Green My Walls

I built my house from barley rice
Green pepper walls and water ice
Tables of paper wood, windows of light
And everything emptying into white.

A simple garden, with acres of sky...

Cat Stevens

I’m intrigued with green living walls and roofs, even the walls growing inside. I want to build one for my garden. I'll probably start simply by making a succulent wreath with Sedum and Sempervivum. These plants are hardy, so the wreath can stay outside all winter. Directions for making a succulent wreath are here and here.

Last spring I visited the green wall on the public library in White Rock BC. The wall was built by a Vancouver company, Green Over Grey. It's the longest green wall in North America, and the most biologically diverse.


"The unique design is nearly 3,000 square feet and consists of over 10,000 individual plants representing more than 120 unique species. It includes ground covers, large perennials, shrubs and small trees."

When we visited Madrid we stumbled upon this awesome living wall, Jardin Colgante, adjacent to the Caixa Forum.



In Vancouver BC the convention centre has a six acre green roof. The roof garden is designed as a self sustaining grassy habitat, characteristic of coastal BC. It supports over 400,000 plants, and hives for 60,000 bees. The bees provide honey for the plaza restaurant.

I'm thinking a green roof in my garden would have a better chance of survival than a  green wall. It would be under snow all winter and therefore protected. All the roofs around here are steep so that as soon as the weather warms, during normal winter freezing and thawing cycles, the snow loudly avalanches off them,  maybe I'll have to build a structure with a flatter roof, just so I can have a living roof.

Or maybe I should just settle for a green wall, indoors.