Vertical gardens at Serpong

Just a short post today, after my recent blockbusters. After I returned from my wonderful weekend in the Gili Islands, I spent two days at a workshop in Serpong, about an hour's drive from Jakarta. It was an eye opener. The extent of development going on in the area is amazing. As we drove to our venue, I noticed the lovely gardens surrounding the huge shopping mall, so I ducked out in my lunch break to have a closer look. One feature I particularly loved was the use of vertical gardens on several of the buildings.

I would have loved to have the time to have a closer look to break down the plant selection a little. The strappy-leafed plant to the left of the doorway looks a little like a type of Walking Iris Neomarica.

How I would love to see these lush walls around my local shopping mall back home in Brisbane. I previously posted about the vertical garden feature in Brisbane's King George Square here,  but that is the only one I know of in my neck of the woods.

Finally, tropical lime and orange zing, courtesy of the cannas and, once again, the gurkana jasmine.

Greening up King George Square

When Brisbane's King George Square was reopened to the public nearly two years after a $28m facelift, there was an immediate outcry over the lack of shade. The square adjoins City Hall, and what should have been a attractive public space for tourists and city workers was a  stark paved area with glaring light and soaring temperatures. The council has since set about remedying the situation, replanting trees and installing cafe-style shade umbrellas.

Today, when I ventured into King George Square for an early Christmas work lunch at Groove Train, I noticed that they have also installed a vertical garden. It's quite discreet, definitely not a centrepiece, but I thought it was very attractive, and it certainly introduces a cool, lush element to the overall design of the square.

There was a wide variety of plants incorporated into the planting: philodendrons, bromeliads, begonias, spider plants, zebrina (wandering jew), ferns, syngoniums, spathiphyllums. In fact, lots of things that I already have here, which got me thinking about the ugly fence beside the driveway and garage. But, I have plenty of projects to complete before I will even starting planning a major undertaking like that.

So, back to King George Square's vertical garden... My verdict - definitely a step in the right direction.