Urban Bistro - Burlingame
The living fern wall was installed by Chris Bribach from Plants On Walls. 193 fully-grown Ferns were transplanted from 6" pots into felt wraps then fit into the felt pocket panels that cover the wall. Water wicks through the felt from the top to the bottom so each plant gets its moisture and nutrients.
Fern Wall Installation Slideshow
Chris Bribach from Plants On Walls installs a custom vertical garden (17' 9" x 8' 0") for the new Urban Bistro's buildout in the high-end shopping district of Burlingame.
Urban Bistro: Fern Planting
PlantsOnWalls began the fern wall planting of 320 ferns onto the Florafelt panels. Nine varieties of ferns were placed in the wall to determine the rough layout. Plants are pre-root-wrapped at the greenhouse before arriving on the installation site so we could focus solely on creating a masterpiece. In a half-day we had the entire wall planted including some re-arranging to get it just right. Come visit the fern wall at Urban Bistro's open air patio located off Burlingame Ave, at 270 Lorton in Burlingame, California map. Grand opening March 25th.
Urban Bistro: Living Wall
San Francisco Soup Kitchen opens a new Urban Bistro in the high-end shopping district of Burlingame just south of San Francisco. Their open air covered patio area is shaded with lots of bright light which is perfect for a living wall of ferns. The nearly completed build-out made us ready to install a living wall kit 17' 9" wide by 8' 0" high. The Florafelt full-pocket panels with black cover felt and painted black galvanized frame nearly cover the entire left wall of the space. Panels are made ready to receive the 320 root-wrapped ferns to be installed the next day.
Large Living Wall Irrigation
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Easy Container Combos
Great book that describes exactly how to combine vegetables and flowers to make beautiful combinations. She explains everything to make it easy. She describes how to plant in hanging baskets similar to growing in living wall panels. Amazon.com: Easy Container Combos
Population's Living Wall Update
Wood-Framed Succulent Wall
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Florafelt Full 12-Pocket Living Wall Panel by Scott Saarheim. Vallejo, California. PlantsOnWalls.com
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Tomatomania at Cornerstone
Potter Green invited PlantsOnWalls to create living wall displays for the Tomatomania springtime festival event at Cornerstone in Sonoma, California.
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| Florafelt Full 24-Pocket Living Wall Panel at Potter Green. Cornerstone, Sonoma, California. PlantsOnWalls.com |
Los Altos Atrium by Living Green of San Francsico
Landscape designers from Living Green of San Francisco created living walls in the courtyard of thier clients home in Los Altos using two custom-sized PlantsOnWalls Floraframe living wall systems. They used small plant starts to build living tapestries within the compact sun-filled atrium.
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| Designers from Living Green, San Francisco, install a vertical garden using the Floraframe living wall system. |
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| Custom Floraframe Living Wall Kit. Design by Living Green, San Francisco. |
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| Floraframe Living Wall Kits for a private residence in Los Altos. Design by Living Green, San Francisco. |
Colonie Restaurant in Brooklyn
Woodland Landscapes installed a PlantsOnWalls Living Wall Kit for Colonie Restaurant in Brooklyn, New York. The living wall measures 12' wide x 6' tall and provides herbs used by the kitchen.
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/20095569 w=400&h=225]
COLONIE from Karl Junkersfeld on Vimeo.
Living Wall for Ondeego
Ondeego of San Francisco ordered a living wall planted up with low-light tropicals to add life to their meeting room. The Floraframe Recirc-24 was mounted to the raw concrete wall and filled with 24 plants. Now they are inspired by green.
Floraframe Recirc-36 in Ferns
Green goes wild with a collection of ferns installed in a self-watering living wall. The Floraframe Recirc-36 is on display at the green house showroom of San Francisco Foliage.
Floraframe Recirc-36 in paint grade galvanized frame painted textred black. Includes pump, tank and timer with 36 planting pockets covered in black coverfelt and root wrappers. Can be planted full grown in as little as an hour.
Carolyn Morton Installation Video
Carolyn Morton and C&G Home Repair install a PlantsOnWalls Living Walls Kit to create a gorgeous living wall. They show us from box to wall how the vertical garden goes up..
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/18892716 w=400&h=225]
Living Walls from Carolyn Morton on Vimeo.
Fern Love
Ferns grace the cool northwest shady walls of a San Francisco balcony overlook. Two Floraframe 32x51 Living Wall Kits are planted with varieties of ferns.
Vertical Gardens and Livng Walls by PlantsOnWalls.
Floraframe Recirc 2x24
Fill rooms with plants with the Florframe Recirc 2x24 double-sided freestanding living wall system. Create a room-divider with a towering wall of foliage. Add 24 plants to each side using root wrappers then fill the tank with water. An automatic pump and timer keeps the plants watered so you can sit back and watch them grow. Buy Online: Floraframe Recirc 2x24
Floraframe Recirc-24
The Floraframe Recirc-24 is a self-contained living wall unit that holds 24 plants. The automatic vertical garden is self-watered with by pump and timer that lifts water to the top of the recycled PET plastic felt panel where it slowly wicks water and nutrients to each plant. The final effect is a beautiful living wall you can just sit back and enjoy. Learn More about: Floraframe Recirc Systems.
Succulent Signage
PlantsOnWalls Mini-Pocket Panels are used to grow succulents and sedums as a living background for Vox Green Design and Construction's signage in Mountain View, California.
Interview by Murrye Bernard
Murrye Bernard is a freelance architecture writer in New York City. She holds a Bachelor of Architecture and is a LEED Accredited Professional. A native of the South, her perception of space, color and texture was undoubtedly shaped by the humid backdrop of cotton fields and deteriorating downtowns.
Murrye’s work appears regularly in publications such as Architectural Record, Eco-Structure and Architectural Lighting. She also serves as a contributing editor for eOculus, the newsletter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) New York Chapter and previously edited two newsletters for the AIA National Associates Committee.
Recently, Murrye was selected by the New York Times Company’s About.com as a contributing writer on the topic of Green Home Renovations.
--- INTERVIEW ---
Murrye Bernard: Living walls are no doubt beautiful, but are they practical for the average homeowner in terms of cost and maintenance?
PlantsOnWalls: There are many types of vertical gardens and living walls out there. Our primary goal was to make this accessible to the home gardner and landscape designers. We developed vertical garden panels with an array of pockets that plants can simply be placed in and grown in their original soil. The felt acts as a water wicking method to evenly distribute water to the roots while allowing the soil to breathe.
MB: How do these systems benefit the environment and contribute to making a home more 'green'?
POW: Living Walls decrease energy transfers through walls and can absorb solar gain on sun facing walls. The micro-biology in plants absorb toxins and filter the air which reduce air handling costs. Growing food locally saves enormous resources while teaching children to interact with nature and learn about horticulture.
MB: The goal is usually to keep water away from the surface of a wall, so applying plants vertically seems counter-intuitive when it comes to preserving a home's structural integrity and avoiding mold. How are surfaces water-proofed to receive a living wall system?
POW:The best way to protect a structure is to provide an air gap between the living wall and the building. Within the breathable air space plants and mold will not grow. Our Florafelt Vertical Garden Panels have a lightweight plastic backing board that is channeled to breathe preventing condensation on the back side. Our Floraframe Living Wall Kits provide mounting spacers that support the panels away from the wall which allows for air circulation.
MB: You offer several products - living wall kits (Floraframe), vertical gardens (Florafelt) and even a Root Wrapping System. It is it feasible for an adventurous homeowner to install these products himself? Which systems which work better for interior vs. exterior applications?
POW: The average homeowner can easily hang the Florafelt Vertical Garden Panels outdoors from the provided tabs at the top. Such a simple installation can grow herbs, vegetables, or flowers in the full sun, or ferns or mosses or annuals that thrive in shade. Interior installations are made simple with our freestanding Floraframe Recirc Systems that are framed and have a tank to recurculate water or the Florframe Living Wall Kits that can be installed and connected to internal water and drainange systems in the home for automated watering.
MB: What types of plants thrive in living wall systems?
POW: Choosing the right plants for the right spot is key. High sun exposure offers the use of rugged sedums, succulents, and cacti varieties. In Shaded areas there are countless varieties of ferns and shade-loving plants that will thrive. Part-shade offers opportunities to use varieties such as grasses, flowers, herbs and vegetables. Interior spaces are great to grow tropicals that thrive in the low-light and warm conditions where you'll find common house plants. We have tried everything from cuttings and seeds, to woody shrubs and found budding new growth to emerge from our living walls. Finding the right balance between watering, feeding and light can create a harmony that all gardeners seek to create.
MB: Tell me about a residential living wall project that you've completed and what made it successful in terms of the design and location of the wall (can be interior or exterior).
POW: One of our first residential projects was the installation of a fern wall. About two years ago we planted a variety of ferns in our vertical pocket panels. We choose ferns because we had a full shade location outside that received bright indirect light. We used a Floraframe Living Wall Kit 64" x 51" and used a Water and Nutrient Kit to provide a steady flow of moisture and nutrients. We set the timers to run for 1 minute every day and used organic based Maxsea fertilizer. The ferns filled in the entire panel with lush growth completely covering the panels themselves. It has been a successful low-maintainance living wall that flourishes with delightful beauty every day. We offer design and installation services to designers and architects, a line of products to DIY vertical gardeners, and resources for vertical garden industry professionals. See: PlantsOnWalls.com
MB: ....and if I left anything important out, feel free to address.
POW: The origin of vertical gardens began in nature where nutrient rich water flows over rock faces supporting plant life. In the 1970's Paris, Patric Blanc explored the use of synthetic materials to re-create natural vertical habitats. His hydroponic installations, he has proven the success of vertical plantings in a wide variety of locations. In recent years a number of systems have emerged in the market that have problems with binding roots, are highly complex, heavy and expensive. Our experience with vertical growing led us to develop a system that is light-weight, waterproof, quickly installed and movable. Our goal is to provide a vertical growing system that both engineers and ordinary gardeners can use. By creating a modular panel system with an array of pockets made from recycled PET plastic felt we've created a way to include soil which allows for a more people-friendly way to grow. Not uncommon from simple container gardening that we are all familiar with.
Murrye Bernard
freelance writer
www.murrye.com
FLORAFRAME RECIRC 36
The Floraframe Recirc-36 shown with paint-grade metal coated with brown texture coat and planted with tropical varieties. The complete unit is now on display at Potter Green's showroom in the Cornerstone Gallery Collection, 23586 Arnold Drive (Hwy 121) Sonoma, CA, tel (707) 996-8888.
