Florafelt Living Wall Guide
Florafelt Living Wall Guide | Design Considerations | FAQ | About Us
Florafelt Vertical Garden by Chris Bribach for CBRE office towers in Downtown San Francisco
It’s a Whole New Way To Garden
It’s easy to grow a vertical garden with Florafelt Pocket Panel living wall system. Our hand-made planters are designed to use the micro fibers in PET felt so that all the plants are watered equally. The felt is made from recycled plastic water bottles, a non-toxic fiber that is indestructible and tough. This amazing material provides a safe growing medium that is pH neutral and non-reactive, so you can garden organically right on your wall. It's even safe for vegetables and herbs! Roots grow right into the felt, which comes alive thanks to the microbiology in the soil.
Worker prepares a Florafelt Root-Wrapped plant, Siteworks Landscape
Root Wraps
Florafelt Pocket Panels come with our custom Root-Wrap system. It lets you change and rearrange your living wall at will, while maintaining the integrity of every plant in its own soil.
How To Use Root Wraps
Watch our short video about how to use Florafelt Root Wraps and a Pocket Panel to create an easy succulent living wall.
Simplicity by Design
Our handmade vertical garden planters are designed to use the micro fibers in synthetic felt so that all the plants are watered equally. Watered from the top, water wicks down to water each plant. Water wicking micro-fibers wick moisture, roots grow into the felt. Unbound by the pockets, roots grow into the moist felt.
The felt is made from recycled plastic water bottles, a non-toxic PET plastic fiber that is indestructible and tough. The felt breathes to host living microbiology and healthy plants. Planting with some soil balances pH and stabilizes moisture.
Our patented pleated design keeps moisture in the system and the front dry. The pleated felt allows moisture to collect at the bottom fold where the roots grow. This provides even irrigation throughout the living wall. Our custom made Grow Felt is stapled onto a lightweight plastic board. The solid mounting panel supports the pockets and keeps walls dry. Hanging tabs offer an easy mounting solution.
Plants to a Florafelt Root Wrap. Photo: Jamie Sangar
Using A Little Soil Makes Vertical Gardening Much Easier
We created the pockets so that they would accommodate a handful of soil. The soil balances pH and introduces microbiology to let nature do its work and bring the felt alive. And it is crucial to use synthetic materials so the support system doesn’t dissolve.
Florafelt Root Wrap showing roots.
Roots Grow Into the System
Plastic compartments and planter boxes restrict root growth and create the same problem as planters – root binding. Plastic also doesn’t allow breathability, and our felt pockets eliminate the many difficulties with root rot issues. Additionally, the soil is tightly held in place by the felt wraps within the pockets, keeping the entire system extremely tidy. And the pleats direct the water inward, making it drip-free.
Florafelt Living Wall by Joris Bunschoten Amsterdam.
Very Large Vertical Gardens
With a bolted attachment, our Florafelt planters can be used at any height. Florafelt is made from recycled PET plastic fibers that are virtually indestructible. Once it is planted, the root material makes it a permanent living membrane.
Florafelt Pockets living wall by Kieselbach Woodworks Hawaii.
Food Safe PET Plastics
Not all plastics are the same. PET plastic is a non-reactive, non-toxic plastic which is why it is used for anything from milk jugs to water bottles. We chose recycled PET plastic felt fibers for our Florafelt, turning unused water bottles into something useful. Additionally, plants grown in this material absorb carbon from the atmosphere, making Florafelt a ‘carbon absorbing’ product.
Aerial Roots of the Philodendron Monstera add mystery to a living wall. Population Hair Salon in San Francisco. Grown in Florafelt Pockets.
Vertical Gardens That Evolve
It is very important for the vertical garden to be interactive so that it can be modified as needed. Like any garden, there are unpredictable changes in climate, mishaps with watering systems, or plant disease.
The slit-and-staple method, which was used several years ago for the vertical garden at the Drew School in San Francisco, often show large planted areas that did not take. It is very difficult to add new plants to fill in these spaces.
But our Florafelt pleated-pocket design makes it very easy for any gardener to remove the problem plants and tuck healthy starts into the existing pockets. It also allows caretakers to replace the dead foliage with plants that are thriving in the same vertical garden. Starting with a bio-diverse selection allows you to try many plants and minimize the failures. You simply add more of what works.
A sustainable solution to vertical gardening is one that uses the skills of an existing landscape service or even maintenance crews on staff. This keeps long-term maintenance affordable and easy.