After a very busy past three months I have found some time to upload some photos of recently completed green wall projects.

The photo below is of an internal vertical garden at the Origin offices in Brisbane.



The next photo is of a recently completed double sided green wall in Melbourne.  The wall is free standing over a central reservoir.  The client is very happy with the wall that they are looking to replicate it in their Adelaide offices.



Junglefy was involved in all aspects of the build from the construction of the wall, plumbing, irrigation, lighting, waterproofing and installation.

More photos will be uploaded as the walls grow and develop.

City farming on a commercial scale is not too far away.  These farms can be achieved by either using a group of rooftops within close proximity to each other or by growing plants on a vertical plane such as this vertical farm concept.  The garden roof farm concept is much more realisable now, as growing medias can be engineered to suit food production and the availability of natural sunshine means that large amounts of energy are not required to power lights as would be needed with walls. 
Perhaps the days of manual labour would come back and replace tractors.  Hundreds of jobs could be created in the city with the price of food staying the same or becoming cheaper as fertiliser, transport and packaging costs are greatly reduced or removed all together.
Green Roofs however would be much more susceptible to strong winds or other devastating climatic effects such as hail.  The vertical gardens could be grown under the protection of walls and windows and use solar power or other renewable energy sources to power the lights and fans.  Evaporation would be kept to a minimum thereby maximising water use but this could lead to mould and fungi problems which could very quickly wipe out whole crops.
If anyone reading this news article knows of any forward thinking restaurant owners that would like to be one of the first restaurants in Australia growing food on their roof then please let the Junglefy green roof team know.

I have started a new blog showcasing growing food in a Sydney suburban garden in places food is not traditionally grown namely the roof of a chook house and a sunny brick wall.

The blog will closely follow the hurdles and successes and make available any findings that make growing food on garden roofs and vertical gardens possible for anyone.

The blog can be viewed by following this link to foodupthere

Please check it out.

GREEN ROOF BEETROOT

I wanted to show you an example of some food I have been growing on the roof of my chook house.  This beetroot was grown in a 75mm media profile using only coconut fibre.  Slow release fertiliser and sub surface irrigation have been incorporated as part of the installation.  The smaller beetroots were grown in the garden and granted they may not have received the same amount of moisture it goes to show that there is a real opportunity to grow food on the rooftops in our towns and cities.

I have had great success growing all herbs, spring onions, peas, lettuce and spinach.  The shallow profile shows that food can be grown on existing buildings with retrofits, on shed roofs, dog houses or  any other such roof. 

I believe for rooftop installations where food is being grown, a mineral media is not essential as changing the growing media on a 2-5 year basis is easily done.  This can mean that lighter weight organic media can be used thereby creating a much larger scope for green roof installations.

This year Junglefy is the sponsor of the City of Sydney's Live Green House.  The Live Green House is a modular mobile home that showcases sustainable building practices and technologies that can be incorporated into new builds or retrofitted into existing buildings.  Junglefy showcased three technologies; the ecoVert™ Home, the ecoVert™ Pro and a dog house with a green roof.  All three technologies attracted a fantastic response and opened peoples minds to the opportunites of incorporating such technologies into their houses or apartments.
Please click on the following links for further details and a time lapse of the installation. Live Green House and Live Green Time Lapse
The Live Green house will be on display at Martin Place in Sydney on the 9th & 10th of November and again during Chinese New Year celebrations from the 12th - 14th of February 2010.

Not sure if you have seen this, but there recently have been reports circulated about green walls failing around Australia and also around the world.  Please see this link:  Failing London Green Wall  for an article about a recent green wall failure in London.

How the wall got to this stage is beyond me.  In order for larger scale walls to be successful into the future they need to be maintained on a regular basis. Imagine what your garden would look like if it was neglected for 3 years?  The maintenance of a green wall needs to be conducted by qualified and experienced professionals who are able to identify potential problems before they get out of control.  The failure that you see in the article could be the result of a number of factors including over or under watering, over fertilising, poor plant choices, pump failure, pests, moulds and fungi or bad design.  A regular maintenance regime should be able to identify these problems before it is too late.

I have observed similar occurrences here in Australia which is unfortunate as Green Walls with the right care can truly be a magnificent addition to any indoor or outdoor space. I believe it is the responsibility of professionals like myself to advise and guide people on how to obtain a long-lasting and vibrant Green Wall. Maintenance is a key part of this technology and without it is doomed from the word go.

If you are looking to install a green wall then please don't be put off by the failures that are occurring.  These are the result of poor planning, poor design, poor installation and poor maintenance.  Make sure that you subscribe to an ongoing maintenance program to protect your investment into the future.  It is a small price to pay to keep your wall looking healthy into the future. 

Happy vertical gardening and maintaining,
Jock