BUFFALO GROVE, IL--(Marketwire - July 20, 2010) - Longwood Gardens, one of the world's great gardens located in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, has engaged Bancroft Construction and Ambius, www.ambius.com, the leading provider of interior landscaping solutions, to create the largest green wall in North America as part of Longwood Gardens' new East Conservatory Plaza. The East Conservatory Plaza, which will open to the public on October 9th 2010, was designed by UK Landscape Architect Kim Wilkie in association with Wells Appel of Philadelphia, PA, and will feature a terraced lawn, lush new plantings and the largest indoor green wall in North America. This colossal vertical garden will feature a panel wall system across a green wall surface area of 3,590 square feet and include more than 25 species of plants.
A green wall, which is also referred to as a living wall or vertical garden, is a wall that is free standing or part of a building that is partially or completely covered with a vegetation facade.
"The East Conservatory Plaza is embracing innovative landscape design, which captures the very essence of Longwood Gardens," said Longwood Gardens Director Paul Redman. "The size and beauty of the green wall will amaze our guests as well as advance our continuing commitment to sound environmental practices."
"Longwood Gardens' vertical green wall will feature over 47,000 plants," said Denise Eichmann, Ambius Project Development North America Senior Project Manager. "The majority of the featured plants are fern varieties including the evergreen Holly Fern, the versatile and showy Rabbit's Foot Fern, the Button Fern featuring arching, dark-colored stalks, the Asparagus Fern with its feathery arching stems, the delicate and lacy Maidenhair Fern, the leafy Ladder Brake Fern and the Dallas Fern which features a compact round globe with fronds."
Currently the largest green wall in North America is the 2,380 sf living wall at Pittsburgh's PNC Bank. Two other major green walls installed by GSky Plant Systems, Inc, a leading provider of green wall systems based in Vancouver, Canada are at the Vancouver International Airport (2,107 sf) and at Vancouver's Whole Foods (2,001 sf) store. "After this is installed, Longwood Gardens' green wall will be the largest in North America by a wide margin, as it will be 1,210 sf larger than the PNC Bank wall," said Chad Sichello, President of GSky Plant Systems, Inc., the manufacturer of Longwood Gardens' panel-based green wall initiative.
The plants for this wall were contract grown for Ambius into the wall panels at Michael's Nursery in South Florida and will be shipped in climate-controlled trucks to Philadelphia at the end of August for installation into the wall by Ambius. The plants have been growing at the nursery since February 2010.
Ambius also worked with Longwood Gardens in 2005 on the East Conservatory project.
About Ambius
Ambius offers a full spectrum of services to enhance the interior space for the hospitality, healthcare, retail, and commercial industries. Services include ambient scenting, interior landscaping, holiday décor, decorative wall art and fresh fruit and flower deliveries to businesses in 18 countries in Europe, North America, South Africa and the Asia-Pacific region. Ambius is a division of Rentokil Initial plc (
Longwood Gardens
In 1906, industrialist Pierre S. du Pont (1870-1954) purchased a small farm near Kennett Square, PA, to save a collection of historic trees from being sold for lumber. Throughout his life, Mr. du Pont indulged his passion for gardening, turning his farm into a magnificent horticultural showplace. Today, Longwood Gardens is one of the world's great horticultural displays, encompassing 1,077 acres of gardens, woodlands, meadows, fountains, a 10,010-pipe Aeolian organ and a 4.5-acre conservatory. Longwood continues the legacy of Mr. du Pont, inspiring people through excellence in garden design, horticulture, education and the arts. For more information, visit www.longwoodgardens.org.
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Media Contact:
Nancy Tamosaitis-Thompson
Vorticom, Inc.
212.532.2208
