By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

As I sit in my backyard enjoying my green tea I take stock of my space.

I have my vegetable garden, my kitchen garden, my orchard, my historical garden, and a grazing area for my rabbit Rufus.

What more could I want?If I wanted more where could I put it?

My garden grows on 1/5 of an acre and while container gardening was an option I still had the problem where to put them.

Last Saturday I went to a talk put on by my local chapter of Master Gardeners that helped me think outside the box. Vertical gardening for apartments, balconies, and anyone who had run out of space like me was the topic. This was not the “vertical gardening concept” purposed by Mr. Dickson Despommier but instead dealt with rooftop gardens and living walls. I was fascinated by this concept especially living walls.

This was something I could do without changing the whole structure of my roof for a rooftop garden. This series of blogs will Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

Plants really are amazing and versatile.

My friend Andy sent me links about the creations of French botanist Patric Blanc. He specializes in creating vertical wall gardens.

The results are beautiful.

The website for Echo Studio states that “These growing tapestries provide insulation, help filter rainwater that flows across its surface, create a cooling effect, and lend an often surprising visual interest in places one wouldn’t expect to see plants.”

Take a look at his website. I wondered how they were able to grow them so well vertically. For the Musée du Quai Branly, they used a combination of felt and plastic layers as anchors for the plants. These are layered on top of a metal frame, which provides some breathing room Read the rest of this entry »