The French botanist Patric Blanc is believed to be the founder of this system. Its structure consists of several layers / components:
The first one is a rigid sheet, e.g. mode of PVC, covered with polypropylene film, and then the next two layers made of felt are applied to it.
The top layer of felt is formed by small incisions – the so-called pockets, in which the plants that green the “vertical garden” are placed. The roots of these plants are cleaned from the soil, which allows them to penetrate the fabric to just like the ground. Pockets can also be filled with peat, coconut fiber, etc. An important element for the proper functioning of the “vertical garden” is microorganisms living between roots which create specific living conditions which help the plant to develop.
Automatic irrigation systems, which are made of perforated plastic tubes, are used to irrigate and supply plants with nutrients.
The whole is supported on a special steel structure which is mounted on the wall of the building. The weight of the entire structure can be from 20 to 50 kg/m2.
Plant selection:
Depends on the environmental conditions existing on the wall. Other important factors are the physical nature of the plant, its size, color or foliage density. Garden maintenance should be done every three months.
Example of vegetation selection for greening the modular walls:
| Shaded wall | Sunlit wall |
| Pachysandra – Japanese spurge | Bergenia – Bergenia |
| Gerinium – Geranium | Heucher – Heuchera |
| Vinca minor – Dwarf periwinkle | Saxifrage – Rockfoil |
| Vinca minor – Blue bugle | Carex – True sedges |
| Hedera helix – Common ivy | Echinacea – Coneflower |
A wall for professionals.
Three-layer green walls are made almost worldwide. Many of these projects are large-scale projects that build the façades of entire buildings – “green walls” cover objects like living skin. The system can be very flexible, so it can be mounted on walls with different curvatures, and the way it is greened is also facilitated, allowing for the creation of plastic compositions of different form, color and texture.
The system in temperate zones needs a special irrigation system and a special medium placed in the irrigation system circuit which will not freeze during moderate frost.
Examples include such projects as:
Musee du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, Paris.
The project of this “vertical garden” is located in the center of Paris, close to the city’s biggest attraction, the Eiffel Tower on Quai Branly Street. The “vertical garden” was designed by Patrick Blank, the French botanist in 2004, the entire installation has an area of 799 m2 and is an integral part of the entire complex, which includes not only the museum building, but also a garden designed nearby. The species of plants characteristic of the temperate northern hemisphere were used to green the wall, although there were also species from the southern hemisphere, in total 150 species. 15,000 plants were used for this purpose.
A green wall for the Cartier Foundation, Paris.
The “vertical garden” on the façade of the Cartier Foundation building is small in size, but plays a very important role in the architecture of the described building. It invites passers-by to enter its interior, announces what we can expect after crossing a translucent glass screen shielding the building from the side of a busy street, because behind it, there are tree plantings, creating the first interior of the building – an internal garden separated from the hustle and bustle of the city.
A vertical garden for local communities.
These types of walls can also be implemented by local communities themselves. Annual plant species will be especially useful here, because in winter the green wall installed in the temperate zone may freeze. This type of vertical garden can be freely installed indoors.
How to make a given garden? This is illustrated perfectly by the short videos available on YouTube channel, e.g.:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkVj6QN0MCY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTq364RwH44
Example of a technical solution: https://ogrodwertykalny.pl/instrukcje/
References:
https://repozytorium.biblos.pk.edu.pl/redo/resources/30142/file/suwFiles/KmiecM_GreenWall.pdf
http://www.quaibranly.fr/en/public-areas/the-living-wall-of-greenery/