The University's first Living Wall is completed

Shelley Mosco is a Landscape Research Assistant in the University’s Landscape Architecture and Garden Design Department and a senior lecturer in GIS. Shelley is guest blogging for us about the construction of the University’s first living wall at the Mansion Site at Avery Hill.

We did it!  Over the weekend, 23/24 February, we built the University’s first ever living wall, launching the first stage of our research on the performance of plants in relation to microclimate, water resource management and the development of living walls for urban agriculture.

Construction of the Living Wall

The Sustainable Landscapes Research Group (School of Architecture, Design and Construction) and a team of Certificate Landscape Design students, led by Benz Kotzen and Shelley Mosco, built the planted modular wall outside ‘Greengages’ cafe at Avery Hill. It’s ‘X’ shape provides different sun/shade aspects and microclimates for the plants and the multi-coloured modules presents an opportunity to research thermal variations.

The modules

The wall is also a teaching/learning resource for plant biodiversity. We will be adding plants to the wall as our research develops but so far the plants comprise the following native species:

Chives, Allium sphaerocephalon
Cluster Bellflower, Campanula glomerata
Wild Basil, Clinopodium vulgare
Wild Carrot, Daucus carota
Ox-eye Daisy, Leucanthemum vulgare
Wild Marjoram, Origanum vulgare
Creeping Thyme, Thymus serpyllum

The wall is intended to be the first of many, which will focus on urban agriculture and growing food vertically in our cities. The Research Group is planning to set up a community system on one of the local Greenwich estates and also to incorporate a number of living wall systems on the new School roof at Stockwell Street.

The completed 'X' shaped Living Wall

If you want more information, please contact me s.mosco@gre.ac.uk, Benz Kotzen b.kotzen@gre.ac.uk, or Sarah Milliken, s.milliken@gre.ac.uk