Did someone forget to water? Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show 2011. Warning I was at Chelsea last year.

I so can not help comparing Chelsea 2010 with Melbs Garden Show 2011 . Here it goes.

Comparison one: there was a fab little idea for wall planters tucked in a corner of a Melbourne show garden and the plants (strawberries) were drooping with thirst. Its only Day 2 in Melbourne   – Chelsea plants do not know the horror of  ‘The End’ until the last gate shuts firmly.

Comparison Two: Designers in Melbourne took the podium with gusto and confidence (one chopped designer above). They explained what inspired them without a hint of embarrassment. Told us what life is all about. Hellaleuja brother. I felt the awaken earth mother spirit leap with  joy.  The quiet pause ridden modesty of the British designer perhaps aint very Australian.

Comparison Three: Children. None at Chelsea. Guess how many lost children announcements I heard today at Melbourne’s International Garden Show? Four in 3 hours.

Children exist. And its them who cause visual havoc in our gardens. Children was not a strong topic for Chelsea 2010. It was more about gardens for someone who has no kids in their life at all. Not even once a year.

So me was very happy to see the above cubby houses looking funky and somewhat under polished. Very suitable for my oh so terribly ordinary child centred life.

Comparison Four: Garden Design. Both Chelsea and Melbourne have great design and some rather less great. The main difference is Chelsea has way more budget to flaunt its design possibilities. In turn the finishes and detailing at Chelsea are often exquisite. Whilst there was some great finishes in Melbourne there is less of a high polished concrete satin glean.

The Flemings sponsored design was one of the few Australian designs at Chelsea 2010. Fleming’s Chelsea design was reproduced at Melbourne’s show  but on a lesser scale. Does that says something about Australia? ….Would Kylie Minogue spend less money on her Aussie tour than Europe? I wonder?

By the way Flemings created a great design in both countries, nevertheless designing a spectacle complete with bikini clad chicks, and your oversized frontage, does little for raising the awareness of Australia’s design maturity.

The local toyshop in Sicily uses its wall planters to create living walls

 

 

The toy shop in Cefalu, Sicily knows how to use its wall planters to benefit its shop image and the public realm.

What fabulous product placement, streetscaping and use of walls.  Perhaps this is living walls pre Patric blanc?

These photos illustrate a great technique to blur the private and public domain.

The photos also illustrate how urban greening can occur in narrow, concrete spaces. No need for the wide ‘nature’ strips found in the car culture countries of the US and Australia  – just use the vertical concrete spaces created by the walls of almost every building.

Love it!!

 

 

Woolly Pockets. Indoor wall planters in a UK White Home – perfect.

Thank god I was playing around on twitter yeserday. One of my customers  decided to share his lounge room. And now his lounge is on my blog. How fab-ba-lis-tic is this white white house with those green green lush plants? They are planted  in a woolly pocket.

Very beautful.

And a very London look as well ( but it is in Lancashire ).

Light and bright is the way to go when the outdoor features a grey grey blanket cloud.

Ooh and love the fish tank in the corner as well. These guys just need an eco-orb.

Vertical garden gone candy mad …… living walls are such a fad, NOT.

..ho hum ……….yet another garden designer stated that vertical gardens were a fad…AGAIN……….

Well my plants are so happy with their wall planters that they are exploding with the most ridiculous colours – I never intended for yellow/pink/purple flowers to all come together – this garden was only ever temporary……(no not a fad, but a trial garden).

I never thought I would see it go to flower …but here I am learning that  perhaps red and pink candy coloured geraniums are really quiet fun when placed on a wall with other plants that flower with a yellow…..do not recommend the red brick backdrop though…..next time I will do it differently…more yellow.

Like all gardens the success depends on the maintenance. My indoor living wall has suffered over the last two weeks. I was super busy and it did not get watered ….my ferns needed to be kept moist ….our living room can get very hot and many of mine have shrivelled….but there are young fronds emerging so I should be able to revive them – I have moved them outdoors to my shady vertical garden – – much cooler out there

Such as shame that people are able to dismiss and turn away from possibilities.

Am very keen to experiment with blue hydrangeas.

This very morning a small urban chink of London was ‘greened’ using packing tape and wall planters

All you need are some Woolly Pocket wall planters and some packing tape and its possible to have an instant gardening space in the smallest urban outdoor slice of London.

This morning I quickly hung some pre-planted Woolly Pockets to the stair railings outside our place in London.  I must get some black packing tape and install a few more pockets on the flip side with my shade loving ferns. Its work in progress.

Find Woolly Pockets at RHS Chelsea 2010: Behind Steve Myburgh’s hanging pumpkin, gypsy van and …..

Here are some working pics of Garden Beet’s vertical gardens for Steve Myburgh Designs. The stand is coming together with all the various wall planters. Woolly Pockets are providing a lush backdrop for Myburgh’s hanging copper chairs. I have found the Chelsea Flower Show to be pretty exciting  – I am totally in awe of the various show gardens – loads of £££££ have been spent and its all very la de da – ideas are everywhere. Much better than the Melbourne Flower Show back in Australia. Really the two do not compare in terms of scale.

Green Wall at London’s O2 – some plants are failing

Here are some shots of the green wall at the O2 centre in London’s east. While some of the plants are failing (sedums) I like the shape of this green wall and how it sits within the broader landscape. The main section of the green wall (front and sides) use some type of netted soil system – the rear of the wall is treated with ivy (probably pre-grown sheets) and a wall of bamboo is also used to conceal the works area behind the green wall.

Am unsure on the details of the plants that are failing but it seems it may be one or two species that are not performing. In general is it the plants that are located in the top bands so perhaps they are not getting enough water?

Greening Sydney Road – 10 years later maybe – with wall planters?

Above image Julian Ruxworthy

Sydney Road in Melbourne, Australia is urban with little room for ‘greening’

Sydney Road’s local government (Moreland City Council) is big on greening.

In 2000 the problem with Sydney Road (according to its local government) was is its lack of growing space for ‘greenery’. There were overhead powerlines galore, underground lines for this and that, local traders compulsory car parking spaces and loads of verandahs resulting in limited room for tree canopy.  To overcome this problem there was a project called ‘Greening Sydney Road’.

The proposed design failed.

It involved mesh/trellis structures that moved within the footpath area, under the verandah and where possible above the pedestrian. The plants unfortunately failed to perform. I can only suggest that perhaps it was partly because the community wanted instant green and could not understand these metal climbing structures.  From what I can remember Moreland’s  planting palette would only allow indigenous plants. Crazy really. Do we really want habitat next to the butcher?

Anyway the local community revolted and the project was pulled.

The design concept was right but the detailed design required further resolution.  Metal mesh structures were perhaps not the right solution. Perhaps the concept design can be realised with Woolly Pocket wall planters. I know its 10 years late but I think Sydney Road may still be in need of a few more green spots.

Wall planters – Hey designers could there be art in them gardens ?

Given that walls take up so much space they really need to become more multi-functional. Wall planters can be a type of eco-shelf and their form is currently undergoing some transformation.

The wall planter above is called Brick Habitat and was submitted to the re-urbia competition run by inHabitat. The bricks provide bird habitat and places for plants to grow.

They remind me of the swallows nests that use to be a permanent feature of our carport when I was growing up. I am sure there is a whole raft of issues with the idea (ie. not enough growing depth for plants, the weight of the soil and plant) but conceptually its great.

You may/may not be aware that there has been a guerilla gardening movement happening worldwide. These people or groups often insert plants in the most unlikely places. They are a new breed of garden designer – they work with the urban fabric, have a huge political motive and are saying something to all of us – does it resonate? For me it does – so I call this garden art.

I do not know who took these photos of this garden art street-cred wall planters. If you know please let tell me so I can give them a link .  Fantastic. Even better who did them?

Wall planters and other garden accessories at Sam’s.This garden design has meaning.

I love the eclectic arrangement of Sam’s garden. Each garden wall has been treated with difference. Plants are weaved into various accessories such as the garden lights, a shelf and tea light candles.

I also like the way Sam takes elements out of their context and brings them into her garden. I get a thrill seeing objects being treated in a new way. To me its like hacking at culture. Her garden says to me ‘……and why not’.

And yes, there is a Woolly Pocket. A wall planter that allows Sam to dingle dangle some ornamental grasses from the boundary wall.

Sam’s property boundary abuts a railway line. And every hour or so a strip of high speed orange zips into focus. She has cleverly raised the back fence with some timber trellis to screen the base of the railway embankment. So when the train does appear its a floating orange rectangle-  all blurred by the super sonic express speed train.

Now to me that is a clever use of context and views. Deliberate or not Sam is embracing a part of her geographical heritage and framing it. She could have screened that view with her garden room but choose to leave it and work with it.  Gosh I need photo’s of this- a request will be submitted.

More of these types of gardens would be good please.

A roof garden suspended in a basket. Clever Hanging Planter Solution Collects Water From Leaking Roof.

Look at these hanging baskets. Its a new version of a roof garden. Always on the hunt for clever wall planters I was surprised to see these plants hanging from the roof of Tide Tables cafe  under Richmond Bridge in London.

And what a great idea. The owner of the cafe was interested in a green wall but opted for this clever design solution. The baskets are the wire shopping baskets that can be found at most supermarkets. The plants are then suspended from the basket facing downwards.

But how do you water the plants? Well the baskets are actually holding containers to collect water from the leaking roof. The baskets are really designed to collect water rather than just being an aesthetic consideration. Ah very clever. A new planter pot idea.

But doesn’t the soil drop out? Nope, there is no soil. And they are not air plants. The plants are fake.

Magnetic wall planters by Metallicus

I just wanted to pay homage to the designers of the magnetic wall planter – Metallicus. Sorry for the incorrect credit on previous post. Here it is again.

Metallicus create a variety of metal garden accessories, many bespoke. The planters above are attached to the metal wall via magnets. Its  a very nifty idea whereby the magnetic planters can be moved around to create a variety of patterns. Plants and their containers are placed into the red cubes. The cubes act as a water catcher and are yet another variation on the green wall concept.

Following on from discussion b/w the ediblegardener in the comment section below

Here is a cheaper and more make shift way of creating the above with an Ikea magnetic notice board and its little black boxes. Of course the Ikea version could never carry the weight of a mature plant (and its soil) however may be an idea for cut flowers? Also the Ikea board is not designed for outside use. Really there are major design issues with the Ikea solution.

If I was about to build a garden I  would be investigating installing a magnetic wall outside to hold Metallicus’ planters. Also it becomes another interesting playspace for children – down low the letters of the alphabet and for me above (hang tools etc).  Metallicus have also designed cushions with magnetics for outdoor furniture – i really like the idea of using magnets outside. It opens up many possibilities.

Wall Planters from a traditional village in Spain to an almost green living wall in urban spaces

The Spanish village of Mojacar has a range of shops with an array of wall planters.  These are the more traditional ceramic variety and do look spectacular when arranged in groups against the white walls of the traditional Mediterranean buildings.

Wall Mounted Planters have been evolving and it is now possible to purchase a more contemporary orb style – as seen in this tinny weeny photo. Very cute with its space age pod design.

Then we move onto these magnetic wall planters as reviewed by Yardz. I am keen to test these planters as they have a  great modernist look. I love the rearranging potential and the strong red colours. The designers are Metallicus in the UK.

And of course the woolly pocket wall planter made by the Woolly Pocket Gardening Company in the US  and sold in the UK via Garden Beet.

Woolly Pocket versus Traditional Wall Planter. Top 10 Reasons to Buy a Woolly Wally Pocket

Wall planters have traditionally be made from ceramics or wire baskets with liners. Prices vary but it is possible to adorn your wall with a potted plant for approximately £8-£15. With that type of money you could either buy a traditional ceramic design or even a contemporary orb wall planter.

So why would someone choose a Woolly Pocket wall planter when prices start at £35? There are 10 excellent reasons

1. SIZE.

It is approximately double the size of  the standard wall planter. One Woolly Pocket measures 61cm x38cm – it has a width of two standard ruler lengths. Most ceramic and wire basket wall planters would be lucky to reach 30cm in width.

2. PROMOTES HEALTHY PLANTS

The root system of the standard wall planter will evenutally become pot bound if you do not repot the plant. The root system of the Woolly Pocket plant will not become pot bound. The Woolly Pocket allows a plant’s root system to breath thereby allowing the root system to be airpruned. The plants will be much happier and will only grow as big as the space provided in the Woolly Pocket.

3. INDOOR OUTDOOR

Woolly Pocket can be located indoors and outdoors whereas the cermaic wall planters tend to be for outdoor use only

4. CONSERVES WATER

When using the lined Woolly Pocket water is conserved . This is important as wall planters tend to dry out more readily than planting beds located on the ground.

5.  MODULAR FLEXIBLE GREEN WALL SYSTEM

Woolly Pockets allow you to add more units over time. The pockets are part of a green wall system (also referred to as a living wall or vertical garden)  that allow you to cover  a wall as fast or as slow as you wish. The pockets are designed to enable you to choose plants that either showcase the pockets or provide full plant coverage. Your standard ceramic or wire wall planter is not designed to create a wall like this.

6. ECONOMIES OF SCALE

Woolly Pockets come in three sizes. Woolly Wally One (small) , Woolly Wally Three (medium) and Woolly Wally Five (large). The medium and the large units are cheaper per square meter. Basically the bigger area of wall you wish to cover with plants the cheaper the wall planter becomes.

7. ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY.

It is made from recycled drinking bottles

8. ETHICAL PRODUCTION

Manufacturers are committed to ensuring it is ethically produced

9. CHIC

the Pockets look great.

10. ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES

New planting bag ideas – off the wall

More planter bag ideas – this is a tad off the wall but i like its texture and the idea-  hand made from recycled plastic bags. Its not a waterproof design but it is intended for indoors so its position needs to be well considered. It comes from the following etsy store .

Planters are also becoming fashion accessories. These  are handbag planters made from natural green moss. Not for real outings. Unlike  miss 70s handbag planter below.