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When a vertical garden is perfect is obvious (enlazado con el otro artículo): the plants have an intense green color and a leafy and lush appearance, without hollows or gaps between them, or dear leaves. In short: it is teeming with life.
However, sometimes vertical gardens don’t reach this status. This affects not only its appearance, but also the benefits it can bring both to the environment and the human beings. Therefore, it is something that must be solved as soon as possible.
First of all, it has to be found what is causing the vertical garden dies, dries or doesn’t bloom. Usually is because one of the five following reasons.

Five reasons why vertical gardens die

1. Lack or overload of nutrients

2. Shortage or excess water

3. Lack or excess light

4.Water chemistry

5. Pests or diseases

It is often said that an added value of the vertical gardens is the impact they cause, both at the media as in the population of the cities where they are built. In general they are very showy works. Their presence in the cities is synonymous of people stopping in the street to look at them, because of their beauty or the rarity that still have this kind of constructions. However, even all of them call the attention in a way or another, some green walls go further, becoming spectacular and being comparable to artworks.

Even it sounds weird, it has not much to do with the design of the garden. Obviously, one that is cared will be way much elegant than one who is abandoned. But definetly this is not the most important point, or what will determine the final result of our green wall. It can be aesthetically well planified, but if does not accomplish certain conditions in the building and planting phases, it will become an average garden.

That is the proof that vertical gardening is way more complex than simply putting plants on a wall, and also what makes the difference with traditional gardening. For a vertical garden to be successful is essential to make an appropriate species selection for the weather of the area. You must know the quantity of light, the temperatures, the frequency of the rain, if it will be exposed to the wind… and also which are the native species of the area. Besides this, you must understand how the relationships between plants work, because a well performed garden will work as an ecosystem.

Other important parameters that you must control are the chemistry of the water (because if it is too hard might damage the plants) and the proportions and quantities of nourishment they are going to recieve.

Once all this is adjusted, the level of effort you will need to dedícate to the vertical garden will be minimum, because with the exact parameters it will barely require maintenance.

The good appearance of a vertical garden is a consequence of its correct functioning. If the plants grow healthy and are not subject to stress or illness their aspect will be green and exuberant. They will adapt to the available space, filling it and leaving no empty spaces between them, and then they will keep growing, giving the wall a leafy look.

At the season they will show flowers and fruits, which will give the wall a different and colorful touch.Getting these conditions might seem very difficult, but actually you only need to meet the needs of the plants and cover them. Every specie has different needs of water, light, nourishment… Providing them with these elements in the right quantities, not only its appearance will be more beautiful, but also will be stronger and better withstand adverse weather conditions or diseases that may affect them.

Anyone who wants to start building vertical gardens, after seeing the spectacular results that the F+P System reaches in this projects of bioarchitecture, may think that to bring to fruition a work of vertical gardening will be necessary to use exotic plants, or at least different of the ones used in traditional gardening. Nothing further from reality.

Despite that for building vertical gardens is necessary to forget the concepts of traditional gardening, because is a system based on applied biology, this is not applicable to the plants. Theoretically any plant that can grow in a traditional garden can adapt to vertical growth. In practice is not so simple, because for a vertical garden to be successful is necessary to know the species which will be used, the way they interact with each other and with other microorganisms (as fungus and bacteria), the hydric and lighting requirements of each plant, the nourishment they need, if the wall is going to be build indoor or outdoor…

Consequently, a certain technique is necessary to carry out successfully a green wall. But not because there must be used very rare or specific species, but that with the proper technique, you can move to our vertical composition almost any species.

In fact, even better results can be obtained with the use of endemic species of the area where the garden in going to be placed, than if you decide to use exotic plants from far places. It is logical, because if a plant is on its environment and in a favorable weather its development will be outstanding. Otherwise the adaptation to the environment will be more difficult (not impossible, because the ability of plants to get accustomed to harsh environments is higher than we think). And this improvement due to the use of nearby plants is not only reflected in the garden growth, it also gives the wall an extra botanical value, and can contribute to the conservation of endemic species.

An ecosystem is the relationship established between the organisms inhabiting a physical component known as a biotope (biocenosis). In our case, the biocenosis of a vertical ecosystem is made up of plants, fungi, bacteria and animals interacting with the substrate that we build for their development – our artificial biotope.

The physical-chemical characteristics of the medium are some of the key abiotic factors that influence vertical ecosystems, i.e. the substrate and its environmental conditions. Climatic factors; light, temperature and humidity can be controlled to a certain extent in an interior vertical ecosystem. Exterior systems, however, depend on the area’s natural elements, our measurement and knowledge of plant behaviour relating to the species included in the biotope.

Hydrological factors such as pH, water conductance, dissolved gasses, salinity, etc. are controlled by sensors that notify us of any imbalances in the ecosystem. We also select and manage texture, porosity and substrate depth, which would be edaphic factors in a natural ecosystem. However, this process involves a flow of energy that prompts species succession in every vertical-ecosystem until it reaches a climax point where the factors described previously naturally modify the evolution of the vertical-ecosystem. The success of a vertical-ecosystem will depend on the monitoring and management of abiotic and biotic factors, which limit the increase in plant populations. In short, we control what is known as environmental resistance.

In our vertical ecosystems, we encourage the use of plant, fungi and bacteria species in an environment that has almost unlimited resources. This allows us to create a slow growth to start with, which becomes exponential until we achieve the maximal load, known as carrying capacity. This is the optimum population size that can interact without stress in a limited space, seeking the mutualisms and interspecific/intraspecific associations that will benefit all life present.

Vertical ecosystems are dynamic : nature transforms – sometimes abruptly, sometimes gradually. It may be that elevated distress temporarily interrupts the balance, but proper management will allow the ecosystem to recover. The difference between collapse and slow recovery depends on one’s vision and understanding of the problem. However, we must always take into account the primordial premise: we are working with living creatures in a wonderful network of multiple relationships, which we define as a vertical-ecosystem

The construction of a green building, green facade or plant wall is one of the most complex compositions in the field of gardening and landscaping. This is because we try to emulate the features of a garden in a perpendicular position – hence the term vertical garden.

There are a variety of systems available for constructing a plant facade or plant wall, such as various methods based on modular panels, geonets or even flowerpots placed on top of one another.However, these techniques do not ensure the survival of the plants selected. In a plant facade, the plants lack soil in which to take root. As a result, sheets of various materials should be used in order for the chosen plants to take root and receive the proper supply of water and nutrients.

In order to ensure that a plant wall stands the test of time, it is essential to have a deep knowledge of how the isotope works. At Paisajismo Urbano, we are specialists in the construction of plant walls or facades – and we have gone one step further by developing a patent for the construction of vertical ecosystems. This patented plant facade construction system (which applies the knowledge, research and practical experience accumulated over many years) ensures that our plant facade or wall will last: we can guarantee this in writing. In each case, we take into account the individualities of each project and carry out a personalised analysis with full guarantee of durability.

The design and construction of a plant facade or plant wall can be tackled in various ways. However, not all of these will guarantee the survival of the selected species.

In general, gardening systems or supports are used that opt for various climbing plants. The problem with this technique is that such climbing plants may compromise the building’s integrity, as they naturally tend to occupy gaps and cracks already existing in the building.

To create vertical gardens, however, a structure is used in which the substrate is placed where plants are able to take root; through this they are supplied with the water and nutrients they need. Green buildings as well as plant facades or plant walls use installation and maintenance systems that are essentially a thing of the past.

Paisajismo Urbano takes one step further in plant wall/plant facade design and construction thanks to its vertical ecosystem construction system. This system, patented by Ignacio Solano, ensures that our vertical composition becomes a self-supporting garden, possessing technical features that guarantee that plants will proliferate in a setting that was not originally designed for that purpose. Our plant facade or plant wall therefore gains plenty of added value

Among the numerous advantages of installing a plant facade or plant wall, the following are particularly noteworthy:
 Architectural value: plant facades and green roofs increase property value by between 15 and 20 per cent.
 Social and educational value: the plant facade or plant wall results in greater aesthetic pleasure for its neighbours, and raises awareness of ecological values among young people.
 Environmental value: the plant wall or plant facade filters noxious gasses, traps and processes heavy metals and converts carbon dioxide into oxygen. A plant facade or plant wall measuring one square metre produces the oxygen needed for one person in a year.
 Artistic and media value: plant walls and green rooftop terraces are works of art and embellish urban spaces with a unique beauty that inspires curiosity and awe

In addition to these added values, installing a plant facade creates greater comfort for the property’s neighbours thanks to its natural ability to insulate against external noise and provide more pleasant temperatures both in winter and summer.

Investment in a green rooftop terrace or plant wall is therefore quickly recovered both on a monetary level (revaluing of property) and in terms of benefits to inhabitants and the environment.