'wallflower vertical garden' by haldane martin


on the occasion of design indaba 2011, south african designer haldane martin presented for the first time
to the public his 'wallflower vertical garden system'.

the modular planter enables urban city dwellers to grow their own organic vegetables and plants on
vertical walls where ground space is limited. the structural composition of the product utilizes a fractal,
honeycomb pattern in which martin has biomimicked the space efficient packing array of the actual
honeycomb of bees to create nested niches that hold soil and plants.



wallflower vertical garden system, rendered on design indaba 10 x 10 house


the modular system is made up of wall mounted planters made from recycled, UV stable roto-moulded
polyethylene plastic that come in three different sizes, creating a hexagonal pattern that climbs up vertical systems.
the varying sizes are designed for the differing soil depth requirements for a range of vegetables. for example,
large planters are for root vegetables such as carrots, medium planters are for fruits like tomatoes and small planters
are designed for leaf vegetables like lettce. the planters also accommodate foliage such as creapers or scculents.
these containers are attached using recycled stainless steel brackets.



wallflower exploded view


a metal trellising and branching, water efficient drip irrigation system whose design draws on the
water and nutrient distribution network of plan leaf and branching patterns, is mounted onto the brackets
behind the planters, creating a network of pipes that run up the wall. this modular tripod trellis enables
climbing plants such as beans tomatoes or creepers to spread out beyond the planters. feeder pipes enter
the planters from behind, that sit just below the soil surface irrigating the plants with water efficient,
self-regulating, dripper valves. a liquid, organic, nutrient delivery system can also be incorporated into the
irrigation system. drainage holes are positioned within the planters allowing excess water to filter from
one planter into another below, minimizing water loss.

'wallflower vertical garden' is registered as a crowd-funding campaign on kickstarter.

designboom has received this project from our 'DIY submissions' feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their
own work for publication.we have already acquired many submissions, so keep on the lookout for more of your projects to be
published in the coming days!