With the warm weather in full force, I've been spending all my free time in the garden. And when it's too dark to work outside, I'm often scouring gardening books, magazines, and websites for inspiration. A good thing, since it led me to discover the most ingenious find. Move over vertical gardening, it's time to make room for the string garden!
Found via Urban Garden, these hanging gardens are an art installation type project by Fedor. Using string, moss, grass, and bowls or a glass reservoir - plants are transformed into suspended living works of art that are a variation of the Japanese botanical style, kokedma. The string gardener says his intention is for the plants to “find their balance” as they grow and become heavy.
As an urban gardener with limited space, I'm immediately drawn into this mesmerizing world; left to dream up ways to incorporate it into my own garden. There is often a lack of ground space in small gardens, but by utilizing the area above, you open up so many more possibilities. But it isn't without drawbacks. First, I would have to come up with a solution to deal with the excessive watering that the majority of the plants are said to need. I personally love the fact that gardening comes in many forms and is constantly being reinvented. And while the photos on the String Gardens website are stunning, I would still love to view this person.
(Images: stringgarden.com)
100 DIY Ideas for the 3-Day Weekend
Danielle's Charming, Classic Walk-Up
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
White Enamel Flatwa...
How To Cook Fluffy, Tasty Quinoa
Perfect Summer Cocktail Recipe: Honey Bourbon Lemonade
I am definitely open to new and creative ideas, but this might be a little too surreal for even me.
So cool, and yet I'm not prepared to try this out. I can see these getting super dry, super quickly. and/or the plants running out of room to grow.
Fun from another planet. Not sure if I'd do it but I always appreciate creativity, quirkiness and a willingness to go where others haven't gone before. Right on, String Gardener.
I bet you could rig up a system of drip irrigation for these, with thin and/or clear plastic tubes that would blend in with the strings. I think these are gorgeous!
safarikate - the drip irrigation system is brilliant! & agreed - gorgeous invention!
now that i think of it, i remember seeing air plants in little shells somewhere on a blog - they also were hanging but the plus would be they would not require watering! for a less messy hanging garden experience.
I love the idea but honestly I wonder how long the plants stay happy? Those are awfully small containers for their roots. Like Beta fish bowls for plants...
Craftscafeonetsy, air plants do require watering. Fairly frequently, in fact. They'll survive without being watered for a while but they aren't happy about it. I've killed several by ignoring them for too lon.
That said, they would be relatively easy to do this with, especially if you put them on hooks for easy removal. I really like this idea, I'll have to see if I can make it work.
erm, it's actually caled kokedAma (koke=moss, dama=ball)
and most every florist in japan has these for sale.
And this is how you water it: Fill a bowl with water to cover the top of the ball. Place the ball in the water and let soak for 2-3 minutes. Remove the ball and gently squeeze the ball to allow the water to soak into the center. This should be an ample watering for several days.
I just love this look! (It reminds me of the floating mountains in the Avatar film!!!).
These are fantastic, if only for the inspiration. The nasturtiums are such a nice punch of color.
Another variation I saw recently was in a florist's window in Frankfurt, Germany. They had wrapped the base of hyacinth bulbs with sphagnum moss and then suspended them in the window. The tightly wrapped and water-misted moss provided just enough moisture for the bulbs to blossom while they were suspended in mid-air.
Love this!
This is so gorgeous. Heaven must look like that.
Can this be done with all kinds of plants?
I love this, and am tempted to give it a shot. Any excuse to hang plants from the ceiling! If you like these, check out http://www.woollypocket.com/
I made about 15 of these a year ago for a show I was doing... after the show I brought them home and kept them in the house. They lasted about 6 months before they all died- prob not enough root room or something... but they were beautiful while they lasted!
A suggestion for watering... use the 1/4" irrigation tubing for ground and box planters . You could string it from plant to plant the same way it's used at ground level.