Reporting from Paris: Urban gardening for the design-minded (or yard-less)

The Maison & Objet Salon in Paris was a showcase for urban garden design, with a range of solutions for bringing greenery to those without space for a traditional garden.

French designer Patrick Blanc’s vertical gardens have inspired a host of copycats and created a market for bringing the space-saving living wall look into the home.

The Miroir en Herbe, top, designed by Jean-Jacques Hubert for Paris-based H2O Architects, is a sleek work of art that brings a sophisticated touch of greenery to any urban space.

The Cloison Vegetale Etcetera designed by Vincent Vandenbrouck for Paris-based French company Edition Compagnie is an elegant way to hang a garden's worth of potted plants in a single wall installation.The Boske Sky Planter, right, designed by New Zealander Patrick Morris, is a simple idea: “turn gardening on its head.” Each Sky Planter is suspended by a ceiling hook so it can be hung anywhere. Upside-down orchids, palms and other plants are planted in soil and watered through a porous base in the planter.

Because the water directly reaches the plant’s roots, the designers claim you can water just once or twice per month, using 80% less water.

And for those who want a vegetable or a flower garden but don't have  the space, the BACSAC portable garden bag is made from recyclable,  sun-resistant double-walled geotextile fabric that can be used inside or outside, on a balcony or a deck. It's a ruggedly stylish and practical solution for those who want more than decorative greenery but aren't blessed with the soil to make it happen. We've got pictures of this design as well as Vandenbrouck's wall installation after the jump.

Above: BACSAC portable garden bag.

Above: The cloison Etcetera designed by Vincent Vandenbrouck for Paris-based French company Edition Compagnie.

-- Kristin Hohenadel

Photos: Kristin Hohenadel

Comments

[hydroponics]

Great information for gardening.I learned so many things that i know i can really use them.

[king Neece]

Proper Hydroponic growing systems:
DO NOT USE
• Insecticides or harmful fertilizers to pollute the air and soil/ground water
USE
• Systems that are designed to use what nature gives us
• Nutrients that do not pollute soil and air and systems are designed to be energy efficient
• Atmospheric water generators to control humidity and replenish the systems, keeps the water usage to a minimum and are designed to be energy efficient
• Deep water is dug in soil, fed by gravity producing a very low electrical usage
• Bio degradable packaging
• Composting of waste products which is turned to tea or compost
• LED’s for supplemental lighting, which are rated higher than all other light sources in a greenhouse environment, with less than half the wattage of the traditional lightning systems