Out & About - Woolly Pockets

Containers are going soft, like these Woolly Pockets made of mostly recycled plastic. They're hanging along a sidewalk railing outside of the restaurant  Anchovies and Olives on 15th Avenue just north of Madison. This style is called "islands", they also come in wall systems, and can be used indoors and out (there's more rubber lining inside the pockets to be used indoors).

 

I appreciate that these are convenient, light weight, drain well and we probably wouldn't have any plants along this very urban sidewalk if it wasn't for the ease of Woolly Pockets. Still, don't they look a little slug-like? Here's a close up...Sedum, hebes, strawberries and heather all seem to be thriving...

 

I guess they open all kinds of possibilities for vertical walls and living screens....check out the video on Woolly Pockets website. Or you can see for yourself, for they're sold right next door at a very cool little urban plant store called Envy - 1546 15th Ave., 588-2498.

Comments

[Loree / danger garden]

Funny I was just in Seattle last weekend and saw these. I wasn't sure if I liked it.

[Riz Reyes]

These caught my eye when I was walking around the hill and wasn't sure if I liked them or not. I guess with proper plant selection you can get away the these, but "bagged" plantings look like litter bags that people can put all sorts of things in. I would assume that these would dry out very quickly and how does watering work without creating too much of a mess. Perhaps a drip system? These also look troublesome when it comes to growth and maintenance of the plantings.

[valerie Easton]

Hi Riz,
I agree re the visuals - why are black, lumpy, leaky bags a good thing? On the other hand, there probably wouldn't be any flowers along the sidewalk without the ease and lightweight of these planters....so I have mixed feelings about them too....Used on a wall they pretty much disappear beneath the foliage, not so much along the railings...