DIY Greenwalls

How do I make my own greenwall?

2020-09-13T08:43:00.000-07:00

Hi,

If you'd like to make your own greenwall I recommend you start at the first post (click this and scroll all the way down to the bottom and read up). That should answer all your questions. After you read all the posts if you still have questions feel free to comment on a post or email me.

Good Luck,

Matt

Patrick Blanc Presentation at the Academy of Sciences San Francisco

2011-12-30T11:53:00.000-08:00

Found this over at Nori's site. I feel like I ran across it once before but I neglected to post it. Don't think I even saw the whole thing. Looking forward to it. So here it is for anyone else who missed it.

Patrick Blanc: The Vertical Garden from California Academy of Sciences on FORA.tv

My Youtube Account Hacked/Canceled. Greenwall Time Lapse Reposted

2011-05-15T09:34:00.000-07:00

Last week my youtube account was shut down. As far as I can tell it was either hacked or closed due to copyright infringement (I was using music I didn't own on one of my videos). I reposted my time lapse greenwall planting video with music by Omniphobe; my friend Eef's band.

I need your help. If you know a blog where my old video was posted can you please let them know that I reposted it here. Thanks.

I also posted the video on the Internet Archive Community Video project so please feel free to re-post/re-purpose it.

http://www.archive.org/details/DiyHowToMakingOfPatrickBlancStyleGreenWallVerticalGarden

The original video is still posted here.

http://vimeo.com/4267171

Sophie's Questions

2011-05-06T14:33:00.000-07:00

Sophie asked some questions about getting a wall started:

Hi Matt,

I´ve read your blog with great interest and I have some questions on the construction of a green wall meant for the outdoor. As far as I can understand there is first a layer of treated wood or pvc, attached to that is a mesh of stainless steel and the comes the fabric. And here is my question. I´ve been looking at the MRM, but to me it doesn´t seem thick enough for cutting and putting in the plants? How thick is it? And does it only need one layer? Does the cutting of the holes go the whole way through?

Also when the plants are out into the holes, are the roots then cleaned for dirt?

This was just some practical wondering that I hope you may be able to help me with.

Best regards

/Sophie

Here are the answers to your questions Sophie:

1. The first layer is the frame. Usually that's made of aluminum or wood. Then there's a waterproof layer of plastic. Lately I have been using recycled corrugated polyethylene sheeting; 2 sheets 6mm thick layered to make 12mm.

2. Click here to see the MRM that I use. It is 3/16" thick and in my experience has been thick enough. I have seen some Blanc walls that have used an even thinner material. The material is stapled to to the plastic in two layers. The cuts for pockets are only made to the first layer.

3. The dirt from the pot is left around the roots.

Because you are making a wall outside you should also consider adding a plastic woven or pierced layer behind and in between you MRM sheets. See this post for more info.

Good Luck,

Matt

Great Mobile Geenhouse Project

2011-04-24T08:07:00.000-07:00

Hi,

My friend's brother is making this awesome mobile greenhouse to teach people about sustainable living. They need some help to reach their kickstarter goal so please pledge if you can.

Thanks,

Matt

Learn more below.

Simple Greenwall How to on the Nate Berkus Show

2011-04-22T11:14:00.000-07:00

My wife and I were featured on the Nate Berkus Show's House Proud segment. At the very end I got to do a small greenwall planting demo.

Phillip's Making of Video

2011-02-26T13:44:00.000-08:00

Phillip sent me a making of video for his wall. I love to see the process behind the creation of people's walls. Thanks for making and sharing this Phillip.

At the end of the video you can see Phillip's first wall that he gave to his Mom. Phillip said:

I forgot to tell you that 1 great thing with vertical gardens is its transferable. i just changed some plants on my first attempt and gave it to my mom to transform her dull wall to a lush greenery. funny thinking about a garden being transported by a van...

Irrigation Filter Install

2011-02-26T12:28:00.000-08:00

So for awhile now I have been mentioning how important it is to have a filter on your irrigation system. Mine never really had one and I wasn't very good at keeping dirt and plant matter out of my basin. Periodically I would have to take down my irrigation hose and clean out the clogged holes with a paperclip while running water through it. This was a time consuming process.

This is the hose waiting to be cleaned in my bathtub.

This is how I close off the end of the hose. In order to clean it I have to remove the hose clamps so that I can get water flowing out the end.

While I had the irrigation apart I thought I'd take a photo of this T splitter. As you can see the tube that brings the water up from the pump is quite large. But then the splitter steps it down to a thinner size for the tubes that run across the top of the wall. This was recommended by the person who helped set up my pump system. The idea was that you wanted less pressure (a wider hose) when you were pushing water up vertically. When you got to the top and you were pushing horizontally you could use a thinner hose. This isn't 100% necessary but if you can do it it makes sense.

This is the filter I bought. Technically it's called a strainer. I bought it from here. It was the wrong size unfortunately (too small) so I added little sleeves to it so that it would fit. This is the filter with the sleeves.

I originally thought this would fit on the vertical tube running up from the pump before it hit the T. I was so off with the size estimate that it was even too small for the horizontal tube. With the sleeves it fits but I can only have it on one side of the T. I chose to put it on the longer side. The short side is much easier to clean should it ever clog again.

I finally cleaned the sponge that the filter came with. I don't know why I didn't do this sooner. I also cleaned out the basin around the filter. There was quite a bit of dirt and decomposing leaves. Also that weird white Styrofoam stuff they put in soil. That stuff was the biggest pain. After I cleaned the sponge I added this mesh bag over it that I had from a my fishtank. It's a very fine mesh and should prevent most things from even getting into the pump in the first place. The mesh came from one of these.
When I emptied the basin I learned that my basin holds far less water than I thought. Originally I estimated it at around 35 gallons. In reality my basin holds less than 15 gallons. I add 5 gallons to it every 2 days to keep up with water loss. So my wall uses roughly 2.5 gallons of water a day for 80sqft.
These are the things to learn from my mistakes. Don't let dirt and plant matter get in your basin to begin with. If possible plant your wall before adding your basin. When you need to remove plants to replace them make sure the basin is well covered. Have two filter systems for a backup just in case. I now have one at the pump and one in the hose.

Lushe's "Regeneration Wall"

2011-02-16T13:09:00.000-08:00

This beautiful wall was just completed in Australia by Lushe. I'm particularly glad they documented the process. They used marine plywood as a base which is something that's readily available in most places. Also they used Baby's Tears which is a beautiful small leafed plant.

Carlos' Wall Un Año Después

2011-02-09T14:09:00.000-08:00

Carlos posted a great time lapse video of an update to his wall.

Hi Matt

After nearly a year, a fungal infection, pests and several dead plants I want to share the restoration of my Vertical Garden Patrick Blanc style.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=741_YPmpi5o

I learned a bit in this process, for example, something important is to improve ventilation to avoid the appearance of fungal and bacterial infections, so I put a ceiling fan near the vertical garden. I changed the felt by one of lesser quality, which has a more open fabric for increasing oxygenation and ventilation of the roots and substrate. Also, I changed the substrate by a sphagnum peat moss, I hope this help to a better plant growing. Related to the pests, I have to tell you that in my tropical town is a headache, particularly Planococcus insects, this kill some plants and weakened other. Finally about my first video, I have put some notes in Spanish that explain a little the construction process.

Congratulations for keeping live your great blog

Regards

Carlos Pacheco

It sounds to me that Carlos may have been over watering a bit for his climate if he was struggling with oxgenation and fungal and bacterial infections. Make sure you set your watering cycles to allow your wall to dry off. Most plants need wet and dry cycles.

It's great to see Carlos sticking with his wall and updating it.

Thanks for the update Carlos.

Matt

No more pump sucking

2011-01-12T17:14:00.000-08:00

Forgot to mention that I changed my irrigation setting a few weeks ago. The pump was running too long per watering and the basin would get very low and the pump would make a sucking noise. So I timed the watering until the pump made a noise and used that for my baseline. I think I went from watering about 4 times a day for 8 minutes to watering 7 times (every 2 hours) a day 2 minutes per watering. Not very scientific but it hasn't affected the plants at all and now I don't have to hear the pump sucking. Bear in mind that the actual water volume probably hasn't changed much because when the basin got low the water volume being sucked up was greatly reduced.

Phillip's Update

2011-01-12T12:53:00.000-08:00

I love it when people send me updates on how their wall is doing. This one is from Phillip in The Phillipines. Phillip first wrote in to tell me about the alternative materials he used to make his wall. I was particularly impressed when he used speaker cabinet fabric for his moisture retention material. He proves that almost any dense synthetic felt can work. Here's Phillips update:

Hi matt,

i just pruned my vertical garden, my copea's started to bud and new offsprings of bromeliads can be seen. sent pictures as to the condition of my vertical garden it looks good but i think I have to change the prayer plant and the fern because its in direct sunlight and leaves start to get burnt. Im thinking of building my next green wall next week. ill keep you posted.

thanks

phillip

Fabian's Update

2011-01-12T12:31:00.000-08:00

So Fabian wrote in with an update on the amazing wall he worked on in Bangalore India. Fabian first wrote in when he was trying to source moisture retention fabric in India for the Jaaga Living Building project.

The project has come a long way since those cool mock ups. Here's the update:

Hey Matt,

long time no update.
It takes quite a loooong time to find the right plants for the wall.
Plants that can take the rough Indian environment and the not
so well watersoaking coir felt.
Still testing with drip irrigation and different times of watering.

Check out some pictures:
http://www.fabsn.com/theblog/2011/01/india-vertical-garden-update/

Cheers
Fabian

Click here to see more photos of the Jaaga Living Building project.

Greenwall in a picture frame on Etsy

2011-01-12T12:23:00.000-08:00

I don't normally post about greenwalls I run across online. There are already great sites for that like Lushe, but this greenwall in a frame on Etsy was too cute to pass up.

Sam's Update

2011-01-12T11:26:00.000-08:00

Sam originally contacted me about damp smell that was coming from his greenwall, in his restaurant in Auckland New Zealand, with over 1,500 plants. Sam sent me a great update with some beautiful pictures.
Sam wrote:

Hi Matthew,

These are some of the better pictures, they were taken to profile the restaurant directly, not so much for the wall itself, but I how they suit.

The wall is made up of 1700 plants, over a 6m high x 4m wide wall, that returns around on one side (the left) so its double sided for 2m .

The plants are mainly peace lily's, boston and hen& chicken ferns, and spider plants, planted into 3 layers of Hydrotech felt (which we got from you), secured back to the same ply that you used, fixed to a steel frame. We used steel as the weight of our wall was so much.

The trough at the bottom is custom made stainless steel trough, clad with raw steel for the right look - the water in the pump is then reticulated through pipework at the top of the wall by a pump. We have 5 hydroponic lamps set up to go on for 8 hours a day overnight.

We PH test, add nutrients (including clearwater), clear blocked pipes, and check all plants twice weekly... and flush out the trough once per week...

so two months in, the wall is really flourishing, it takes a fair bit of work to keep it this way though! The great thing about your style of wall is that you can get it looking amazing from the first day of installation, and you can put it together yourself if you do your homework, and get some good people to help you out.

The smell has diminished substantially also with the addition of 'clearwater' to kill of the odour causing bacteria.

So... finally... cheers for your blog and you tube post!

cheers

I am also a planted fishtank keeper and Sam's bacteria problem seems strange to me. Instead of adding something that kills bacteria I'd rather see him add something that establishes a healthy colony of good bacteria. All planted fishtanks have aerobic and anaerobic bacteria living together and healthy tanks do not have an odor. The basin of a greenwall is like a simple pond/fishtank in many ways. I add aquatic snails and worms to my basin to help breakdown plant material and add a natural fertilizer source.

Sam also mentions blocked pipes. I can't stress enough how important it is to include inline filters between your pump and your irrigation tube. Without these filters you will need to check your tubes for clogs like Sam and I. I still haven't retrofitted a filter to my system so I periodically take the top irrigation tube down and clean it out. I also do some spot unclogging with a paper clip. All of which could be avoided with a good filter.

Sam's wall looks amazing and is by far one of the most ambitious walls that was ever inspired by this site. Congratulations Sam!

Phillips Great Alternative Materials Wall

2010-12-20T07:03:00.000-08:00

Phillip wrote in to explain how he built his first wall using alternative materials available to him in the Philippines. I think this is a beautiful wall with some very smart materials choices. I'm particularly interested in the marine plywood for substructure as this is available everywhere and much more eco-friendly than PVC sheets. I love the variety of plants and the dense planting. Also the composition of the plants and the textures are beautiful. Nice job Phillip. Please stay in touch and let me know how your wall develops. I suspect you'll be doing a lot of pruning to keep up with growth.

Dear Matt,

Im Phillip from the Philippines. I went for a vacation in Thailand and saw the beautiful green walls in Siam Paragon that is why have researched it right away and came across your video in youtube. I was redirected to your bloggsite and read all about it, hence making my own green wall. The first problem i encountered was the felt as it is not available here in my country so i used a carpet fabric that is being used for speaker boxes. I also used marine plywood covered in canvass as to protect the wood from water as pvc boards are not yet available here. I tried to slit the fabric as detailed in one of the blogs in your page and had problems in planting as not to all my plants are 3" pots. but we pulled it off and finished the wall. my wall is now 2 weeks old and i want to thank you for a very informative site i just hope it my wall lasts as i have not used the materials indicated in your site and Patrick blancs book "the vertical Garden"

I attached some pictures of my first attempt.

thank you

sincerely

phillip

Bacteria and Mold

2010-09-13T08:03:00.000-07:00

I received two emails recently regarding mold/bacteria on walls. Sam wrote:

"Hi Matthew,

My name is Sam, i'm from auckland NZ and we built a large green wall based off your video on you tube after reaching a lot of brick walls with landscape companies, so we decided to do it ourselves.

Our wall is progressing really well, the density is great, some plant types have not done so well, but almost all have survived, and thats about 1500 plants! The one issue we are having is smell. After 2 months, the felt we used has water in it of course, and has started to smell damp and musty. On invetsigataion with our hydroponics consultant he told us is was being caused by anaerobic bacteria in the felt. He advised us to use "waterclear" that is available that goes in the water system and kills the bacteria, and he has assured me that it is not only safe for the plants but it improves the oxygen available to them. So we have tried this and while not much has happened since we applied it, it is early days.

I was wondering if you had come across this or have any advice?

cheers"

I replied to Sam via email and asked him how often he was watering. If his wall is going through distinct wet/dry cycles I'd think the bacteria wouldn't really be an issue. Also it seems odd to me that anaerobic bacteria would be an issue with plants in synthetic felt as it is a fairly open material. Was this wall made with synthetic felt for it's moisture retention layer? Sam if you are out there please let me know more. Also I'd love to post pictures of your wall so please send them in.

Jared wrote in about mold growing on his wall:

"Hey,

First off I just wanted to say I love your blog. Without it I don't know if I would have gotten my greenwall up and running nearly as well. I'm having a problem, though, that I was hoping you might know a solution for. My wall has only been up for about 4 weeks, but a little over a week ago I noticed small amounts of mold growing on the felt material I used. I've been using a vinegar/water mixture to kill it, and it works without hurting my plants, but it only kills what has already grown, and doesn't prevent further growth once the vinegar is diluted. Do you have a safe solution that might work? I was considering moving my wall so it receives direct sunlight. I heard mold has a much harder time growing with enough sun.

My wall doesn't compare to yours, but I've attached a picture in case you wanted to see. It's a self-standing wall which is why I'm able to move it when I need to. It's not completely done yet. I'm a poor grad student so I'm adding plants little by little when I can spare the money. I'll be adding another 15 today actually. In the picture I'm sending only about half is covered so far. If your interested I can send you another picture once it is complete.

I hope to hear from you soon, and thanks again for your blog. It is amazing!
-Jared Brown"

I've never had a problem with mold on my wall. I'd be curious to know about your wet/dry cycles. How often are you watering; amount and length of time. What material did you use for your felt? Let me know in the comments please.

If you have any helpful suggestions for Sam or Jared please comment. I'm no expert when it comes to mold/bacteria so any and all help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Matt

Great alternative to PVC suggested by Eric

2010-09-01T10:32:00.000-07:00

Eric wrote:

Hi Matt,

This is a great blog, thank you for taking the time!
I have been searching the web for actual construction details to build a living wall.

A suggestion for basin construction. Use 45mil EPDM synthetic rubber membrane.
(To me this is the easy part ;)) I design and build ponds and waterfalls for a living.

EPDM is reusable, recyclable, and has better environmental impact profile than PVC. - See below

1) Build a basic plywood box in whatever shape and dimensions you need.

2)Calculate liner size L x W needed like so:

L x W
(length + 2x Height)X(width + 2x Height)

3)Line the box with 45 mil EPDM rubber, -folding it like a gift box in reverse it to fit the shape of your box.
3) Use a staple gun to attach liner to top edge of your box, and trim the edges with a blade or sharp scissors.

EPDM is available in custom cut sizes as pond liner for water gardens at many garden centers and is available on line at any pond supply place in 5 ft. increments.

*Ethylene propylene diene (EPDM) type rubber is recommended by the Danish Environmental Protection Authority as an alternative to PVC."
"Alternatives to dioxin sources in the Mediterranean," by Beverley Thorpe, Clean Production Action for Greenpeace Mediterranean Project (September 1996)
http://archive.greenpeace.org/toxics/reports/btf.html ( As found in Google Answers Answered By: mother-ga on 14 Jun 2002 14:30 PDT)

Thanks Eric and keep the basin suggestions coming. Readymades and materials suggestions are all welcome.

Jaaga's Living Building

2010-08-30T07:28:00.000-07:00

Fabian Sixtus Koerner (quite possibly the coolest name ever) wrote to me awhile back looking to source moisture retention material in India. I sent him this link for locally made coir fabric used for greenrooves.

Fabian wrote again recently to share his work on his amazing Living Building. It's got every eco thing you can think of; solar panels, roof gardens, vertical gardens, aquaponics, composting, and more. What an amazing project! Check it out for yourself here.

Plant spacing

2010-07-31T06:12:00.000-07:00

Patrick asked:

Hi Matt. I really like your green wall and have decided to make one of my own. What I like about your's in particular is the density of all of the plants. I noticed that you used a string in the beginning as a guide to make straight and even pockets for the plants. Did you space them about 6" apart?
Also, any ideas on a basin?
Thanks,
Patrick

This is a great question. I agree that plant density is one of the things that really makes my wall work. We cut 5 inch pockets separated by only 2 inches in between. Then we staggered the rows vertically and separated them by 4 inches. The plants we used were from 3 inch pots. I hope that makes sense. Here's a simple diagram.

(--------5 inches--------)(2 inches)(--------5 inches--------)
|
| 4 inches
|
------)(2 inches)(--------5 inches--------)(2 inches)(--------

Good Luck,

Matt

Light

2010-06-27T11:21:00.000-07:00

Raquel said...

And what about the light?
because where I'm plannig to build my wall doesn't have direct sunlight, there's just artificial light... what kind of lights do I need?
Thanks for answer!
=)Raquel

Hi Raquel,

I use compact fluorescent bulbs. They are NOT full spectrum. I think they may be "cool white". From "Ecology of the planted aquarium" by Diane Walstad she shows that "cool white" is almost as good as full spectrum for growing plants.

Matt

Dan's Question

2010-06-21T20:00:00.000-07:00

Dan wrote:

Hi, Love the blog!

I was wondering how you sealed the seams between the PVC sheets and the screw/rivet attachment points to the wall. You mention the gutter at the bottom but don't really say how it was made or what it looks like. These details would really help me.

Thanks,

Dan

The seams were sealed with silicone. So were the screws I believe. Just a dab on the screw head. Our basin was made from PVC ( a material I wouldn't use again due to it's environmental impact). It was glued together with special glue. The shape is quite unusual because it ducks under our cabinet at one point. Also it's curved to match the shape of the wall. Most basins will be much simpler.

Matt

The Basin Challenge

2010-05-20T16:30:00.000-07:00

General Houseplant Care wrote:

"Great work guys! I love your site, and am currently working on building my own green wall.

I am having trouble sourcing a trough, though, and am wondering what you guys used?

Thanks for your help!!!"

Basin's are probably one of the more tricky parts of greenwall building. As I've said before mine was made from PVC (a material I wouldn't use again because of it's environmental impact). I would suggest building basins from non-toxic plastic, epoxy covered wood, stainless steel, or something readymade.

If you have a good basin solution please send it in.

Thanks,

Matt

Which felt?

2010-05-20T16:09:00.000-07:00

Felipe wrote:

"Hi Matt , My name is Felipe , i'am form Chile and i'm going to star my own green wall, but I have a question because i don't know what kind of felt i need, if i can use the felt used for hydroponics that i can get in many stores or have to be an special felt? please please try to answer. I'll be very grateful

Big Hug
Felipe."

The felt I use (MRM) is made for greenroof installations. A hydroponic felt may be similar but I'm not sure. Click here for a data sheet on the felt I used. That should help with comparisons. Here's the basic information cut and pasted from the sheet:

Moisture Retention Mat is composed of high-quality, recycled, non-rotting, poly-propylene fibers.

Moisture Retention Mat is used in the Hydrotech Garden Roof Assembly to retain moisture and nutrients for use by the vegetation layer.

THICKNESS: 3/16 in. (≈200 mils)
SIZE: 7.5 ft. X 100 ft. (2.3m X 30.5m) - in rolls
(715 sq.ft. effective coverage)
WEIGHT: 16 oz./yd2 (542 g/m2) 0.11 lb./sq.ft. (0.54 kg./sq.m.) - dry;
1.2 lb./sq.ft. (5.9 kg./sq.m.) - wet
WATER RETENTION CAP.: ≈0.13 gal./sq.ft. (5.3 l./sq.m.)

TENSILE STRENGTH: 380 lb (1.69 kN) ELONGATION: 50%
(ASTM D4632) (ASTM D4632)
TRAPEZOIDAL TEAR: 145 lb/in2 (0.644 kN) PUNCTURE STRENGTH: 240 lb (1.07 kN)
(ASTM D4533) (ASTM D4833)

Good Luck,

Matt

My Greenwall in the New York Times Home Section

2010-05-05T19:56:00.000-07:00

I was interviewed by Kristina Shevory from the New York Times about my greenwall but I couldn't blog about it until I saw this.

I thought I was on the cover until I learned that the image rotates. Doh! But it's so exciting to be in the article and to be the main image.

Also Peter Kastan was mentioned too and I am so envious of the beautiful diversity of the plants on his wall. Here's an excerpt from the article.

Gardens That Grow on Walls By KRISTINA SHEVORY

Excerpt:

Last year, inspired by Mr. Blanc’s work, Matthew McGregor-Mento, 38, an executive creative director at Gyro: HSR, a New York advertising agency, and his wife, Emma, 35, a massage therapist, set out to build a vertical garden in their two-bedroom apartment in the East Village. They attached an 8-by-10-foot aluminum frame to a wall in the entry hall, screwed waterproof sheets of PVC to the frame and tacked on two layers of matting. Then they inserted some 400 plants — philodendrons, ivies and ferns — into holes they cut in the felt.

A trough they installed along the floor collects runoff water from the irrigation system, and a pump with a filtration sponge sends it back up the wall. Timers control the watering, which happens four times a day.

The design, which they devised with the help of a horticulturalist friend, was based on Mr. Blanc’s system and on research they had done online. The total cost was $3,000, but the result was worth it, Mr. McGregor-Mento said. Most people who visit want a green wall of their own, and the effort involved wasn’t that onerous: “Building a vertical wall is about as difficult as painting a room.”