A lush living wall.

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Time called the "living wall" one of the 50 best inventions of 2009. Developed by a French botanist named Patrick Blanc, living walls come in all shapes and sizes. They can cover entire facades of skyscrapers with greenery or they can grace interior apartment walls. Living walls are lush, verdant mosaics made of live plants in a high-tech garden plot that is not restricted by the constraints of soil or gravity.

called the "living wall" one of the 50 best inventions of 2009. Developed by a French botanist named Patrick Blanc, living walls come in all shapes and sizes. They can cover entire facades of skyscrapers with greenery or they can grace interior apartment walls. Living walls are lush, verdant mosaics made of live plants in a high-tech garden plot that is not restricted by the constraints of soil or gravity.

They are known to start conversations.

“People don’t think it’s real,” says Daisuke Miura of the two-story living wall in the entry at Numero, a spa in Little Italy. The rectangle of tropical plant life extends from floor to ceiling.

But even on a smaller scale, a living wall can give new meaning to the term ‘garden apartment,’ says Pari Sanati of Kearny Mesa’s Greenscaped Buildings.

“Living walls and green roofs,” she says, “are part of the new garden technology.” Sanati says living walls are an ideal means of getting some greenery into cramped urban dwellings or yard-less apartments. “There is no longer an excuse not to have a garden.”

There are other living wall benefits. While an admirer fawns over the leaves and textures and shades of green, or at the sheer novelty of having the enchanted garden framed and mounted on one’s wall, the plants themselves are hard at work.

The possibilities for living walls are endless.

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“For decades,” says Sanati, “they’ve talked about the benefits of the indoor health created by living plants.” But, she says, there are mental health benefits as well. “Looking at a living wall boosts your mood. People like to bring the natural aspect inside and grow things.”

“Mine acts as a sound barrier,” says Chad Anglin, co-owner of Pigment in North Park, where a large living wall hangs behind the customer service counter.

“It definitely knocks down the noise pollution I get from the bar next door,” he says, “and the plants give off fresh oxygen.”

Anglin installs and maintains living walls in collaboration with a local botanist and a contractor. A large example can weigh upward of 800 pounds or more, and requires that plumbing and drainage be installed. It takes, he says, six to 12 weeks of testing in the greenhouse to ensure that the plants will grow. A living wall is not inexpensive. But, he says the positive benefits outweigh the cost.

“A living wall is both beautiful, and it eliminates toxins in your home.” he says of his shop, located on a busy urban street. “Healthwise, my store probably has some of the cleanest air around.”

There is also a version called the "edible wall" in which, you guessed it, vegetables can be encouraged to sprout from the vertical landscape. Given light and water, the possibilities are endless. A living wall for a headboard? There’s the beneficial air, for one thing. And the idea of relaxing on a cushy wall of ferns while reading the news on your iPad is no Little Shop of Horrors.