Everything’s coming up… green

In growing urban landscapes, the famous phrase “Stop and smell the roses” is becoming more and more improbable, just because it seems like there are less and less parks and gardens around. Patrick Blanc, a botanist with the French National Centre for Scientific Research, came up with the idea of the vertical garden — a beautiful solution to our sometimes dull, grey surroundings.

The vertical garden, also known in French as Le Mur Végétal, is planted on walls without soil. This interesting concept is unique, in that its maintenance (watering and fertilization) is completely automated, making it ideal for large spaces. This idea came from the knowledge that plants grow on cliffs and other slopes without any soil. About 2,500 plant species in Malaysia alone grow without any help from soil.

Natural light also isn’t even a requirement. The vertical garden can grow in indoor spaces with just artificial light. A lightweight framework of metal, PVC and felt ensures no damage is done to the walls that the vertical garden hangs on, making for a completely worry-free, urban garden.

Since the first Le Mur Végétal project in 1994 at the Parc floral de Paris, other venues and boutiques have been beautifying their spaces with Blanc’s design concept, too. Jewelry giant Cartier and Club Med, as well as the Tacoma Goodwill in the U.S. and other places all over the world, have all discovered that the grass is greener on the other side — of the wall, that is.

— Kate Aenlle