Today is National Tree Day, a community event designed to co-ordinate tree-planting programmes across Australia and raise awareness of the important role trees have in our environment.

In celebration of this event and as part of the Melbourne Design Festival (who sponsored the Melbourne Open House), the Melbourne Central Shopping Centre have commissioned famous French artist/botanist Patrick Blanc to create a Mur Végétale or “wall of plants” in Melbourne.

Patrick Blanc’s “Le Mur Végétale” at Melbourne Central.

Measuring a massive 40 square metres, this amazing vertical garden features a range of ferns and tropical species including African Violets (Saintpaulia) and bromeliads. The garden is mounted on the wall beside the historic Coop’s Shot Tower building under the huge glass dome at Melbourne Central.

Whilst Le Mur Végétale would be able to utilise some of the natural light in the shopping centre for photosynthesis, supplementary lighting has been provided to permit better plant growth and to highlight the artwork.

Living plants clean the air at Melbourne Central.

I really enjoy art like this. It’s detailed, its unique, it’s attractive and it’s eye-catching.

As I walked past the work today, I noticed many shoppers were stopping to admire Blanc’s living artpiece, which surely must have taken months of planning and execution.

Shoppers enjoying “Le Mur Végétale” at Melbourne Central.

Blanc has become famous the world over for his elaborate vertical gardens. The botanist cum vertical landscape designer is probably best recognised for his living wall on the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris, but has completed dozens of other projects internationally.

Le Mur Végétale is a three-part system consisting of a PVC layer, felt, and metal frame, providing a soil-free self-supporting system light enough to be hung on the wall and weighing less than 30 kilograms per square metre. Cuttings, seedlings and mature plants are then added to create the living vertical garden.

In a recent lecture given at the Federation Square and reported on the MIDF blog, Blanc explained that he’s first and foremost a botanist who approaches his work from a scientific perspective rather than an aesthetic one. The positioning of plants is as much about allowing each to receive an ideal amont of light with consideration given to the requirements of each species used, before any aesthetic considerations come into play.

Looking past “Le Mur Végétale” to the historic Coop’s Shot Tower (left)
and a young woman enjoys a rest beside the vertical garden.

Whilst these gardens technically have the capacity to continue growing in perpetuum, it is unclear whether the Melbourne Central installation will be a permanent fixture or not. The MIDF blog claims that the fixture will be permanent and I do hope they’re correct.

If true, there would certainly be a lot of ongoing work required to maintain this garden over an extended period, ensuring the survival and/or replacement of all the specimen plants periodically, and ensuring that the plants are fertilised sufficiently.

That said, Blanc’s artwork brings considerable environmental benefits. Aside from carbon assimilation, all of the water used in Le Mur Végétale is routinely recycled, having been sourced from the centre’s airconditioning units.

“Le Mur Végétale” is located adjacent to the historic Coop’s Shot Tower.

Regardless of the longevity of this particular work, it’s been great to see one of Blanc’s amazing vertical gardens here in Melbourne. It’s certainly added a unique talking point to the Melbourne Central Shopping Centre.