information and summary here.

FACULTY OF SCIENCE
UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN
PhD defense: Lars Jørgensen
Thesis title:
Root growth and water distribution in living walls
Summary:
Living walls is a way of bringing plants and green areas into cities, and offer both positive
environmental and aesthetical effects. A prerequisite for optimal performance of a living
wall is that the plant cover is properly established why the individual plant should have
optimal conditions for root growth.
This thesis investigates the correlations between the growing media and root and shoots
growth, and studies root growth patterns of different plant species and effects of planting
position and root interactions of plants growing in living walls.
There are a number of challenges with living walls; the vertical orientation of the growing
medium, plants are growing vertically above or b elow each other in a limited rooting
volume; there is an increased exposure to weather and the plants can react differently to
water conditions and competition from other plants.
Plant growth is the core of functional living walls and this thesis is a fir st step of
understanding the essential but hidden part inside the growing medium, i.e. the roots.
Ensuring successful performance of the plants in a living wall is complex and the choice of
growing medium, plant species and planting position are important.
Time and place:
Wednesday, March 25th at 13:00
in lecture hall A8-18.02,
Højbakkegård Alle 17
2630 Taastrup
Supervisors:
Professor Kristian Thorup-Kristensen
Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen
Associate Professor Dorte Bodin Dresbøll
Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen
Assessment Committee:
Associate Professor Marten Sørensen
Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen
Science Team Leader Hanne Lakkenborg Kristensen
Department of Food Science, Aarhus University
Associate Professor Ann -Mari Fransson
Department of Landscape Architecture, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences