With green walls gaining not only in popularity but also height, maintaining interior plantscapes in our high-rise buildings may soon be the domain of a team of so-called Spider-Men and Spider-Women.

As interior plantscapers, you have all probably heard of the Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum). This plant is a popular choice in many an indoor plant palette for good reasons. Its trailing habit and variegated foliage make it a great choice for hanging baskets, tabletop arrangements, patioscapes and green walls.

While you may be aware of the Spider Plant, perhaps fewer of you are familiar with the Spider Lift? This machinery may just become a staple in an interior plantscaper’s ‘toolbox’ if demand for taller green walls and vertical greenery continues to increase.

Mitchell Reid from Tropical Plant Rentals says that a Spider Lift is his preferred type of elevated work platform (EWP), enabling him to reach and maintain otherwise inaccessible green walls. Mitchell says that a spider lift can move quite differently to a scissor lift, which only operates vertically, i.e. up and down. “The spider lift is a knuckled machine. We have some green walls that start at the ground floor, and then there is a set of stairs that run through the middle of it. So you must knuckle and bend (the lift) and work your way over the top (of the stairs),” says Mitchell.

Mitchell may be considered a Spider Man in some regards given his penchant for working at heights. However, he has his feet firmly on the ground when it comes to providing advice on how to use a Spider Lift safely and efficiently.

To find out Mitchell’s top tips for working with this special type of EWP give him a call as he is one of IPA’s mentors interiorplantscape.asn.au/mentors/ or read Interior Plantscape Association’s full article, ‘Spider lifts: Knuckling down (or up) to the job’, in the July 2021 issue of  hortjournal

Share your tips for working at heights

Do you have a team member who you think is a budding Spider-Man or Spider-Woman?

Share their stories and/or your favourite tips for working at heights on the Interior Plantscape Association’s facebook.com/interiorplantscapeassociation page.

Written by: Gabrielle Stannus / inwardoutstudio.com

IPA Committee Member interiorplantscape.asn.au