Comments on: Patrick Blanc green walls are beautiful – but are they sustainable?

By: Paul Exall

Paul Exall — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 09:13:56 +0000

Thanks Tom,
Our plants are taking about 40ml a day at the moment and seem very happy with that, though we do leave it dry for 2 days of the week. We use Bokashi soil, EM Technology, that we produce ourselves and bio-char to hold water and give a slow release of the organic feed we charged it with, while at the same time making the mix lighter and more aerated.

By: Tom Turner

Tom Turner — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 07:21:56 +0000

In reply to Paul Exall. I am very glad to hear of this research. My own experiment with a lightweight vegetated green roof is that it can flourish with rainfall for most of every year and for some of the occasional wet year. But it normallly needs some water if there is a long hot dry spell.

By: Paul Exall

Paul Exall — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 06:52:06 +0000

We have been working on green walls for the last 2 years and tried hydroponic with not much success and have now settled on a fully organic soil based medium and are very happy with the results so far 6 weeks into the installation at a campus in Manchester metropolitan university.
Its decorative rather than edible and is looking very happy. Now working on some outside designs that can be edible also…
We have found with the plants used and special soil medium we grew that only a small amount of water is needed though will increase in the summer.
I find we and the plants are much happier with soil as apposed to hydroponics. Its natural and most sustainable as there are no petro chemical inputs as far as feed goes. Its the way ahead…
Just getting the web site up. Anyone that is interested please comment and leave contact details and we will get back to you with pictures and details.
Thanks.

By: Tom Turner

Tom Turner — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 18:31:11 +0000

In reply to Colleen. YES and YES

By: Colleen

Colleen — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 14:21:13 +0000

Just curious, is Patrick blanc greenwall needs continuous irrigation? Will it consume a lot of water everyday?

By: David O'Neil

David O'Neil — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:35:16 +0000

I have a major client with several large distribution / logistics “shed” developments in planning where we want to find commercially achievable “green walls” so the building can be part of a gateway to a city and not so much a steel wall. Any examples would be welcome! Please reply to david@nortoft.co.uk

By: Tom Turner

Tom Turner — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 10:39:15 +0000

In reply to paul exall. Thank you for the information and good luck with the project. I love green walls and want them to succeed. Please keep us informed about the progress of your project.

By: paul exall

paul exall — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 09:33:23 +0000

We are just about to build our first green wall today, for a hotel in central Manchester.It will have edible plants, herbs and flowers to go to the kitchen! After a fair bit of research we are going with the patrick blanc model of building and some vertical hanging felt tubes. On the sustainable side we found the corrugated plastic for the backing though the felt underlay was shop bought it is from recycled materials, wool and synthetic but in theory could be got from a carpet fitters as they pull it out from under old carpets, dusty but maybe good.The frame to house it in is 2 by 4 pine and was saved from going to landfill by me jumping in the skip and grabing it.Our wall will be will be fed by a rainwater butt and with worm and green manure teas for food, also supplied by the pump. The pump is the main expense and the most potentially unsustainable thing there but could be done away with if there was a tank at the top of the wall so fed by rain,hand and gravity (easy).
We hear a lot of talk about sustainability but when we get together as friends and do a bit then we can realy talk about it! for i as a artist and potential green wall roof expert see the city as green in my minds eye and how it would feel… Lets push each other up rather than drag down, do a bit and give suggestions after we have thought and figured out a bit for ourseleves…Those that do do!

By: Adam Hodge

Adam Hodge — Wed, 25 May 2011 11:57:45 +0000

Dana I’m intrigued to know how your wall works out and what plants you select..I have a client who has a wall I want to clothe in herbs, Dianthus and mediterranean plants with a long flowering period. Keep me posted…adam.hodge@oxfordbotanica.com

By: Dana

Dana — Thu, 12 May 2011 10:18:38 +0000

I’m actually building a vertical wall myself, one on a much smaller scale than patrick blancs(1.2x1m)..and I planted some perennial edibles, along with drought resistant plants native to Lebanon. The point of my project is to contribute to biodiversity, and to create a semi self sustainable wall that can be hung on a balcony wall. Therefore I am with Adam in that combining the two brings out a much better result, and is also aesthetic (not as beautiful as Patrick Blancs though). I’ll make sure to post a picture when its done 🙂