Daniel Bell is an award winning landscape garden design guru, he is also a pioneer of successful eco sustainable vertical gardens. We catch up with him to find out what he plants, why he uses the system he does and how it works. He gives us a demo in the video as well, which is really well worth watching. He was inspired by French botanist, Patrick Blanc, and went on to champion this incredibly low-tech vertical garden solution.

This vertical garden system uses recycled clothes as a two-layered felt carpet, into which you cut little pockets for the plants to sit in. There is an irrigation pipe at the top, and they don’t need compost, in fact they are better without. Watch the demonstration in the video here above, or on YouTube if you want to make it big.

The point of difference, and what makes his vertical walls unique are the designs. And oh..my…word… they are awesome! The textures, shapes, colours, heights of the plants within the installations are simply a jaw-dropping flamboyance of life.

We discuss the plants he uses, an they are not your expected living wall plants. You will find in his vertical gardens dwarf birches, juniper, fuchsia, mind your own business, lavender, solanum, fats, hebe…

The fact that these vertical gardens can go anywhere, means that for urban planners looking for a solution, as in Piccadilly central London where he did an installation, this system is sustainable, lightweight (it is only 25kg/sqm), they don’t damage a building, they can be used to cover an ugly facade of ductwork, or tired concrete. Rather than pull down old buildings which may have had their day visually, Daniel suggests, why not add nw life and add a garden to it. How amazing would that be, to literally breathe life onto old buildings. And just think of how it will help reduce pollution as well?

To find out more about Daniel Bell Vertical Gardens, visit his website and follow him on social media (all links are on his beautiful website).