Patrick Blanc's Vertical Gardens, London

Athenaeum Hotel, London. More than 12,000 plants cover its walls.

On the front of the Athenaeum Hotel in London, a giant wall of plants climbs to the sky, forming a green tapestry of ferns, moss, flowers and thousands of other plants ten stories high.  This vertical garden was created by Frenchman, Patrick Blanc who has turned the idea of gardening on its side.  While most people put plants in the ground, Patrick Blanc’s gardens go up in the air.  In cities all over the world he has created colorful carpets of plants climbing the walls of homes, shopping centers, hotels, museums, and other buildings, bringing nature’s beauty to crowded cities. Earth Day seems the the perfect day to celebrate Patrick Blanc's vertical gardens, which are helping to beautify urban spaces around the world.

On a recent trip to London, I got the chance to see two of Patrick Blanc’s amazing gardens, one on the Athenaeum Hotel and the other on the upper stories of The Driver, a pub near King’s Cross.

Patrick Blanc’s vertical gardens are like giant leafy paintings.

No Dirt!
Patrick Blanc is a botanist at the French National Center for Scientific research.  In 1972, when he was a university student, Patrick Blanc took his first trip to Southeast Asia, where he saw ferns growing high in the trees, orchids hanging over waterfalls, and plants clinging to cliffs and other places with no soil.  The trees and rocks supported the roots and stems of the plants.  Patrick realized then that plants do not need dirt to grow and started to experiment with dirtless gardens at his home in Paris.
        For his first vertical gardens, Patrick Blanc used wood for the frame.  Now, he uses metal. Then he attaches a layer of PVC plastic to the frame to make the structure rigid and waterproof.  Finally, he glues a layer of synthetic felt to the plastic. Water and fertilizer drip onto the felt through holes in pipes at the top of the structure. The plants absorb what they need and, as the roots grow, they penetrate the felt and the plants soon become securely fastened to the structure. Patrick Blanc initially attaches plants to the garden structure with staples, using about thirty plants for every square yard.  As the plants begin to grow, the spaces fill in.  Then the whole surface becomes a living carpet.

The Driver, Kings Cross, London

Living Tapestries
Like a painter, Patrick Blanc chooses the colors and shapes of the plants carefully to make a pleasing design.  He must also pick plants that are best for the location of the garden.  On tall buildings, plants that need more light are at the top.  Shade loving plants go at the bottom. For indoor gardens, he uses tropical plants.  For outdoor gardens, he chooses plants that grow in similar climates. In cities such as London or Paris, he chooses plants that come from cooler parts of the world. On the January day we went to see the gardens on The Driver, it had snowed the night before and the north facing wall still had patches of snow on the leaves.  But the vines that covered the wall seemed to tolerate the cold and thrive.

Patrick Blanc’s vertical gardens keep buildings cool in summer and warm in winter by providing a layer of natural insulation. The plants also help keep the air fresh by taking in carbon dioxide and giving off oxygen as they grow. In 1996, Patrick Blanc began to work with French architect Jean Nouvel.  Together they have designed projects in Seoul, Barcelona, Paris, and elsewhere. Patrick Blanc has created vertical gardens at more than 100 public sites and in many private homes. His largest garden covers an apartment building in Paris on the Rue de Alsace where diagonal bands of leafy plants fill 15,000 square feet of surface space!

At the Athenaeum Hotel, London

Some of Patrick Blanc’s garden designs have been created for garden shows and other temporary exhibits.  But most are intended to be permanent. They are worth going out of your way to see.  If you are in London, take a stroll down Piccadilly Road across from Green Park, and gaze up at the amazing wall of plants that grace the elegant Athenaeum Hotel. You will be amazed!   

In French, the vertical garden is called “Le Mur Vegetal”, a name created by Patrick Blanc.

Here are some places around the world where you can see Patrick Blanc’s vertical gardens:
French Embassy, New Delhi, India
Market and Parking Garage, Avignon, France
Parliament, Brussels, Belgium
Apartment Facades, Rue d’Alsace, Paris
Nave Italia Aquarium, Genoa, Italy
Quai Branly Museum, Paris, France
21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan
Caixa Forum Museum, Madrid, Spain
Concert Hall, Taipei, Taiwan
Museum of Natural History, Toulouse, France
Girbaud Boutique, New York, New York
Emporium Shopping Center, Bangkok, Thailand
Phyto Universe, New York, New York
Qantas Lounge, Sydney, Australia
Lan Restaurant, Shanghai, China

For beautiful photos and a history of the evolution of Patrick Blanc’s vertical garden concept, read this book:  The Vertical Garden, From Nature to the City by Patrick Blanc (W.W. Norton and Company, NY, 2008.  You can also see a photo of Patrick Blanc's vertical garden in Madrid is the July 2012 National Geographic in the Now/City Solutions section at the front of the magazine.
Patrick Blanc’s website:  www.verticalgardenpatrickblanc.com

LONDON IN WINTER: Museums and More, Part 1

British Museum of Natural History, London

Why go to London in January, when it is cold, wet, and dark?  As long as you dress warmly, carry an umbrella, and plan mostly inside activities, it is a terrific time to see this great city when it isn’t jam packed with summer tourists--and there are more exhibits, plays and concerts than you could possibly see in one visit.  We were in London for a week in mid-January, opting to stay in Kensington because of its central location.  Here are some highlights from my diary:

The Cranley Hotel, Kensington, London

Saturday-- We arrived at our hotel, the Cranley, at about 8:30 pm, after walking through light snow from the Gloucester Road tube station. Checked in.  Very genteel--living room with fire and drinks available.  The desk person made a reservation for us for 9:30 at the Bumpkin, a pub about five minutes down the Old Brompton Road.  The dinner was surprisingly good.  Fresh organic food.  Art had a chicken pie and I had squash with brown rice risotto.  We also ordered an onion tart as an appetizer–an artfully presented slab of pastry, red onions, topped with cheese.  We had no room for the sticky toffee pudding on the menu.  Maybe we’ll go back. (We did.)

Statue of Charles Darwin, Museum of Natural History

Sunday– We walked to the Natural History Museum, on Cromley Road, about 10 minutes away and got tickets for the wildlife photography show–100 stunning prize winning nature photos, including a number of penguins photographed underwater by Flip Nicklin (seen in the recent National Geographic.)  On the way to the show we passed the ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs found by Mary Anning. [See my post for Feb 11.] After lunch in the museum cafeteria we went to see the statue of Darwin, who presides over the main hall.  At the other end is a giant sequoia slice, brought from CA in the late 1800's, and nearly 2000 years old. That evening we went to a piano concert at Wigmore Hall.

Easter Island Moai

Monday–Took the tube to Kings Cross, walked to a pub called The Driver to see the  Patrick Blanc vertical gardens, then stopped for a Cornish pasty and sausage roll at the station for a late lunch before going to the British Museum.  The entrance hall there is huge, and filled mainly with an enormous gift shop.  First we went to see the Easter Island moai, (made of basalt so the details of the carvings on the back were especially fine).  We then went upstairs to view the mummies, and spent most of our time in just two rooms–all the Egyptian rooms extend across the width of the museum.  Our last stop was to see the Elgin Marbles on the main level.

(Continued next week.)