Grow a living wall : create vertical gardens with purpose : pollinators - herbs & veggies - aromatherapy - many more

163 Pages·2015·69.25 MB·English

by  Coronado, Shawna

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SHAWNA CORONADO
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA
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Acquisitons Editor: First published in 2015 by Cool Springs Press, an imprint of Quarto Publishing Group USA
Mark Johanson Inc., 400 First Avenue North, Suite 400, Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA
© 2015 Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc.
Project Manager:
Text © 2015 Shawna Coronado
Caitlin Fultz
Photography © 2015 Shawna Coronado unless otherwise noted
Art Director: All rights reserved. With the excepton of quotng brief passages for the purposes of
Cindy Samargia Laun review, no part of this publicaton may be reproduced without prior writen permission
from the Publisher.
Designer:
Diana Boger The informaton in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. All rec-
ommendatons are made without any guarantee on the part of the author or Publisher,
who also disclaims any liability incurred in connecton with the use of this data or specifc
details.
On the front cover:
Hydroponic Pollinator Garden We recognize, further, that some words, model names, and designatons
(page 73), Shawna Coronado mentoned herein are the property of the trademark holder. We use them for identfca-
ton purposes only. This is not an ofcial publicaton.
On the back cover:
Cool Springs Press ttles are also available at discounts in bulk quantty for industrial or
Top, Aromatherapy Garden
sales-promotonal use. For details write to Special Sales Manager at Quarto Publishing
(page 119), Shawna Coronado
Group USA Inc., 400 First Avenue North, Suite 400, Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA.
Center, Insulate-a-Wall Garden To fnd out more about our books, visit us online at www.coolspringspress.com.
(page 83), Shawna Coronado
ISBN: 978-1-59786-624-4
Bottom, Herbal Cocktail Garden Digital edition: 978-1-62788-620-8
(page 43), Shawna Coronado Softcover edition: 978-1-59186-624-4
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publicaton Data
Coronado, Shawna, author.
Grow a living wall : create vertcal gardens with purpose : pollinators—herbs & veggies—
aromatherapy—many more / Shawna Coronado.
pages cm
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-59186-624-4 (sc)
1. Vertcal gardening. I. Title. II. Title: Create vertcal gardens with purpose.
SB463.5.C65 2015
635—dc23
2014035466
Printed in China
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To my friends, family, and all The people who have decided To grow.
Do not give up. Keep learning and growing.
You can make a difference—I believe in you!
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CONteNt s
7
Introducton
How to Make a Diference with a Living Wall
Par t I Par t II
How to Create Living Wall Gardens
Living Walls with Purpose
22 43
Which Living Wall System Herbal Cocktail Garden
Is Right for You? A Freestanding Herb Garden Planted
with Mixology in Mind
26
Tools That Help 47
Moss and Shade Wall Art
29 Low
-Maintenance Moss Makes a Novel
Getng Started D
esign Statement in Any Home
31
51
Watering the Living Wall
Vegetable “Balconies” Garden
32 These Hanging Veggie Boxes Deliver
Soil and Compost Fresh Food and Fresh Air
35 55
Choosing and Obtaining Plants Fern Garden
for Your Living Wall A Stunning Vertcal Wall Soluton for
Shady and Damp Locatons
59
Cactus Living Wall
Put a Spotlight on Exotc Desert Beauty and Color
with an Arrangement of Water-Smart Cactus
65
Therapeutc Hanging Gardens
Two Simple Living Wall Arrangements that Turn
a Plain Gate into a Calming Garden Element
73
Hydroponic Pollinator Garden
This Beautful (and Soilless) Flowering Garden Ofers
Food and Shelter for Bees and Buterfies
79
Shade Pallet Garden
Bringing New Life to a Living Wall Using Some Old Wood
83
Insulate-a-Wall Garden
Use Flowers, Vegetables, and Herbs to Save Energy
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89
Bookshelf Fence Garden
Upcycle an Old Bookshelf into a Shady Living Wall
93
Succulent Living Wall
These Fleshy Plants Are More Popular than Ever,
Plus They’re Perfect for a Living Wall
97
Vertcal Vegetable Farm
Grow Luscious, Fresh Veggies
Even in the Tiniest Spaces
101
Aphrodisiac Wall Garden
Grow Your Own Garden of Love
107
Freestanding Entrance Garden
A Prety Project to Improve Curb Appeal
with Houseplants
113
Culinary Kitchen Garden
Grow Your Own Organic Vegetables and
Herbs for Cooking
119
Aromatherapy Garden
Invite Some Favorite Scents into Your Garden
to Improve Mood
125
Money-Saving Garden
Growing a Fruitul Garden from Seed 148
Is Practcally Free Living Wall Maintenance
131 152
Smart Garden Online Product Resources
A Balcony Garden Can Help Increase Your
153
Atenton Span in Your Home Ofce
Contributors
135
155
Colorful Living Wall
Acknowledgments
Build One Today Because Beauty Is Important
156
139
Conversions
Vitamin-Rich Culinary Garden
Fresh Herbs and Vegetables at Your Fingertps 157
Index
143
Urban Water-Saving Garden 160
Conserve Water and Make a Diference Meet Shawna Coronado
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INtROduCt ION
How to Make a Difference with a Living Wall
IMAGINE A rEVOLUTIONArY PLANTING technique that lets you plant more than thirty plants in a foor area that is only one
square foot. The trick is simply to grow up, not out. Gardening with this technique is amazingly simple and easy to accomplish
for anyone, just by plantng a living wall garden. Sited on fences, gates, walls, balconies, and even doors, living wall gardens
save enormous amounts of space, while producing an abundance of fowers, perennials, herbs, and vegetables.
I came up with the idea of plantng more vertcal mitgate urban heat issues, inspire therapeutc living, grow
or living walls on my own property when I picked up a aphrodisiac plants, contribute to your culinary kitchen, save
24-by-7-inch window box, did a litle math, and discovered water, help beautfy a community, help save the pollinatng
that its footprint was exactly 1.16 square feet. Then I insects, and even help you entertain your friends. Do you
thought: What if I stacked fve window boxes on top of one love herbal tea? Design a garden with all the herbs you need
another and fastened them to the wall? That 1.16-square- to make your favorite herbal tea blends. Imagine having a
foot garden would increase its plantng capacity fve tmes. cute litle kitchen garden or cocktail herb garden that can
In about one square foot of foor space, I could plant nearly reside right on your balcony or pato. The point is, these
6 square feet of plants. This would enable me to plant distnct, self-contained gardens are just the right size to
between thirty-fve and forty-fve plants. How’s that for make any statement or develop any theme you want, from
efcient? And what if small-space gardeners all over the the frivolous to the life-afrming. With a living wall you
world would adopt this vertcal growing method? That would can make a diference by creatng something that is both
mean more food for the hungry and more fowering plants atractve and useful.
for pollinators. Plantng vertcally could truly help a family While the practcal applicatons for living wall gardens
make a diference for themselves and their community. are virtually unlimited, for many people the best reason to
What else can living walls do? They can help save energy grow one is simply that they are beautful and truly artstc
and reduce utlity expenses, solve challenging design issues, conversaton pieces.
← Are you concerned about bees and
colony collapse? Why not design a
lovely, flowering pollinator wall that
attracts bees and butterflies and gives
them a safe refuge? This is a great
example of what I mean when I say
“vertical gardens with purpose.”
7
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Living walls offer brilliant solutions,
such as creating privacy for home
gardens by blocking neighbor
sightlines into patios and balconies.
Plant Connection, Inc.
W ha t IS a L i v ing Wal l?
A living wall is a self-sufcient vertcal garden growing on Several other terms are used to describe a living wall. For
the side of a building, fence, gate, or balcony. Within the example, green wall is a common synonym for a living wall
living wall system is a structural support that is fastened system. Other names include ecowall, biowall, hydrowall,
directly to the supportng wall or fence that holds the vegetated wall, plant wall, or vertcal garden. Within this
plant roots and soil system. It can be soil-based or book you will see both living wall and vertcal wall garden
water-based, and some have built-in watering systems. used interchangeably to mean the same thing: most typically
Plants receive their nutrients from within the vertcal a garden that can be atached to a wall or fence of some
structural support system. Garden walls that have plants kind or even functon as a standalone mult-tered garden
with their roots in the ground, such as walls flled with that is not directly atached to a wall at all. Living walls are
ivy or covered with honeysuckle, are not considered a remarkably versatle and aford the ability to grow in spaces
living wall. that are much smaller than the traditonal garden.
More Fun, L es s Work
Most living walls require far less work than traditonal Another beneft of vertcal wall gardening is that it is out
in-the-ground gardening. There is no weeding involved. of reach of many garden pests; it is prety tough for a rabbit
Gardeners everywhere jump up and cheer—no weeding is a to climb a 6-foot wall and munch on letuce. Some insect
reason to celebrate! pests can only get at the plants when they physically contact
Living walls can save you a lot of tme. Many of the new the ground, and living walls are ofen hung well above
living wall products have self-watering systems to automate ground level. While growing a living wall does not guarantee
your watering. If they do not come with a watering system, that bad insects will stay away, chances are that you will see
it is easy to install one for your partcular living wall fewer ground-related insects. A positve twist on this is that
situaton. Because you will spend less tme weeding and you will very likely see more fying pollinators such as bees
watering, you will have more tme to do important things and buterfies, which you want to encourage for stronger
like read a book or drink herbal martnis with your friends fower and vegetable producton.
or bike the Yukon.
8 IntroductIon
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