When I visit my stepmother in Quebec City, it’s my responsibility to take care of my father’s green wall. For those of you who are new to this project, it’s a cork bark wall with tropical plants growing on it… in my parents’ bathroom! Read Green Wall Reboot to learn more about this project that started over 20 years ago.
To tell you the truth, there’s hardly any maintenance to be done. I find that, in that sense, it really is a reflection of my father. You can’t get much more laidback with houseplants. The lighting is automated. There is a basin that fills itself when the water level is low. The whole thing is watered for thirty minutes every day by a pump, on a timer, that takes the water from the basin up to the to irrigation nozzles at the top of the wall. We fertilize with liquid fertilizer by pouring it into the pond, but I find that the organic debris is a suitable source of nutrients. After all, these plants grow on trees in the wild without any fertilizer whatsoever!
Minimal Maintenance
What’s left to do? Every month or two, I check the nozzles for organic debris. A few times a year, we empty the pond to change the water. After a few years, I guess I’ll have to clean the tank by hand. Or not! After 20 years, as was the case with the first generation, we had to replace the cork which rotted, but the wall on which it is glued survived all this time, as well as the basin and the piping.
In short, once the wall is built, it’s a lot less work than having indoor plants that have to be watered almost weekly or risk perishing.
Indoor plants for laidback gardeners, no less!
Always in Evolution
I’m telling you about it today because I’m often asked the question, “How is Larry’s green wall doing?” So I’ll keep you posted on its evolution over the years. Because it’s constantly changing. Plants grow. Some will eventually overtake others. There’s usually one plant or another that’s blooming (right now, it’s an orchid), while others die, unable to adapt.
A Game of Identification
One of the projects my father and I had was to identify the plants on the wall. Unfortunately, we ran out of time and now I find myself with this wall covered with plants whose names I’m not sure of. Of course, I know enough of them to, with great difficulty, manage to identify them all, but where’s the fun in that? Today, I’m offering to help me identify all these plants by playing Larry’s green wall identification game!
I counted 69 distinct plants, but I probably missed a few. The slideshow below contains a close-up of each one. They are numbered so you can leave your answers in the comments. Please try to be as specific as possible as there are some rare plants in the mix. I’ll update the slide show with the names of the plants later.
Have fun and thanks for your help!