# Vertical Gardens



## AQUAMAC (Jul 27, 2004)

Hi guys,

Well it has been a while since my last post. Our modular vertical garden is finally finished at the factory and I thought I would share some of our work. The first pics are of a vertical garden we installed at Rutgers University. This vertical garden is a self sustained biologic system. The fish produce waste in the water that provides nutrients for the plants. The plants act as a biologic filtration device removing harmful levels of nitrogen etc. for the fish.

The second project is a residential project with a "touch tank" attached. Freshwater stingrays are in the water along with angelfish and many aquatic plants. The angelfish breed on a regular basis!

The third EcoWall is located at the EcoComplex in our facility. We also have a state of the art greenhouse which runs off of methane from the Burlington County landfill...all electric for the greenhouse is produced this way. We also have ebb and flow systems, so our nutrients are all cycled in and stored with minimal waste.

The last project is our mini tabletop vertical garden...It may be small but one of my favorites!

Thank you Mike K. for all of your help with product development.

Best,

Mike C
EcoWalls LLC
Founding Principal


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

looks great!
Very nicely done


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## raimeiken (Dec 24, 2006)

looks awesome! how exactly are the plants planted and what are they planted on?


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## verbal (Sep 8, 2004)

They make me drool every time I see them.
RYan


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## AQUAMAC (Jul 27, 2004)

Thanks for the kind words Ryan. In answer to some questions:

We manufacture a modular vertical garden panel called an EcoWall™. The EcoWall incorporates a soilless matrix for the plants to root and grow and an internal irrigation system. Our soilless planting system is made up of three inorganic media; a structural plastic material which holds the plants in place, a capillary material, which distributes moisture evenly throughout the panel, and a wicking material which holds and maintains moisture and nutrients. The internal irrigation system distributes water and nutrients to the wicking and capillary to which the plants are rooted. The panels are a modular design and fasten within one another to virtually any sized vertical garden. They serve as the canvas for a lush tropical garden on the façade of a building, creating a living, changing piece of artwork (with many functional benefits as well).


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## brog32 (Oct 28, 2005)

All I can say is, "That is ridiculous!!"


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## raimeiken (Dec 24, 2006)

AQUAMAC said:


> Thanks for the kind words Ryan. In answer to some questions:
> 
> We manufacture a modular vertical garden panel called an EcoWall™. The EcoWall incorporates a soilless matrix for the plants to root and grow and an internal irrigation system. Our soilless planting system is made up of three inorganic media; a structural plastic material which holds the plants in place, a capillary material, which distributes moisture evenly throughout the panel, and a wicking material which holds and maintains moisture and nutrients. The internal irrigation system distributes water and nutrients to the wicking and capillary to which the plants are rooted. The panels are a modular design and fasten within one another to virtually any sized vertical garden. They serve as the canvas for a lush tropical garden on the façade of a building, creating a living, changing piece of artwork (with many functional benefits as well).


that sounds really cool! do you have pictures of this material? and do you guys sell this material? because I was thinking of incorporating it in our own Vivs


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## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

please tell me you're keeping something cool on that stair one, like a chameleon?


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## Corpus Callosum (Apr 7, 2007)

awesome Mike, can't wait to see the next wall / project! Talk to you soon.


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## AQUAMAC (Jul 27, 2004)

No chameleons but freshwater rays are in the touch tank. Many of those plants are not strong enough to hold a chameleon (and true chameleons are not good swimmers). Plus the home owner prob didnt want crickets crawling around the home lol. 

As for materials, we are using three membranes that we tested for growing. One is for structure, one for nutrient and water distribution, one for wicking and holding in moisture. There is a patent pending on our product so I cannot list them. 

-Mike I will keep you posted on the new install...we are excited with the new project.

Best,

Mike
EcoWalls, LLC


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

Nice work. Very lush. What are the ages of these various walls at time of photographing?


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## maximusdendrob8 (Jun 12, 2009)

That looks great!


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## AQUAMAC (Jul 27, 2004)

Hi Antone,

They range in age. The Rutgers Ecowall is about 4 months old, the residential Ecowall is 7 months old, the tabletop vertical garden is about 2 years old now, and the EcoComplex vertical garden is about a year. The lifespan of the vertical gardens can be 15 years or more.

Best,

Mike


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the info. They look great.


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## Dendromad (Jul 4, 2006)

Hi mike 

Those walls look fantastic, just the thing we are looking for!

Just a few quick questions regarding them.

What do they look like just after they are installed?
Are you able to use geographic specific plants e.g all Amazonian?
How large an area are you able to cover?

I will email you soon with other q's etc... I may have a VERY big job for you!?!

Darren


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## Ben E (Oct 1, 2004)

here is one that i helped build/plant .... it is tall (it stretches up the staircase for 40' or so)

this style has a plenum behind it and pulls air through the membrane and into a modified HVAC system.... pretty neat things!


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## raimeiken (Dec 24, 2006)

Dont mean to hi-jack the thread but I remember seeing a bunch of pictures of this similar work. I just wanted to share the pics


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## orchid_man (Sep 21, 2008)

Those are amazing, I love the one you did that up the staircase!


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## chesney (Jan 18, 2007)

:O WOW :O I want one!


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## AQUAMAC (Jul 27, 2004)

Dendromad said:


> Hi mike
> 
> Those walls look fantastic, just the thing we are looking for!
> 
> ...


Hi Darren,

To answer a few questions..our product the EcoWall is a modular vertical garden product. Each EcoWall™ piece fits into the subsequent piece much like a LEGO® system. This means we can create virtually any sized vertical garden. We have done small and large scale installations.

Secondly, we work directly with our customer to develop a unique plant pallet catered to the clients individual taste. Plant pallet/design could be tailored towards and Amazonian biotope. We plant the walls to have immediate relief but there must be some room for the plants to grow/change. That’s the beauty of our vertical gardens..they are a living, changing piece of artwork. After 3-6 months (depending on the plant pallet) most of the wall is completely covered.



Please feel free to email directly at: [email protected] with any questions you might have. I look very forward to speaking with you.

Best,

Mike Coraggio
EcoWalls, LLC
EcoWalls LLC-Using Your Wall as Nature's Canvas


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## AQUAMAC (Jul 27, 2004)

Ben E said:


> here is one that i helped build/plant .... it is tall (it stretches up the staircase for 40' or so)
> 
> this style has a plenum behind it and pulls air through the membrane and into a modified HVAC system.... pretty neat things!


Hi Ben,

I didn’t know you worked for the Furbish Company. That install was in Morristown NJ correct? I would like to visit that project..I hear you did a very nice job.

Patrick Blanc has done some amazing work (and seems to have coined vertical gardening). His planting designs are wonderful.

Our product operates slightly differently working as a modular system, and incorporates a unique combination of inorganic membranes that make up the planting matrix. We are working with several faculty at the university to use our vertical gardens in active greywater treatment process as well as self sustained systems with aquaponics/ aquaculture. Ryan is also working with the EPA on our active air purification process.

It's really fantastic to utilize the phytoremediation capabilities of the plants to use the vertical gardens as a natural tool to clean air and water.

Best,

Mike
EcoWalls, LLC


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## Garuda (Feb 15, 2008)

Here's a story on vertical gardens in todays NY Times:

Vertical Gardens, Grown on Walls - NYTimes.com


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## Eric Walker (Aug 22, 2009)

to cool. bringing the wilderness indoors


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## raimeiken (Dec 24, 2006)

Garuda said:


> Here's a story on vertical gardens in todays NY Times:
> 
> Vertical Gardens, Grown on Walls - NYTimes.com


thanks for the link! very interesting read.

I'll definitely be setting one up whenever I get my own house


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