Inspired by kokedama: Sarah Wassell’s magical hanging gardens

These gorgeous, handmade, supremely verdant creations take hanging gardens to the next level by combining engineering innovation with real, growing plants

After spotting something similar on display at a design fair in Paris a few years ago, outdoor furniture specialist Sarah Wassell returned to her home base determined to work out how to create oversized hanging gardens herself. “My first thought was ‘Oh my gosh, what is that!?’, and I immediately wondered how we could create our own version,” she reveals.

While neither she nor her partner, Marc Fischer, have had any gardening or horticultural training, Wassell explains that they were both so taken with the idea of creating these eye-catching pieces that they were determined to see where their passion might lead them. Both sensed that what they were after were pieces of decorative art that could transform a space, elevating it from the everyday to the genuinely memorable.

Don’t miss: Studio tour: An iconic Malaysian choreographer and dancer’s Balinese-inspired haven

Above Greenery that prefers drier conditions also flourishes in hanging gardens, seen here are jade plants, elephant bush and a candelabra aloe

Above These hanging plants pair well with the stone wall

Greenery that prefers drier conditions also flourishes in hanging gardens, seen here are jade plants, elephant bush and a candelabra aloe

1 / 2

“I wanted them to be visually spectacular,” Wassell says, and indeed, the multiple versions of the hanging garden concept on display at their Cape Town showroom are just that. Rather like natural chandeliers, the gardens’ height (and heft!) instantly draw the eye upwards to them. It’s no wonder that, as Wassell says: “People often come for a furniture viewing, and fall head-over-heels for the plants.”

But making her dream a reality was, initially, not an easy task. She and Fischer consulted various experts, including an industrial engineer, a horticulturist and a specialist gardener. The interior construction of the enormous balls of soil, moss and fine string is complex. While the team works with similar materials to those used to create the single-plant hanging moss balls made popular by Japanese gardeners and known as kokedama, the immense scale of these creations poses several structural challenges. Their hanging chains must be rustproof, for example, and supported inside the ball of earth so that they don’t pull free from it despite its considerable weight.

Above Refreshingly green against this charcoal-hued exterior are hanging leafy plants, succulents and waterwise species

Above A close-up of a staghorn fern growing from the soil mixture

Refreshingly green against this charcoal-hued exterior are hanging leafy plants, succulents and waterwise species

1 / 2

Plenty of time was also spent on researching plants that would not just survive, but thrive when grown this way. Fischer stresses that in addition to the care taken to select them, meticulous and continuous care is also required for them to do well, “especially during the first few months” as they gradually become established, he explains. Plants are also selected for their varied leaf shapes and colours, and while the hanging gardens were initially conceived of within broad plant categories—including those that flourish in arid conditions, and groups of flora that hail from more tropical climes, for example—they are now usually created on a more individual basis.

In case you missed it: Home tour: A Singapore house with amazing picture windows and green views

Above Various mature species are displayed in a row

Various mature species are displayed in a row

1 / 1

As almost every hanging garden is created to order, plant selection is done in consultation with the client, and according to the particular environment in which it will be placed. It’s essential, says Fischer, that aesthetics are balanced with practicality since the gardens are living things that require continuous care once installed. From administering moisture and plant food at regular intervals to pruning and checking for diseases or pests—and dealing with these if they occur—these living creations require diligent attention once they are put in place.

Above This clever composition fills up the space with plants that grow in various directions

Above Succulents work wonderfully well in this arrangement

This clever composition fills up the space with plants that grow in various directions

1 / 2

Frequently commissioned for use in small outdoor spaces, including balconies, the gardens are also impossible to transport over long distances, as the levels of care required during the process of moving them are too complex to allow for this. Were it not for this constraint, it would not be surprising to see the couple’s magnificently lovely, botanically exuberant creations being exported around the world, as these unique works of living art take courtyard and indoor plants to the next level.

Don’t miss: Home tour: A modern brutalist house in Singapore inspired by its green views