Bringing nature to the city

An external ‘green wall’ has been installed at Victoria University of Wellington, supporting a drive to bring nature in to Wellington City.

27106_REC003 (3)The vertical garden has been installed at Victoria’s Kelburn Campus in partnership with Wellington City Council, for students, staff and those living and working around the University to enjoy.

It is the first external green wall to be installed in Wellington and Professor Charles Daugherty, Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Research) at Victoria, hopes it will inspire other initiatives that build urban-nature connections in the city.

“Green walls are a growing trend around the world and with a long history of being an environmental leader, Victoria University is proud to be the first in Wellington to be implementing this initiative.”

The garden, located on the exterior of the MacLaurin building opposite Kelburn Parade, includes a range of native plants, grasses and ferns, chosen because of their hardy nature and tolerance to Wellington conditions.

The engineered system comprises a series of individual rectangular modules with an in-built irrigation system. Over the next few months, as the plants grow, the modules will be covered in greenery.

Pre-planted in the modules at Nikau Palmatum’s yard in Kaiwharawhara, the plants began to take root. They were then gradually moved from a horizontal to a vertical position over a three-month period, to get them used to their new environment.

Wellington City Council has funded the installation as part of its Our Living City programme to connect Wellingtonians with nature. Victoria University has committed to maintaining the wall for the next five years.

“The green wall project is just one part of Victoria’s commitment to raising the profile of environmental issues across the whole University, and we’re pleased to be working on this project with Wellington City Council,” says Professor Daugherty.

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