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BACSACS for Flowers Everywhere!!

August 3, 2024

I am completely charmed by these industrial, construction-y, feeling BACSAC plant containers from France.  There is something compelling about objects that feel so temporary and malleable – able to change at a whim (which is probably not true as I am sure once they are filled, they are heavy) – but it is a quality I like in a garden. It is never the same twice.

Woman tending to garden plants in raised beds.
The Designed Steppe project 🌾
Landscape designer @andreyeva (a PhD supervised by @nigel.dunnett), looks at resilient urban planting solutions, testing the use of drought-and-cold tolerant plants from the Eurasian steppes. Her field experiments are planted in BACSAC raised beds.

I am especially drawn to the rucksack version.  The idea of flowers overflowing from saw horses opens so many opportunities to pretty things up. 

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Bacsac Fabric Containers

The Rucksack

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I was in Boston yesterday and did a lot of walking. I always notice what is planted (or not planted) wherever I go.  American Cities really don’t have that much in the way of flowers and gardens. When I lived in England, it was impossible not to notice every pub’s floral displays; they are always such bright spots in an urban landscape. 

These bags seem like they might be good tools to create those types of voluptuous displays in a lot more obscure, un-plantable places.

Line drawing of an urban garden with the phrase "welcome to bacsac" at the top, featuring plants in various containers and a person tending to the plants.
“Nestled in an alleyway in the 5th arrondissement of Paris – a stone’s throw from the Luxembourg gardens and the Pantheon – the Bacsac shop opens onto a lush garden and two small houses, they share offices with designer @stefania_di_petrillo. A quiet haven in the heart of a sweet neighborhood that has suddenly become popular since the filming of Emily in Paris!” image from bacsac.
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The fabric Bags provide durable and breathable containment for root systems.

There are a huge variety of shapes and sizes of Bacsac.

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Here is what I would love to see, when I pull up to a closed road- perhaps some summer road construction – I am greeted with some nice flowers and a friendly sign that shows me the detour. I am wondering if we had more flowers on roadsides if we would reduce the incidence of road rage. I think it might….what do you think?

Urban garden with flowering pink cosmos and assorted plants in raised beds against a building facade.
“Perched on the rooftop terrace of the Chamber of Agriculture in Angers, this urban agriculture demonstration site has been growing small fruits, vegetables, herbs and edible flowers on an 80 m2 surface without chemicals since 2021. To work around the load-bearing constraints of the site, they opted for a lightweight potting soil and BACSAC containers made from geotextile fabric.” image from bacsac.

More Container Garden inspiration:

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  1. Lindsay @ Likely Design says:

    Oh my goodness – I LOVE these!! Is there an American version to buy here???? Love the blog!

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