Vertical garden takes festival to new heights

Living art: An artist's impression of the living wall that will be a feature of this year's rhododendron festival.

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The largest living wall of plants created in New Zealand will open this year's Taranaki Rhododendron and Garden Festival.

The seven-metre high vertical garden is the festival's landscape design installation and will be formed on the outside of the Taranaki Arts Festival office in New Plymouth by Tracey Peryman of Vertical Plantscapes.

"Five mostly native species of plants will be used to create an image of Mt Taranaki on the building's facade," Ms Peryman said of the design.

"With its own irrigation system, this will be a garden that can last indefinitely and will keep improving over time as the plants grow."

Ms Peryman's design ties the living wall directly in with the region and she has focused on local and native planting including, coprosma harewa, selliera radicans, carex, and green and black mondo grasses.

Festival manager Lisa Haskell says vertical gardens are a novelty in New Zealand and this will be the largest one created in the country.

"Every festival the landscape design installation takes a unique approach," she said. "As well as looking incredible, this year's vertical garden on the exterior wall will play an environmental role."

The garden will reduce heat gain for the building in the summer and filter rain water before it runs off into the underground stormwater drains.

She said Taft was hoping the garden would stay up until after Womad in March next year.

Festival associate Lisa Ekdahl says vertical gardens are popular overseas and the phenomenon is just beginning to hit New Zealand.

"They are meant to be a permanent fixture and are particularly popular within large cities that don't have a lot of green areas," Ms Ekdahl said.

To open the Taranaki Rhododendron and Garden Festival, the vertical garden will be launched at a free, public event, at the Taft office building at 5.30pm on October 28.

The 10-day festival, running from October 29 to November 7, will open the gates to nearly 50 private and public gardens, including nine new properties.

- © Fairfax NZ News