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Wallflowerᵀᴹ Urban Garden designed by Haldane Martin, is a modular planter system that is designed to enable city dwellers to grow veggies and other plants on vertical walls - thereby greening the concrete jungle!

Short Blurb The Wallflowerᵀᴹ Urban Garden designed by Haldane Martin, is a modular planter system that has been designed to enable city dwellers to grow their own organic vegetables and other plants on vertical walls where ground space is limited. Thereby making a real contribution to the greening of the concrete jungle! The fractal, honeycomb pattern is made up of three sizes of wall mounted containers that integrates metal trellising and a branching, water efficient drip irrigation system. The planters are made from recycled roto-moulded polyethylene plastic and the mounting hardware is made from recycled stainless steel.

Long Blurb The seed for Wallflower was planted 4 years ago, when I came across the Seoul Commune 2026 project. I was inspired by this architectural vision for high density, sustainable living where we bring nature and farming back into the urban environment. For the actual design, I have biomimicked the space efficient packing array of bees honeycomb to create nested niches to hold soil and plants. I have also biomimicked the water and nutrient distribution network of plant leaf and branching patterns for the design of the irrigation network.

The modular system is made up of 3 different sized planters, creating a hexagonal, fractal pattern that climbs up vertical surfaces. Each of the planters is made from recycled, rotation moulded, UV stable, High Density Polyethylene and are wall mounted with recycled stainless steel brackets. A drip irrigation system is mounted onto the brackets behind the planters, creating a branching network of irrigation pipes that runs up the wall. Feeder pipes enter the planters from behind, just below the soil surface and water the plants with water efficient, self-regulating, dripper valves. A liquid, organic, nutrient delivery system can also be integrated into the irrigation system. The planters have drainage holes positioned so that excess water draining from one planter drips into the planters below, minimizing water loss. A modular tripod trellis system enables climbing plants such as beans, tomatoes or creepers to spread out beyond the planters.

Each of the 3 sizes of planters has been specifically designed for the differing soil depth requirements of various vegetables: Large planters are for root vegetables, for example Carrots. Medium planters are for fruits for example Tomatoes. Small planters are for leaf vegetables for example Lettuce. Other plants such as creepers or succulents can also be grown in Wallflower. As I would really love to see Wallflowers climbing up buildings all over the world, the next step in the process is to tool up for large scale production. This entails making three rotational moulds for the planters. Tooling up is relatively expensive! So i'm hoping that YOU and Kickstarter can help to make this project a reality and thereby contribute towards a healthier, greener, urban environment and personal lifestyle.

ZA Patent Application 2011/01414

Kickstarter.com Haldane Martin is funding the tooling up for the project using Kickstarter.com, an innovative crowd funding platform for creatives. Make a difference by pledging your support towards this green project in return for exciting rewards. Visit www.kickstarter.com/projects/607567783/wallflower-urban-g....

Design Indaba Expo (prototype launch) Cape Town International Convention Centre, 25 – 27 February, Salon Privé & Stand 601

Haldane Martin Bio Haldane Martin is a contemporary furniture and product designer / maker based in Cape Town, South Africa. He qualified as an Industrial Designer in 1992. His designs have won numerous awards, the most recent being the Elle Decor, Designer Of The Year 2010, Real Simple SA – Green Innovation Award (Design) 2008, and the prestigious SABS DISA award for Zulu Mama 2007. The furniture designs have been exhibited in Madrid, London, Paris, New York, Copenhagen, Oslo, Helsinki, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. They have also been featured extensively in both local press and international design publications. Haldane is also a regular guest speaker at design conferences and educational institutions. He also offers sought-after internship positions to promising young designers.