I grew up on a small organic farm and some of my fondest memories took place in our grape vineyard.  We spent a lot of time weeding, tying the vines, lugging pruned vines to the wienie-roast pile (a very special annual event!) and of course...picking those luscious, organic clusters from the vines and popping fresh Concord and Fredonia grapes out of their skins onto our hungry tongues.  And of course, spitting the seeds in our continual seed spitting contests!  Siblings do things like that!

But, today I discovered I don't have to wait for a plot of land to revisit my childhood fantasy to have a grape arbor... I can grow grapes in containers!

Usually, grapes grown in containers are grown only for the beauty of their foliage and the enjoyment of watching them climb a trellis; they won't bear fruit. Although some varieties of grapes self-pollinate, blossoms need the help of wind or bees to produce fruit.

Still, a trellised grapevine can be a lovely focal point for your container garden. Whether planted or potted, growing a grapevine in full sun is probably the most important requirement for growing grapes. Gardening- Guides.com

Well...maybe there won't be any seed spitting contests...but the beauty of the grape leaves can  grace my veranda high in the sky!

Simply speaking, a green roof is a living roof. While green roof design has its roots in ancient civilizations (think hanging gardens of Babylon), as American cities have become more concerned about managing quantities of stormwater runoff, air quality, and building heat transfer, large modern green roofs have been appearing on commercial properties across the country. Now, FLOWER ot the PEOPLE, Inc. has green roof solutions specifically designed for Southern California private residences. Here the Beverly Hills green roof at Greystone Manor Estate is still growing strong more than two years after its installation. Succulent-covered roofs, like the one at Greystone and the green roofs pictured here, even provide a fire-retarding alternative to traditional shake or stone roofs.

A living roof provides superior energy efficiency for any building (saving on energy costs), extends the life of the roof membrane, is beautiful to look at, provides the local environment with beneficial air-cleaning, cooling and storm water reduction, and promotes greater biodiversity.

Green Roof Section View

1 roof flashing

2 EPDM waterproof membrane

3 root barrier

4 drainage mat

5 "L" sheet metal edge

6 1/2" pea gravel

7 nonwoven separation fabric

8 planting media

9 plants

10 gutter (optional)

It's delightful to discover a thriving treasure-- whether it is a garden or a business!  Flower to the People is such a treasure right in my own community!  Visit their website for a delightful array of garden designs that bring nature and sustainable gardening solutions to the urban landscape.  Their "Exterior Design Portfolio" in particular is expansive and a bloomin' delight!

Flower to the People is located in West Los Angeles, CA at:

11409 Charnock Rd., Los Angeles, CA 90066

FLOWER to the PEOPLE is a sustainable exterior design and outdoor lifestyle firm. Their residential and commercial clients rely on them to create unique environmentally-friendly exterior spaces that suit their contemporary lifestyles.

Containers are...and aren't... natural growing mediums for plants.  That's a puzzling way to look at containers, but in nature, you find small containers such as a tree growing in a little pouch of soil on the side of a cliff, and you find watersheds which are really huge containers snuggled into the subsurface rocks of the earth's very infrastructure.

So...let's talk containers on a human scale.

Pots on a porch are the simplest form of container gardening.  Then come larger potted trees indoors.  And porch boxes to decorate Mediterranean windows and railings.  And even larger concrete pots that are lavish planters for corporate entryways and shopping centers.  And indoor gardens infused with water gardens and even waterfalls.

Containers are practical ways to bring living plants up and close to where we spend our time.  And I'm assuming you've already heard that Americans spend as much as 95% of their time indoors...

Customized Container Gardens

A new trend in landscaping is to plant customized containers in their final location.  Add professional skills to create professional results -- and reduce the amount of transportation and injury to plants as they are moved from distant growers to retailers to final destination landscapes.

Just plant them in place.  What a novel idea! 

The novelty is really that local nurseries can grow these pre-designed pots in their well-tended facilities and then move them in one piece, with specialized lifting equipment, of course, to their home without any transplanting, trimming or damage from poor care.

Container Gardening for Scale

A hanging basked just doesn't provide the scale necessary for today's larger buildings.  Whether the third story loft apartment or the three story office building...or towering entryway to a MacMansion, larger plantings fit better. 

Environmental Impact of Container Gardens

LARGER CONTAINTERS:  A potential benefit of larger plantings is that larger, more mature plants also provide more greenhouse gas and clim ate change benefits.  Mature trees provide more air filtration than saplings, so the larger the container and the longer-lived the trees and shrubs, the "greener" they can be.

Larger containers also hold moisture better than small containers.  Less exposure to air reduces evaporation.  Mulching containers with decorative rocks, bark or other natural materials can also reduce water use. 

SPECIES SELECTION:  Some species of plants provide more air filtation and less water use than others. And desert plants such as cacti also require less water use.

RECYCLED MATERIAL:  The containers  themselves can be manufactured with recycled  content:  crushed concrete, rubber tires, recycled glass, etc. can be mixed into the container materials to use some of the landfill materials that cause problems in the wider community.

 Waste is the largest contributor to climate change -- be it wasted construction debris (C&D), used tires, wasted green materials that are put into landfills instead of composted back into the soil...or wasted water.

Many green solutions provide multiple benefits in this complex, interwoven world of ours.  Recycled content is one of those multi-benefit solutions...and large container gardens are a perfect application to not only use recycled materials in a beautiful way, but use them to grow environmentally hard-working plants! 



 

The Los Angeles City Council has approved plans for a green roof to be incorporated in a new neighborhood city hall. Chicago has a highly regarded program to promote green roofs on public buildings.

The American architect William McDonough, who is a champion of green roofs, has been commissioned to design several large urban developments in China.

What are "green roofs"?