When San Francisco designer/entrepreneur Michael Good’s house plants began taking over most of his apartment’s available counter space, he realized that necessity (and Good design) would be the mother of his invention.

During an unsuccessful search for a hanging planter that had both the horticultural design and aesthetics he envisioned, a local friend and San Francisco garden shop owner encouraged Good to create the Opus Garten Hängen Wall Planter.

Good designed Hängen “for people who are into green living, beautiful spaces, and creativity.” In fact, that describes Good himself. Designing for home gardeners is not a new venture for Good. He is the brainchild behind Root Cup, a cute little series of colorful cups that help propagate plant cuttings, and which the Museum of Modern Art store liked well enough to offer it in their shop. (Nota bene: you can purchase Root Cups directly from Good’s website too, and while you are there, treat yourself to an explanation of a-sexual reproduction.)

As Good points out, hanging planters and sub-irrigation planters have been around since the 1800’s, so Hängen is basically a hybrid of time-proven sub-irrigation concepts reimagined with modern materials and a contemporary aesthetic.

A unique quick release ball and cord cable system makes Hängen as simple to hang or remove as a picture. To plant or maintain it, just take Hängen off the wall and place it on a table or other work space as you would any planter.  It’s equally easy to fill Hängen’s reservoir through a discreet watering port at the top, from which a removable sub-irrigation insert wicks water from the bottom up into the soil. The wicking system helps build robust roots by maintaining the required moisture levels needed for various plants, from very dry to very moist.

Consisting of two recyclable and durable BPA-free resin pieces, Hängen’s interior planter slips into an outer housing which contains all the water, so the planter won’t sweat, drip or get moldy. Neither will the braided marine-grade waterproof kevlar cable cord ever fray, so Hängen hangs out just as well indoors as outdoors. I particularly like that the planter hangs from a single attachment point– no more punching multiple holes into walls to hang a little greenery. And a design bonus: its single die-cast aluminum hardware adds visual interest.

Designed as an indoor gardening kit, the Hängen Wall Planter was  oringinally part of a complete line of Opus Garten indoor gardening gear. A Kickstarter campaign revealed that the Hängen Wall Planter was the most popular item of the collection, so it’s the first of the products now available for pre-order at www.opusgarten.com. In exchange for early support, orders received in April will get free shipping and a complimentary Root Cup to get you propagating.

Good explained to me that, although he appreciates technology, his vision for Opus Garten is to promote “the technology of being human” by creating things, like Hängen, that help people enjoy their connection to nature, other people, and themselves. That’s an idea I can certainly hang on to.