ST. LOUIS — Earth Day is a reminder to have a mutual relationship with our planet. A St. Louis garden company has snagged some big projects and publicity to match that mission.
Verdtech, Inc. operating under the storefront Vertical Garden Supply is a St. Louis-based company that makes components for vertical gardens and living retaining walls.
The owner, Mark Wooldbright, has spent the last 30 years cultivating his invention: living retaining walls.
The company has spent the last decade serving corporations and other businesses around the U.S. A few years ago the company pivoted because consumers were using the structures for rooftops and small spaces. Woolbright adjusted the existing Varden Living Wall system to make gardening accessible to everyone.
"My goal is to provide consumers at large with systems that are easy to use, that enable them to green the environment around them, grow food easily even if they don't have space to build structures that are," Woolbright said. All of the systems make a positive environmental impact.
Vertical Garden Supply's website has everything from DIY kits to irrigation packages to retaining wall blocks. Some products are also available at a local garden center.
The timeline for St. Louis consumers is "pretty much instant" Woolbright said.
Competitors struggle with getting products to consumers, Woolbright said, but last year this worked in Vertical Garden Supply's favor at the Coachella music festival in 2023. After another company could not deliver, so Vertical Garden Supply was asked to create an Adidas flower cube and it fulfilled the job within a week.
"It ended up being the largest brand display ever pulled off," He said. "It was 35 feet tall and 35 feet wide."
Direct-to-consumer is half of the business and the rest is commercial, Woolbright said.
Right now most of his business is not coming from St. Louis. Instead, there has been success on the East Coast and West Coast. Specifically, Texas and Florida, he said.
"We would like to have a larger impact on St. Louis but St. Louis is not super receptive to what we do, "Woolbright said. "I am from St. Louis you know, I'm a St. Louis guy. I raised my kids here. Our products are made here by St. Louisians."
The company believes in sustainability and secure access to food.
"You get the most of nutrition and flavor from the soil and the better the soil, the better the nutrition and flavor," he said. " So our systems are based on growing in soil."
The systems can be used on a balcony, patio, or small yard.
Woolbright believes the product he offers allows people to eat as clean as they want by growing it themselves and he said," I am more proud of that than anything."
For seven years, Vertical Garden Supply has partnered with Urban Harvest STL to help with the mission of ending food deserts.
"They grow food vertically in our system and it's been a great collaboration and I've learned a lot," Woolbright said. " I admire their organization."
The company has recently appeared in several shows including the Netflix show "Instant Dream Home" twice in season 1 and HGTV's "Rock the Block" season 5.
