Pennsylvania Gardener • July/August 2012 57

LandscapeDesignTips and ideas to help your landscape look its best By Philip J. Dominic

Vertical Gardens Step UpThis salon owner wanted to make his business stand out. Vertical gardens were the answer.

58 www.pagardener.com

LandscapeDesign

When a new business opened on the main street in Wyndmoor, its owner wanted to create

some pizzazz and bring attention to his new enterprise.

Mike Shilty, a salon owner on the main street of Wyndmoor, a nearby com-munity to our garden center, had read about vertical gardening and wanted something to make his salon stand out on the avenue.

I proposed highlighting the southern brick wall with a 6-by-14-foot “green wall” framed with recycled barn wood and accented with period black goose-neck lamp accents for nighttime appeal. To balance this design and engage traffic from the other direction, a second area of green wall was suggested for the opposite side on the corner of the building. This second area of installation would be seen by oncoming traffic and balance and complement the southern wall. These systems were installed to be removable during the winter months.

From the many suppliers of green wall structures that Laurel Hill Gardens represents, I chose the system that best suited the project and the needs of the client. On this particular job, I chose Evoorganics, a pod system that is easily

mounted and removed quickly for sea-sonal change-outs. It accepts industry-standard pots or can be planted directly. Water is delivered by emitter drip tubing, which snakes its way through the planted matrix. The irrigation and architectural lighting are controlled by simple program-mable timers for maximum impact and energy conservation.

Evoorganics green wall systems require a simple aircraft-grade aluminum Z bracket. This allows one person to easily remove the system and store them for the winter. We color-coordinated the brackets to match the old Philadelphia brick facade. The pattern effect of the plants chosen for the southern wall was based on growth-height-trailing capabili-ties and light exposure.

The plants for the southern wall included lantana, euphorbia Diamond Frost, ‘Phantom’ pansies, Lysimachia sp., sweet potato vine, blue petunia, Helichrysum sp. and Sempervirens sp.

The second green wall, which wrapped around the corner of the building, incorporated a show-stopping mass planting of Calibrachoa ‘Burnt Orange’ that had people knocking on the front door for more information about the new business.

The southern wall features timed lighting and irrigation via 7 mm space emitters; watering was only necessary twice a day for 20 minutes, due to the fact that the building next door creates shade in late afternoon. Three-month slow-release fertilizer was incorporated into the initial planting and additionally six months into the season. The corner installation was hand watered by the owner with a water wand due to budget restraints and water accessibility.

Mike, the owner, stated that there have been a few fender benders with people slowing down to admire the walls.

“There is a different feeling,” Mike’s wife added, “in seeing flowers en mass vertically. It must be seen in person to grasp the full impact. Pictures don’t do it justice.”

Mike and his wife are ecstatic about the impact of the two vertical walls of color. Mission accomplished!

Philip J. Dominic is a project designer at Laurel Hill Gardens in Philadelphia. Founded in 1981, Laurel Hill Gardens has built a reputation in landscape design, planting and management. Visit www.laurelhillgardens.com/verticalgardens or 8125 Germantown Ave. Philadelphia, or call 215-247-9490 or 856-495-4899.

Crews install these vertical gardens using a system of aluminum brackets and pods. Right: The finished product — Calibrachoa ‘Burnt Orange’ in full bloom.