A vertical garden, also known as a green wall, is a wall, either free-standing or part of a building, that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and, in some cases, soil or an inorganic growing medium. The concept of the green wall dates back to 600 BC with the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Continue reading to see more.

The modern green wall with integrated hydroponics was invented by Stanley Hart White at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1931-38. White holds the first known patent for a green wall, or vertical garden, conceptualizing this new garden type as a solution to the problem of modern garden design. More recently, the larger green walls concept has been utilized with innovative hydroponics technology. The vegetation for a green facade is always attached on outside walls; with living walls this is also usually the case, although some living walls can also be green walls for interior use.

For living walls there are many methods including attaching to the air return of the building to help with air filtration. They are also referred to as living walls, biowalls, vertical gardens or more scientifically VCWV (vertical vegetated complex walls).

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