Green Roofs and Living Walls

As Earth's population grows living areas become smaller and our cities grow upward. That leaves alot of vertical space to cover, and what better way to cover it than with beautiful tapestries of plants!

Living walls and green roofs not only create a beautiful and calming atmosphere but they have wonderful benefits for the environment also, releasing more oxygen into the atmosphere and (in the case of roofs and outdoor walls) collecting rainwater thereby reducing runoff.

There is a slight downside in that many of the plants suitable for these gardens are quite shallow rooted and, given the lack of root space available in these situations, they tend to dry out rather quickly and need frequent watering in our arid climate. That makes choosing appropriate plants slightly more difficult in our region, but there is still a wide array of great choices!

The upside (apart from the calming and environmental benefits) are that, within even a limited plant palette, there are countless design options ranging from entire building walls, to tiny wall hangings to grace a well lighted room.

Check out a few of these websites for more ideas!

Vertical Garden by Patrick Blanc
Living Walls and Vertical Gardens

Mosstika Urban Greenery - Artist


(photos: top Boston art installation by Mosstika, bottom succulent garden art by designer Mia Lehrer)