Last year "green roof" was the eco/design/gardening buzzword, this year the trend is growing, and adapting to the indoors with the concept of "living walls" (aka green walls). Woolly Pocket Gardens have been making the web rounds, as has the Teracrea room dividing system, and ELT has a beautiful photo gallery full of ideas and even makes suggestions of plants that will work best as part of a living wall.
Indoor gardening can improve your home's air quality, while visually pepping up the place, and can add texture and dimension to the space usually reserved for 2-d art. It can also add humidity, while the more comprehensive systems can improve insulation effectiveness.
Since I'm staying inside for the most part this summer {I'm sweating
even when the AC is at 70, people}, I'm desperate to get some green on
my walls, but am not prepared to add another huge project to our
ongoing to-do list (or anything that would soak up a sizable sum of cash)
.
Sunset Magazine's modern cottage (image 3) has a splendid example of the pizazz a little green can add. . . who wouldn't want an easy to care for wall of succulents--indoors or out? If you're thinking "Yes! Please!" but want to start small, both in scale and budget, why not start with a simple hook and a clean, modern, hanging planter? But please, just don't break out the macrame.
1. Perch! Plant Pod: Perch! can do no wrong, and this planter is no different. One part rustic (tanned leather cord) and 99 parts pretty. Available through Branch Home, $98.00.
2. Mystery Petz Moss Sphere: On the other end of the cost spectrum, the simplicity of the form reflects the ease of caring for moss. MysteryPetz.etsy.com, $10.00.
3. An example of another living wall, this one is part of Sunset Magazine's Modern Cottage.
4. The Butter Cream Birdhouse: You can either spoil the birds out in your yard with the prettiest home on the block, or hog it for yourself and hang it inside, stuff a few air plants in the opening and breathe in the simple elegance and form. Green Ware Design, $40.00.
5. Ryan Takaba's Bud Vase: While touting them as bud vases, I would imagine a light, soilless planting medium plus a couple small succulents would work just as well. Or moss. Either way, form and function land even steven with this one. RyanTakaba.etsy.com, $95.00.
Renee Garner has a passion to make things grow, although her brownish
thumb wants her to believe otherwise. When mud pies aren't on the menu,
you can find her doodling the days away at Wolfie and the Sneak.
