The young guests were instructed on proper planting techniques and encouraged to cultivate their green-thumb by being temporary caregivers to each of their plants until the store’s opening in March 2017. Upon launch, Robinsons will welcome these plants and these mini botanists again to add their nurtured greens to live as part of the store’s Eco environment.

This passionate botanist can talk for hours about plants and getting to know the details of his creation from the man himself is definitely a great experience for any Eco-conscious plant lover! This award winner botanist has worked with many renowned architects and created more 250 vertical gardens across the globe!

Patrick’s Candid Photo

You could imagine how rejoicing it was when this legend told me the tiny sustainable details of his creation like he re-uses the felt for vertical gardens and he has kept samples of felts since 2-3 decades to see the effect of time on them! Thanks to great minds like him, we can enjoy urban gardens in developed cities! It was fascinating to hear him talk about why there has to be a little overflow of water on vertical gardens to aid even growth of plants and how he selects diffident species not just based on aesthetics but depending on all other parameters. When I inquired if his outdoor vertical gardens can withstand sandstorms in the region, he thought for a second and said, the sandstorm won’t harm but rather help green walls!

It was interesting to know that vertical gardens are difficult to maintain in a colder climate than other weather extremes like our region. While sharing his experience from around world Patrick told, freezing of plants make it more difficult to maintain the vertical garden system in cold climate like New York.

These water efficient vertical walls reuse the overflow water. During the discussion, this plant guru hurriedly confirmed with project architect sitting right across on dinner table if the runoff water from the vertical garden will be re-used for irrigation of other landscape! Like a very enthusiastic school girl, I couldn’t stop asking a question to this living encyclopedia and he was more than happy to answer all my queries! I have read somewhere that great people are humble, but this time I was experiencing that!

Patrick Blanc on KAFD Conference Hall, Riyadh

When I asked would you like to use local species (species from desert and mangroves) in your vertical garden his answer was very enlightening! Patrick mentioned worldwide it is difficult to find local species, people don’t have proper nurseries of local species where you can go and pick up a sample and study it! Everywhere you go, they are keeping species from somewhere else in nurseries but not the local species. To my surprise, he has great knowledge about desert species and he said he would love to make a vertical garden with those species. Rather he has already designed a vertical garden in Saudi Arabia with local species! Through this project, he has proved how we can incorporate local species in urban landscaping without compromising aesthetics, which will help us save water and enhance local habitat. These are very important elements of sustainable development! If you ask me, Patrick’s KAFD conference hall project in Riyadh is a great example for this region to follow his footsteps for more sustainable landscaping and vertical gardens!

From Paris to Bangkok, from New York to Singapore Patrick has created many vertical gardens and invited nature in an urban setting to flourish on the walls of museums, shopping malls, private homes, big hotels, and skyscrapers. For the love of the plants and natural habitats, he visited many jungles around the world. In 2009, he even discovered a new species of begonia growing on rocks by a waterfall on the island of Palawan, Philippines. The species was named ‘Begonia blancii’ in his honor in 2011.

Patrick Blanc, the brain of a scientist and heart of an artist is a great inspiration for generations to come! I can not thank Robinsons team more who invited me to spend a great evening with this legend! I consider myself very fortunate not just because I could learn so many details of Vertical Gardening from its passionate inventor (can I find a better teacher anywhere on the earth?),  but I could also know this lovely human being behind the great legend, who can even sing classic Indian movie songs and insisted on posing with me with the flowers in hand to match our clothes!

Me with Patrick Blanc

I highly recommend a visit to Robinson store, you can get great products at Robinson store, but mainly to have a look at amazing vertical gardens by Patrick Blanc.

To know more about Patrick Blanc’s work visit his website here. His book, ‘The Vertical Garden, from nature to city’ is a great coffee table book filled with lush green pages ideal for any plant lovers or urban development professional.

Inspired by Patrick Blanc, I attempted to make a DIY living wall on the budget for my home, click here to read about it. And don’t forget to join our tribe here!