SYSTEMS OF GREEN WALLS / HIVING WALLS / VERTICAL GARDENS

There are many systems for green walls, living pictures and vertical gardens. There are many different manufacturers and contractors of planting these systems, so we also know many different products for building or installation of green walls. Every manufacturer wants to be as special as possible and offer something unique and innovative on the market, which is the reason for such a variety of systems around the world. Mainly these green wall systems or living walls and vertical gardens can be divided into two main types. These two main types are hydroponics and classic soil cultivation. The method of growing plants in these two types differs from one another in the method of planting, i.e. in what growth medium the plants grow, in the method of watering and in the method of adding nutrients for vital and successful growth. In order to get a better overview, we will present you these two types, which we also use for our green walls, living walls and vertical gardens.

Hydroponics - Hydroponics

Hydroponics is hydro-cultural cultivation, which means that plants or crops are grown without soil, using mineral nutrients added directly to water. This type of cultivation usually uses coconut fibres, clay balls or rock wool as growing media, and in vertical plantings it is usually several layers of special felt. This is one of the most popular and successful ways of commercial cultivation, as it is simpler and much more favorable than classical cultivation in the soil. If you eat a tomato or lettuce that is not from your garden, that is, that you bought in the store, it is very likely that it was grown in this way, and it usually comes from Italy, Spain, France, Holland, etc... Even with live ones in walls and vertical gardens, hydro-cultural cultivation is widespread, but in living wall systems, special felts are mostly used, between which the plants are planted. I personally think that the hydroponic living wall system is best suited for planting large outdoor areas, due to the simplicity of the system itself. The advantages of this system are the easy planting of plants, because with the correct selection of plants, we can achieve complete overgrowth or greening of surfaces. The advantages are also simple watering thanks to the automatic watering system, low weight or loads on the surface on which the living wall is mounted (because there is no heavy growth medium such as soil), good sound insulation, good thermal insulation, less water consumption than with classic systems, less impact on the environment, since the felt is made of recycled material, better breathability of the roots and thus more vital plants. These are only the technical advantages of the hydroponic system, and we already know the general advantages of living walls if we have read the chapter on the advantages of living walls on our website.

The image above shows the basic setup of a vertical planting hydroponic system.

You can see a practical demonstration of planting a hydroponic system here:

Growing in soil - Growing in soil

There is probably no person who has not recognized the advantages of cultivation and cultivation in the soil. Good old soil, in my opinion, is still the most authentic and healthy way to grow fruits, vegetables and herbs, but it is not necessarily the most optimal choice for living walls. Such types of systems are recommended especially for indoor spaces with smaller planting areas or for growing herbs, e.g. on the wall in the kitchen (see: https://www.livingwalls.si/collections/trgovina/products/zeliscni ). The problem with living wall systems based on soil as a growing medium is mainly the weight of the planted living walls, but often a little more difficult replacement of damaged or dead plants (depending on the system, not ours), and airiness of the roots. In addition to all of the above, it should be emphasized that such a system usually requires a lot of material, i.e. aluminum or plastic modules. We use both, for herbs or decoration (living pictures) we use aluminum modules with wooden frames (it is also possible to order without a wooden frame), for interior green walls or for living walls, we use a plastic system into which we simply insert the plant with its own pot, so no screening is necessary and maintenance, care or replacement of damaged plants is therefore child's play. If you have any questions about living walls, green walls or vertical gardens, we are happy to answer them at info@livingwall.si

The picture above shows an example of vertical planting and growing of plants in one of our systems (IKO9 double aluminum module, planting in the ground).