For those of you who follow us, you probably saw a “First Look” posting about a month ago featuring our newest living wall product, the VertiGreen Hybrid.  The project, a Whole Foods Market in Lake Grove, NY,  is one of the first larger-scale installations of this product anywhere! More images and information after the break…

The original design for the wall, by Blondies Treehouse of Mamaroneck, NY, called for our VGM Modular living wall system.  In the end, the owner decided that they wanted to try our new VertiGreen Hybrid product instead. This product integrates our VertiGreen 3-D trellis product with the recycled plastic plant growing module of the VGM.  Each panel is 4′ x 4′, and contains one module. It is designed for plants and vines that quickly cover the trellis.  It features the low cost of a trellis, but the quick grow-in time of a full living wall.

Blondies chose to use VGM-10 modules, with a full 8″ of soil profile, to give the plants the best chance to make it through the winter.  Each panel was mounted to the building with four 9″ mounting brackets.

There wasn’t much time between when Blondies ordered the system and when it was scheduled to be installed.  To save time they  used our pre-installed irrigation system on the panels, which consists of  a vertical length of polytube with two 1GPH drip emitters on each panel. Once the planted module was placed in its mounting channels, the emitters were attached. The lengths of polytube are connected to each other, and the whole thing is connected to a timer and pressure reducer. The plants didn’t have much time to root in before the system was installed, so Blondies used horticultural staples to help keep the plants in place until they were established.

The installation is a relatively sunny wall, which has been especially hot this summer.  Things have begun growing quite nicely, and the vines are beginning to find the trellis wires.  There hasn’t been much die-back on the modules, which indicates that the plant selection was good.

Blondies has been pleased with how things have been going with the wall, and have been actively promoting it to many of their other clients.  Perhaps the greatest vote of confidence for the system comes from Whole Foods themselves – they’ve ordered another 8 panels to go alongside the ones shown in these images!