Innovative Irrigation

This vertical garden caught my eye at Persimmon Place, which is a new shopping center that opened in 2015. It is located close to the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station, and across the street from the Hacienda Crossings center.

Vertical garden at Persimmon Place in Dublin, CA

Several store fronts, including HomeGoods, sport substantial trellises on which containers are mounted. A drip irrigation system waters the plants, using Dublin’s gray water system. This is a really innovative idea, and quite attractive.

Containers are mounted on the trellis

I wonder how well the container plants will do in the hot, inland climate, and how much maintenance the drip irrigation system will require (speaking as one who periodically replaces emitters in my own drip system). The containers provide an attractive green cover, while vines start growing from below. I’ll check on progress periodically, and let you know how sustainable this hanging garden idea is.

Gray water is delivered to containers via drip irrigation

Trellis Spotting in Oakland

Back in the San Francisco Bay Area, I found a great trellis at the recently-constructed Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Oakland. From the street, the large-scale trellis provides an attractive screen for the parking garage. It is fabricated with heavy industrial wire, and provides a frame for climbing plants.

Backside of a trellis in Oakland

I was intrigued to study the double-wire construction and the drip-irrigated planting boxes from the parking-garage side.

Double-wire trellis provides a sturdy frame

This is a great idea, and helps soften and humanize a very busy section of Oakland, both from the street and from the parking garage (as you walk to or return from the doctor or lab). It may help relieve stress on both sides of the trellis. I have reported on Kaiser before, and applaud their innovative landscaping (See Kaiser Meditation Garden in Pleasanton).

Soil Compaction - Step Four

Back to my soil recovery project for an update. Recall in Soil Compaction Recovery - Step 3, my cover crop was fully developed. Soon after that report, I cut down the cover using a machete; and turned under the soil to break it up and incorporate the roots and plant material. As an experiment I left a corner section unturned, with the idea of planting seeds in the soil without disturbing it. I have read that some farmers are using this technique on a large scale to help preserve soil.

The soil is prepared.

In July I planted several varieties of beans and peas in this small 10 x 10 foot plot. I fertilized with organic Alaska fish fertilizer, laid out my rows, and planted seven types of seed. I was pleased at how friable and tillable the soil was after just one cover crop. Per usual, I had a few experiments going, including: (1) using seeds for 2012, (2) using seeds from 2004, (3) using seeds from a variety of growers (Burpee, Ferry-Morse, Cornucopia, Seeds of Change, and NK Lawn and Garden), and (4) using Heirloom seeds that I harvested from my bean crop last year.

Planting lines.

I expanded my drip system to the new plot, by adding a second line to my hose system, and and a switch between the two lines. Eventually I plan to install a more permanent, and automated, drip system, but am content for now to learn all I can about drip systems and how they work.

Second drip line added.

I also reused my bamboo trellis from last year - moving it out of the raised bed, and installing it in my recovery plot for the bean and peas. The trellis is looking a little shoddy, but the bamboo, plastic cinches, and webbing appeared strong enough to handle another season.

Repurposed bamboo trellis.

Raised Bed with a Trellis

Here is a raised bed and trellis configuration that I spotted at a mall in Walnut Creek. The raised beds are large clay containers, and the trellis is mounted directly on the wall, using a cable and rod style system that is very sleek and modern. The picture was taken in January, before the plantings have grown and spread, so it is easy to see the details of its configuration.

The cable and rod style trellis comes in various
styles, and works well with the raised beds.

This would be an easy design for the home garden. Various styles of cable and rod trellis systems are available on the internet.

Mall Trellis

Back in the San Francisco Bay Area, I spotted this mall trellis out in Walnut Creek. It is a sturdy, lattice trellis mounted on an exterior wall. The picture is taken in January, before the plantings have grown and spread. The trellis should easily bear the weight of the plantings when they do.

Ironically, the plantings start on the trellis, then hug the wall.

 This would be an easy design for the home garden – a lattice mounted away from the outer wall.

Wall Trellises

I have recently been inspired by industrial wall trellises used to decorate businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area. In a way, this is a variation on green roofs, but with a vertical orientation rather than horizontal. In Emeryville, West Elm has a large wall trellis, in addition to their green roof. The trellis is made of an industrial strength wire mesh.

In Dublin, a utilitarian structure for housing trash and recycle containers is painted an attractive color, with a trellis attached for contrasting bougainvillea plants. The trellis is made of parallel strands of wire attached to the wall with eye screws.

Trellises are typically mounted away from the wall, so that vines or plants cling to the trellis, and not the wall. This avoids damage to the wall. Trellises can be purchased and mounted, or they can be constructed in place. A trellis would be a beautiful addition to a private garden.