, doctors’ offices, you name it. Interestingly, doctors request the gardens for their examination rooms. “There is a big alternative medicine scene here – doctors prescribe plants as medicine,” she says.
Inspired by design, Rebecca in Paris in front of a famous Patric Blanc living wall.
Rebecca Sheedy
Floraform Design
floraformdesign.com
Intern Builds Vertical Garden, Inspires Green Living
Angelica Rocha inherited her grandfather's green thumb to build her first green wall, complete with 50 fish! The minnows form a vital link in her new aquaponics vertical garden at the EcoCenter on San Francisco Bay. This Berkeley student is on a fast track to make the world a lot more green, so meet her now and say you knew her when.
Just completed in December at the EcoCenter at Heron’s Head Park, the 84-pocket living wall is Angelica’s internship triumph. “Kids love it!” she says. “I think the EcoCenter is happy to house such an amazing piece of living space.”
The nutrient-rich water from the fish tank feeds the plants, creating a closed cycle system that is a perfect example of sustainable urban living ─ what the EcoCenter is all about.
Eternally curious, Angelica had experimented at home with vertical gardens. Since she was so interested in them and horticulture, "The EcoCenter project spoke to me,” she says.
Perhaps also because her grandfather and uncles were agriculture and landscaping professionals in Mexico before coming to the U.S. She dove into learning about Plants On Walls and Florafelt, too. “I was amazed at the projects. Each one is absolutely beautiful. I was so impressed, I had to learn more.”
Angelica arrived at the EcoCenter through a course, Applied Research in Sustainability, at City College of San Francisco. She now studies environmental management at UC Berkeley, after earning her bachelor’s degree last year in recreation, parks and tourism administration at San Francisco State University.
An amazing community and education center, the EcoCenter brings sustainable power, water and wastewater systems to life. It’s the first LEED Platinum - Zero Net Energy Building in San Francisco. Here you’ll discover a living roof, rainwater harvesting, constructed wetlands and much more.
Angelica helped run the popular Science Saturday programs that foster public interaction, and gave tours that required deep knowledge of San Francisco's watershed, Eco Center's wastewater treatment, biomimicry, environmental design and local wildlife.
For the aquaponics living wall, Angelica worked with Florafelt CEO Chris Bribach, who advised her at each step. Kids and adults alike had fun root-wrapping the native plants.
Assembly of the Aquaponic Vertical Garden
“I believe vertical gardens are the best solution for greening the urban environment. They require little space and make a big impact inside and outside,” she says. “They benefit the environment and ourselves ─ improving air quality, reducing particulate level, reducing stress, increasing productivity, and more.
“The EcoCenter is right on the waterfront of San Francisco Bay, one of the most invaded watersheds in the world. I wanted to bring in marsh plants, similar to ones you'd see outside, as a talking point for how our watersheds filter themselves.”
What’s next for this intrepid intern? Big goals, of course: making her mark in green infrastructure and environmental planning, and adding more vertical gardens to the world. She also plans to complete a 20-day hike along the John Muir Trail from Yosemite to Mount Whitney.