Overview of a Vertical Gardens Trends

Cities from all around the world are suffering from one major effect of development i.e. pollution. As our cities get increasingly urbanized, it is important to make efforts to preserve and expand the rapidly shrinking green patches. The growth in urban populations has and will continue to create a unique set of environmental problems, both in cities and in the surrounding areas, due to the large demand for food, energy and water. With the increasing phase of development the cities are totally disconnected from the nature. We are demolishing & ignoring nature and focusing on only urbanization. Due to which energy consumption & pollution is increasing. People living in the cities feel very isolated from the nature. So, in today’s era of urbanization it is very important to bring nature in our lifestyle. With more high-rise constructions in cities and less land space for greenery in urban landscapes, I think vertical gardens are the perfect solution to this problem. But, this idea of greenery is not very popular among us. It may be because public adoption of new ideas first requires their promotions by politicians and leaders in the professional industry. Or we can also say that no actions are taken until a disaster brings them to the forefront, because sustainable issues are essentially ethical issues and because they don’t have immediate commercial impacts. Other reasons why green designs are still in its infancy are because of technical issues related to the installation and maintenance of vertical green systems. Condition of vertical gardens is very poor in India because people are not aware of these systems or we can also say that they consider vertical gardens only as beautification. To make this system popular in India is to educate them spread awareness. Government can also run some schemes to promote vertical gardens.

KEYWORDS: Vertical gardens, Environment, Curb pollution, Energy saving, Ecosystem, passive systems.

Introduction

One of the gardening world’s newest trends is “Vertical gardens”. It is a system, which allows plants to grow on walls and other surfaces. They’re especially popular for small space gardening in west where ground is at a premium. Putting plants at eye-level gives new appreciation to groundcovers. It doesn’t only include growth of plants along the wall; it also includes vertical stacking of plants in high-rise buildings. The concept of walled gardens has been around for centuries. Records show that Egyptian gardens in 3000 B.C. established the tradition of compartments separated by plant-covered walls and arbors. The subtropical climate and fertile soil of Machu Picchu have blessed it with lush, terraced landscaping and vegetation-covered walls on a mountain high above the clouds. In 1933 the first major application of the new trellis panel system was featured at the Universal City Walk in California. It’s a stunning example of what a lovely feature plants can make in a city. In 2007 Seattle implements the Green Factor was made which includes green wall.

One of the biggest proponents of living, vertical walls is Patrick Blanc. He is botanist, artist, and author. Blanc’s vertical garden projects have brought growing plant life to public and residential walls from Paris to Bangkok and New York to Singapore. His life-long passion for vertical nature has transformed drab concrete walls into refuges for biodiversity.

The other professional who has great contributions for bringing vertical gardens in high-rise building is Ken Yeang. With 40 years’ experience inn eco-architecture, he is regarded as one of the pioneers of green design. Yeang is both a theorist and practitioner, architect and ecologist. His theory is that “ a building should be treated less like a standard skyscraper and more like a giant tree”.

Urbanities, who are living under the pressure of constructed surroundings, are lacking each and every day green lands such as parks, gardens etc. where they can actually take a clean breath. Therefore, they ought to continue their daily lives between constructions, buildings and pavements, which at the same time keep them away from the nature.

Plants play an important role in today’s cities where the rampant urban development is causing many problems such as pollution, increased air temperature, lack of green spaces and excessive energy consumption. Following the concepts of sustainability, urban greening is becoming a popular way of reducing the undesired effects of increasing construction. Greenery systems are nowadays offering the potential to incorporate advanced materials and new technologies to promote sustainable building functions.

In today’s era one of the biggest challenges is to bring nature into urban areas and perhaps, the most effective and spectacular solution will be the vertical gardens. Vertical gardens are the popular item of sustainable development for a better environment related to dense urban areas as these areas are causing environmental degradation in the undeveloped landscape. Living wall systems also known as vertical gardens, are constructed from modular panels each of which contains its own soil or other artificial growing mediums, fro example foam, felt, mineral wool, based on hydroponic culture, using balanced nutrient solutions to provide plant’s food and water.

Works Cited

1. Blanc, P. (2012). The Vertical Garden: From Nature to the City. W. W. Norton & Company.
2. Yeang, K. (2008). Vertical Garden City: Towards an Urban Ecosystem. Wiley-Academy.
3. Wall, S. (2015). Vertical Gardens: Plants for Living Walls. Timber Press.
4. Krasny, M. E., & Tidball, K. G. (Eds.). (2015). Greening in the Red Zone: Disaster, Resilience, and Community Greening. Springer.
5. Rossetto, R., & Corbetta, M. (2020). Green Infrastructure and Urban Planning: Learning from Experience. Springer.
6. Hardin, P. J., Jensen, R. R., & Larsen, L. (2018). Sustainable Urban Landscapes: The Role of Vertical Gardens. In V. K. P. Valente, D. S. Valente, & R. Carraher (Eds.), Urbanization and Its Impact on Socio-Economic Growth in Developing Regions (pp. 61-78). IGI Global.
7. Thwaites, K., et al. (2010). Are Green Walls a Good Choice for Urban Infrastructure? An Ecological Framework Evaluating Their Biodiversity Value Compared with Green Roofs. International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management, 6(4), 252-259. https://doi.org/10.1080/21513732.2010.516147
8. Pérez, G., et al. (2018). Vertical Gardens as a Strategy for the Conservation of Biodiversity in Urban Areas. Ecological Engineering, 123, 125-133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2018.09.015
9. Wong, N. H., et al. (2019). Sustainable Vertical Greenery Systems: Evaluating Their Potential in High-Rise Tropical Cities. Building and Environment, 160, 106187. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2019.106187
10. Chen, X., et al. (2021). Vertical Greenery Systems in Urban Areas: A Review of Evaluation Methods, Performance Assessment, and Future Perspectives. Building and Environment, 200, 107954. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2021.107954