The Cliff Garden

Gabion cages, typically used to retain large volumes of soil, are cleverly repurposed in this one-of-a-kind cliff garden that doubles as a low-maintenance, permanent, and beautiful art installation. Through extensive research, modelling, testing with different plant species and materials, and thinking outside the box, a new type of planting strategy was created: the cliff garden. Each gabion is lined with natural stone paving stones, selected for the stone type to ensure the soil pH remains stable. The void inside the gabion is then filled with a custom "cliff soil" mixture containing gravel and peat to emulate cliff ecosystem growing conditions. Plants were careful selected through researching native Ontario plants found in cliff ecosystems along the Niagara Escarpment. Only species that were hardy, required minimal soil volume and watering, and could grow on a vertical surface with strong root systems were chosen to ensure their growing success. The seedlings were hand-planted into the cliff mix soil, with the roots protected inside the natural stone 'lining' and the vegetation on the outside. The plants included select poplar, pine, ferns, and flowering species. 

Install: Ecoman