The wall faces West and while it becomes very hot on summer afternoons it is exposed to prevailing wind and rain
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The wall is situated in a narrow laneway, Hotham lane off Hotham St East Melbourne
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First two sections of a Tillandsia wall garden for a residence in East Melbourne installed March 2021. The wall faces due West and on a 38c day temperatures can reach over 70c. The xerophytic plants will act as a weather shield on the facade and mitigate the heat. These plants live of the atmosphere via their unique biology where they can uptake all water and nutrients via trichome leaf cells. This means they need no watering or nutrient system even during hot dry periods and require minimal maintenance on a 3-4 yearly basis. When installed, the total weight of plants (when wet) and infrastructure of 7.87 Kg /m2. By comparison, many reticulated vertical garden systems are over 100Kg/m2.
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 Where the vertical window section is located, the plants offer a moving shadow pattern on the internal wall during the day. |
View looking directly upwards from the brick wall to the xeric wall garden.
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View looking directly upwards from the brick wall to the xeric wall garden. |
Detail of protruded window screen section
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Detail of protruded window screen section |
Al photograph of a cross section xeric tillandsia vertical wall. No plastic water proof membrane required. No medium for roots. (many vertical gardens use compressed plastic microfibers) No fertilizer. No reticulated water system. Very light weight |
This side view gives a good idea of shade cover on the wall to mitigate heat. |
