Off the wall gardening

My friend Julie rents a lower duplex, with a large back balcony and a small garden plot. She tends to do more "kitchen gardening" on her balcony in boxes and pots, but this year she was inspired by something she saw at a restaurant terrace involving a vertical garden built into a wooden palate, with a backing and earth inside, with plants growing through the slats. It was both attractive and practical if you have limited space. She and her kids came over and raided some of my basil and tomatoes that did not make it into the garden. She explained to me on the phone what this thing looks like and invited me over to see. Unfortunately, as per my last post, I have been a bit busy, so she sent me a photo of what it looked like.

This is just after she planted everything so it looks a bit wilted. I plan to look in on what it is doing later this summer and will post some more.

I was intrigued by this idea and did a web search and found this interesting and beautiful site on what people have done with variation on this wall garden idea. It is worth checking out:

http://bluestemnursery.blogspot.ca/2011/01/living-walls-or-vertical-gardens.html