3.  Experimenting with the Living Wall

We have been busy experimenting with the construction of a living wall.  This is because we intend to create a 5 meter high wall by 6 meters wide on the north face of the new house.

Earlier in the summer we bought a range of evergreen plants suitable (we think) for a north facing sheltered wall.  These we have recently divided into three or four smaller plants to try and increase our stock.  Also plants that are too large will be difficult to get going in the matting so we are starting them off small to find their roots, and for us to see how best to manage them.

We have searched the internet for help on how commercial living walls have been constructed, but although there are a number of companies who do this - they give little away in terms of helpful information.  They are not interested in small projects like ours, and to be honest we are not very interested in them either as they charge mega bucks to do what we believe is not rocket science.  Hence our belief that a bit of experimentation will help us create a self built green wall that will be very effective.

We have visited a number of irrigation companies for the advice on what we need to do to keep the plants alive and happy.  You will see from the photos that there is no soil, they are grown between mats that hold the water, and we will regularly dose the water with nutrients.

The wall will be made up of 600mm square trays that will be hung on a support system.  Each tray will therefore be individually managed, enabling simple maintenance to be carried out.  The mat has a series of small cuts made in it to take each plant at 100mm centres.  Each row of cuts will be spaced under the spaces of the previous row so that it is like a chequerboard of plants. 

1. plants laid through small cuts between two mats2. the roots between the two mats3. the plant stapled in position to keep it secure4. the completed mat

Each tray will have about 30 plants.  About 80 trays on the wall.  2400 plants.  I have sourced a wholesale nursery that supplies trays of plug plants for reasonable prices.  To us, it looks a goer, if we can have success with our trials.

This is what we are after  (click to find out)

The photos should help you see what we are up to.  I will keep you posted on how it goes.