Gallery: South Africa’s First Vertic...
You'd think that a pretty new garden for your neighborhood would be well-received, but Simon Wall from Tractor Outdoor was met with pretty much the opposite reaction when he set out to build South Africa's first vertical garden. Luckily he persevered and the awesome living, growing billboard you see above is the result! Taking inspiration from Patrick Blanc's vertical gardens, Wall created a self-sufficient 6 x 12 meter living wall that is designed to represent the various countries around the world serviced by the project's sponsor, Emirates Airlines. Although that is somewhat ironic given the airline industry's soiled environmental record, this is an important development that definitely has potential to raise South Africa's overall eco-consciousness.
This is wonderful, but not actually the first vertical garden in SA. There is a wonderful one on the walls of a boutique hotel in Rivonia, Johannesburg.
There are actually quite a few vertical garden in SA. This is the first really public one. Its a pity they only used two plants as its beautiful when there is sort of an living ecosystem on the wall with a few types of plants. Anyway its pretty cool. Im sure it costs quite a lot to build though