The floating garden by Pendularis is my alternative to the curtain
14.12.2021
Translation: machine translated
A modular indoor greenery system from Pendularis replaces a curtain - and hangs faster, too. I've tried it out.
Until now, I have refrained from spiky curtains. I should urgently change that. Because when I sat in the new restaurant across the street the other day, I saw how well the guests can look into my living room. At the size of a garage door, the windows there give a clear view of my apartment. To stop sitting on display, I'm looking for another nice privacy screen. That's when the plant system from the Swiss company Pendularis comes to mind. Like a curtain, the modules can hang in front of the window or be mounted on the wall. I'm starting small and ordering the 50-centimeter module, complete with plants, to my home.
Unboxing: An appropriate packaging design
Already the presentation of the Pendularis package meets my taste in terms of form and function. The white cardboard box is adapted to the design flower pot inside and contains only for the protection of the plants some "Flo-Pak-Chips", which consist of plant starch and water. This way there is no unnecessary waste.
Because I visited Pendularis for an interview this summer, I know that the packaging is the result of an invited student research project at the ZHAW. Co-founder Erich Stutz explained to me at the time that, thanks to an integrated lid, the plants also cannot fall over and the substrate cannot fall out.
And indeed, all of the five new green co-inhabitants are still embedded after I removed the Flo-Pak flips. Underneath the lid is an aluminium profile, the vessel from Pendularis. It is produced in Switzerland and made of 80 percent recycled material. There is a cap at each end. In the future, I can attach further modules to them. The plant pots have also been recycled and are made in Bulgaria.
Get an overview: Everything is included for assembly and care
I take a closer look at the scope of delivery. In the box there is a bag with additional substrate, a syringe, a ceiling bracket with and one without a side wire outlet, and a bracket with a wire outlet for the curtain rail. The two wire ropes for attachment are already attached to the aluminium tube.
Last but not least: A bottle with a tube is also included. If the plants swing particularly high, you can water them with it. However, I prefer to get up on a chair armed with my watering can. Its design appeals to me more than the bottle's.
Mounting: A matter of five minutes without tools
The people in the restaurant don't get to see a long show from me while I'm fiddling around with the floating plants and wire ropes at the window. The enclosed instructions contain comprehensible assembly instructions - it goes in a jiffy. I just attach the two brackets, pull the rope to the desired height and that's it. To hang hook sliders from curtains, it probably takes me longer.
In the end, I click the plants into the openings of the container. At the caps there's an opening for watering. There I fill the module with water up to the top mark of the cap. If it were crooked, I could see it now. Then the water level would be different on both sides.
Since the window can now be opened only a crack wide, I am glad for the quick assembly. This way I can take my indoor garden down for a moment for storm ventilation.
I could arrange the plants freely. To make the "curtain" as lush as possible, I chose fast-growing tropical varieties like the heartleaf philodendron (Philodendron scandens) or the pellionia (Pellionia repens). Pendularis refers to these as "Rapid" and the slow growing ones as "Royal". Both types of plants come from the greenhouses of Meyer Orchideen near Zurich.
Conclusion: The plants want to reach "high".
The green curtain is already sprouting visibly after two weeks. What do these plants have over my other lame slugs in conventional clay pots? The answer is: a sunny spot by the window and a water reservoir. Instead of watering each plant individually, I only water once and, thanks to the water level indicator, only when necessary. This ensures optimal conditions. That's why I'm buying a second 100-centimetre module for the other window, which also faces the local area.
The plant container is not cheap. Nevertheless, the price-performance ratio is right for me because of the flexibility it offers. Unlike a one-sided clay pot, Pendularis is more. It becomes a green curtain or room divider thanks to its plug-in system. For more density, I can add both modules vertically. Should I one day mount them on the ceiling, horizontal expansion would also be possible. Individually, however, the floating gardens already serve their purpose: they catch people's eyes in the restaurant - and distract them from me.
Pia Seidel
Senior Editor
Pia.Seidel@digitecgalaxus.chLike a cheerleader, I love celebrating good design and bringing you closer to everything furniture- and interior design- related. I regularly curate simple yet sophisticated interior ideas, report on trends and interview creative minds about their work.
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