A new plant store has opened on the south side of Missoula

Vine Plants and Design isn't hard to find, but their front door isn't facing the street. Look for the sandwich board and then the sign pointing the way on the back side of the building.

Ashley, Townsquare Media
Ashley, Townsquare Media
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Once inside you'll be met with a sleek interior, airy lighting, and luscious plants not only covering the surfaces but hanging in squares and rectangles on the walls.

Ashley, Townsquare Media
Ashley, Townsquare Media
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Ryan Tripepi, the owner, was inspired to create the store based on long-time passions and interests.

"My parents both have a horticultural background. My dad was a horticulture professor for nearly 40 years before retiring, so I grew up around plants. It was an interest that was consistent throughout my life. But as my passions changed over the years plants were the one thing that were that was consistent and I also have always been interested in design." 

Tripepi spent part of his college career studying architecture. "So as I was kind of looking for a next step, this was a great way to put both of those passions together." 

The two passions, plants and design, influenced his approach to his business. He says he will focus both on designing and installing, maintaining living walls and other sorts of architectural plantings, and run a retail plant business. 

The retail, he says will focus on house plants like tropical plants, soon cacti and succulents, but also the products needed to care for plants like planters, pots, stands, and grow lights, for example.

What is a Living Wall?

A living wall is a vertical system for displaying plants which allows for a lot of plants to be featured without taking up a lot of square footage.

"We will offer maintenance for living walls, and for larger projects, we will want to be involved in maintenance so that we can guarantee that the installation doesn't decline in condition over time," Tripepi said.

Having that volume of plants in a commercial or private space may also have additional benefits, Tripepi says.

"There have been a number of studies and more coming out recently indicating that having green space in workspaces, in particular, increases productivity and creativity. It's easier to get distracted in a cold and hostile kind of environment. So there have been a number of studies that have implicated benefits to human health in having these sorts of installations in your spaces. And when you think about it, it makes sense. It's probably not that adding plants is a stand-alone benefit, but rather the fact that we have been removed from nature--from the environment that makes us feel like we have the resources and systems available to us that enable life--probably adds stress to our life. So returning to these more natural environments eases the mind, in essence. 

And of course, there's the air quality benefits as well. Having one or two plants in your space likely doesn't make a noticeable difference, but when you start to talk about these large-scale installations with hundreds of plants, they have some real filtering power, to remove toxins from the air."  

The Future of the Business 

As the business grows, Tripepi hopes to have a regional footprint, offering installation and maintenance for living walls in western Montana and Idaho, and building architectural fountains and other features that incorporate plants.

The other hope is to make the store a community space.

Ashley, Townsquare Media
Ashley, Townsquare Media
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"Those tables back there are going to be for workshops," he says nodding to the back of the store. "Some of those will be educational workshops. Some of them will be more craft-based. Also, I'm going to have a wall of succulents in the back of the space there. And so anytime-- you don't need to wait for a workshop--there will be an opportunity to use those tables. It'll be a succulent bar, so you'll be able to select your bowl, select your succulents, sit down at the tables, and put them together as a centerpiece, or just a nice piece of decor for your house, or as a gift." 

There may also be collaborations in the future. "We have such great small businesses in this town. I'm hoping to do events with other small businesses," Tripepi said.  

Vine Plants + Design is open Wednesday - Friday 11:00 am - 6: 00 pm, Saturday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, and Sunday from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Take a look inside this verdant store.

New Plant Store in Missoula Features 'Living Walls'

The new store on southwest Higgins will have plants for sale and plant architecture available for installation and maintenance.

Gallery Credit: Ashley

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