PlantTherapy Look!: The Green Screen at the NY Horticultural Society

The 'Green Screen' at the HSNY is a series of galvanized metal planters that run in front of the windows, enabling them to have horizontal 'display strips' for their collection of plants. Spreading them out in this fashion allows them to display many plants across their windows and still allow light to flow through.

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The design was conceived by Marpillero Pollak Architects, and the variety of vibrant greens and interesting plant shapes come alive when the sun shines through the windows (they are located on the 13th floor and have great southern exposure).

The planters do not have drainage, so there is a bed of pebbles underneath to help the soil dry out. Succulents seem to thrive in this setup. Other small potted plants enjoy the planters with only the pebbles and water acting as a humidity tray. The galvanized planters can be unbolted if necessary for replacement.

If I could take one of these plants home, I might choose the Begonia conchifolia 'Bulls Eye' - it is the one with the red dot where the stems and leaves meet. The red dot glows with the sun behind it!

matt at apartment therapy dot com

Comments (11)

Wow, that's beautiful! It looks easy to do at home, too .

I love that! Plants just bring a serenity to a home. I love that they are grouped together....great idea!

What a great idea! I have quite a nice collection of succulents, and yes they love a pebble tray. How are the trays suspended?

Matt,

That's really cool. I'd love to be able to duplicate the planter system.

They look like gutters? Are they attached to vertical standards that run from floor to ceiling?

I had been considering doing something similar (but with aircraft cable), but never got around to it. Now that I see how great it looks, I think I'll do it this summer... thanks!

That would look great as a mini herb garden in a kitchen window. Any DIYers want to provide a step-by-step instruction guide for those of us who would need the process spelled out for us?

Great idea!
What wonderful architectural detail in the building across the street. Wouldn't you love to fix the blind in that window!!??

Depending on the width of the window, you could probably use a regular shelving unit that is attached on either side of the window.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10103494

Then pick up the parts you need, the length of the half-round gutter and the end caps. And sealant.
http://www.atlantametal.com/halfRound.php

That gutter needs support, hence the shelves. No, I don't know how to keep them from rolling over. But look around in the home supply stores for that magical *SOMETHING* that will work.

And you would have to be careful that the weight of the plants, pots, gravel, gutter, AND WATER does not exceed the weight for the shelf. Otherwise: Can you say "Big Mess"?

Wow, that is awesome! I like how the shades are fitted into the window frame so you can still drop them if you want privacy. I have only one window (out of two in my sub-level condo) this would work with, and it's my bedroom window--seeing those blinds made me think I could actually pull this off!

gutters have gutter clips and i bet they used those. the same hardware that you would use to hang them from your house. this is a great idea. the other thing is that these are really nice gutters, not the cheap ones you get at home depot. you'd need good ones to hold the weight. any gutter company could make these for you with their extruder and probably put the end caps on for you. very nice.

Great thinking.

The shelf idea got me thinking about Ikea's galvanized garage storage system.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S09847810

The standards could be mounted on the inside of the window frame with the slots facing in. That way, the brackets would be at a 90 degree angle to support the gutter. Brackets could be sawed-off to just a few inches. Gutters seem rigid enough to avoid deflection in the middle.