In the built environment, retaining walls are an absolute necessity.  Retaining walls ensure slopes are stabilized while maximizing developable space on our properties.  Unfortunately, most retaining walls protrude from the landscape like vertical parking lots.  On top of that, most retaining walls offer none of the ecological, hydrologic, thermal, or aesthetic benefits that are available with living retaining wall systems!  (See some of the research on living retaining walls)

This cast-in-place concrete wall held up a parking lot for a church in St. Louis.  Not only was it an eyesore for the neighbors, but it was already beginning to fall apart as The Living Wall Company arrived.

MQP Project Old Retaining Wall.  Click to enlarge.

Upon completion of the SmartSlope Living Retaining Wall, we planted a variety of Sedum and native plant species to prepare for success.

MQP Project New Living Retaining Wall (August 2012). Click to enlarge.

Spring is here!  Despite the drenching rains and late-season snows, this retaining wall is already beginning to disappear behind beautiful foliage.  We can't wait to see the Sedum and Purple Poppy Mallow in flower soon!

MQP Project Living Retaining Wall (April/May 2013). Click to enlarge.

This project provides the church with a stable retaining wall, the neighbors with a pleasant view, and nature with some great habitat.

View the entire MQP Photo Progression on Facebook!

Let us know if you have comments or questions!

Happy New Year!

About a week ago, my colleague Mark Ostendorf, posted an article and some pictures of our "snow covered" green wall test site at SIUe. Click here to view it on our FaceBook page. That was fun to see and it reminded me that I have shot a good amount of winter-wall video the last two years and have never published it. I have hundreds of hours of video and not enough time to produce it, so this is likely to be the theme for many upcoming segments. Kind of like the "fish that got away" being the largest ever --- all the unpublished video is better than anything yet produced. Keep checking back for updates and feel free to prod me along by suggesting topics for future segments. It's probably already shot!

Are you concerned about the cost of obtaining a living retaining wall system like Smart Slope?  It may surprise you to learn that while Smart Slope is not the least expensive retaining wall option out there, it's certainly not the most expensive way to manage a grade change.

Feel free to learn more about the cost of various retaining wall systems as they compare to Smart Slope.

If Player Doesn't Load, Click Here to view on Prezi. 

This has been one hot and dry summer all over the country! The selection of living walls and more directly, Living Retaining Walls means that you and/or your client value the environmental service of plants covering the wall. A great move and once the structure is built, the  "Living" part comes in to play. To be successful, careful planning must be given the task of planting and surviving the establishment period of a new living retaining wall.

Many steps have to be handled correctly in order for the new living structure to successfully grow-in and become the mature green wall that was intended at the outset. No matter what region you are in, the use of irrigation can be a valuable tool for ease of establishment in difficult weather periods or a long-term component for drought intolerant plant species

Let's start with a list that will help owners and specifiers understand the steps we take to meet owners needs and guarantee a beautiful, strong and sustainable wall.

 • selection of a system that holds a lot of media in order to facilitate the root structure necessary for long term plant health

• use of well blended growth media in the wall facing with emphasis on pH, percent organics, porosity and moisture retention capacity to name a few

• proper micro-climate analysis along the entire length and height of the wall and the effect of anything near the wall that might impact it in the near term and long term

• maintenance intensity and budget

• salt tolerance, shade tolerance and similarity of water need

• interaction with people and animals ( sometimes one in the same )

• top growth preference - flowering, creeping, trailing, wall hugging, upright, size at maturity, pollinators, other habitat considerations and the list could go on

• annuals, perennials, ornamentals, groundcovers, natives or how about a mix of them all

• can drip irrigation be included in the wall facing modules or will the use of pop-up heads elsewhere in the landscape be utilized

• where can access to water come from and is it potable or from some form of runoff harvesting

Our Library page has information regarding the inclusion of drip irrigation into our living retaining walls that may be very helpful.

You may want to visit our current, featured video page to see how SmartSlope, LLC in Baltimore is breaking new ground with a commercial project utilizing integrated drip irrigation in their SmartSlope System to successfully grow healthy plants while also serving as a stormwater management tool to keep runoff water on the site, rather than into the Chesapeake bay watershed.

We returned to the newly constructed living retaining wall a couple weeks after the Ribbon Cutting of the Boschert Greenway in St. Charles, MO.  The living wall, located just off of Highway 370 near the Missouri River, was planted with an assortment of native plants like Black Eyed Susan, Prairie Dropseed, Wild Strawberry and Virginia Creeper.

The plugs, planted this growing season, seem to be establishing very well given the unfavorably dry weather.

Just below the Boschert Greenway sign, prairie grasses and wildflowers get their footing within the SmartSoxx growing media.  Small patches of brown grass can be seen; these are what's left of the short-term cover crop planted last fall.

Black Eyed Susan has begun flowering prolifically all over the wall!

The flowering plants are already attracting pollinators like bees and butterflies.

A bumblebee seems to enjoy what this living wall has to offer!

Feel free to drive by the Boschert Greenway living wall along Highway 370 (near the 5th St overpass) and give us some feedback.  What do you think?

Our last blog segment highlighted the building of a rain-garden, held up on three sides by an integrated living wall. I thought it was a great example of the use of the two storm-water management tools together in one project. It's a small application but it is one that can be repeated over and over again across the country, to great effect.

My belief has always been that standard, solid block retaining walls have been used so often over the past 20 years, simply because of their wide availability and the fact that people understand very quickly how they work. For living walls to do well and replace standard block in the retaining wall market, an educational component has to exist.

My mission has been to educate and showcase the benefits of Living Retaining Walls. "Customers cannot buy a product if they do not know it exists". It's pretty easy to see that a wall covered up with healthy plants has more positive environmental impact and can be more beautiful than traditional block walls but projects such as the ones highlighted in today's video clip, really spark the creative imagination.

The video clip below, contained in this segment, quickly showcases the use of living walls in a community garden application. One can easily understand how fruits and vegetables can be grown in the modules that actually separate the grade change.

The second half of the video clip lets us see exactly the progression of the Forrest Heights Community Center rain-garden combined with the living retaining wall, and its ultimate outcome. My favorite feature of living walls is that the worst they ever look, is the day their construction is completed and then they get more beautiful as time goes on (due to the plants). We will continue to chronicle this particular application and my bet is that a year from now, you won't even see the SmartSlope living wall modules used to manage the grade change for the rain garden. Enjoy the footage and please comment.

Living Retaining Walls as Stormwater Tools

We have finally entered an era where the need and desire to capture runoff water from our developed sites is met by a variety of effective and available plant-based tools. Most of those tools I would consider as "living architecture" or "living structures". In the past a regular tool used to handle runoff water on a developed site would be a sewer pipe and a drain inlet box. Now we have plant-based tools such as green or living roofs, rain gardens, bio-swales, permeable pavements and green or living walls both in the landscape and attached to the building.

It's no secret that my specialty and my favorite tool is the living retaining wall as part of the landscape. Today's blog features a project in our country's Mid-Atlantic region. The Forrest Heights community center is a great example of using many of these new storm water runoff tools to benefit the environment, the community and provide an aesthetic amenity. This project started with a green roof on top of their building and then progressed on to bio-swales and bio-retention areas as well as a rain garden which is held up on one side with a living retaining wall from SmartSlope, LLC. The pictures tell the tale and I suspect this project will be repeated in communities around the country many times in the coming years. Not only is it a great example of green building and the use of living architecture to manage storm water but this project was also a great community builder as well.

For those who want to dig further into these systems and the research around them, I have attached two great presentations from the ASLA. The first is a video description of the problem and then an animation that shows the effect of the solutions on the proposed site. The second is a 45 page research document that was just released this month by the ASLA.

Very informative! Enjoy and comment.

http://www.asla.org/sustainablelandscapes/Vid_WaterManagement.html

I am happy to anounce that my friend, associate, collaborator, Mark Ostendorf is defending his Masters Thesis on April 29th at 9 AM. All of the information regarding the blessed event is included below. I am scheduled to be in attendance for the defense of his work and look forward to his successful presentation to the panel. Mark's research on behalf of the SIUe greenwall testing program has be very helpful through the years and he will be missed going forward. The "green wall / Living Wall" market niche has been advanced by the data he has already published and I look forward to reviewing and understanding his final work. Congratulations Mark!!

Here are some blog links to Marks' previous work and the SIUe testing program. Comprehensive Living Wall Data from SIUe / Photo Updates From SIUe Greenwall Test Site / New Data Coming Out of SIUe / Living Retaining Wall Research Updates - SIUe Testing

Living walls in the landscape are an aesthetic choice made by customers that may simply want something different or have made the decision to maximize the plantable area of their landscape by reducing the use of hard-scape products. They can be a great way to bring green building to your yard and home. Either way, they need to select a system that will provide the needed structure to accomplish the grade change required and facilitate the growth of healthy plants. You can review our site for information on the products and methods we offer for the successful implementation of Living Retaining Walls, so I will not go too far into it here. No matter what system is chosen, a living wall will create more habitat and green-space than traditional hard-scape approaches. In addition, the Living Wall will serve to cool the effect of built structures on our environment and to absorb / slow down storm-water runoff. Both great things to receive as you manage a grade change in your landscape. For a different approach, try planting fruits and vegetables in your new "Living Wall" for a garden that can be tended and harvested while standing up! Your wall may just be the most useful component in your yard! Enjoy and click our "Ask the Wall Dr." badge for your site specific questions -- we will be glad to help and provide some advice. Check out the cool narrated pics below and GO GREEN!

The success (or lack there of) of a living wall is determined by how completely it is grown over with desired plant material. Lots goes into plant species selection and when its done correctly, the outcome is a living structure that is your landscape, green-space and habit. In the case of the structural living walls I have been involved with for most of my career, the successful application becomes all those things previously mentioned, at an angle of inclination not possible otherwise! Most retaining walls are built to manage grade changes are simply "dead" concrete with no opportunity for heat island reduction, runoff water management and permeable surface area creation. Have a look at the case study walls and the plant species selection lessons that build our knowledge-base for future successes.

I have been uploading videos to the new YouTube channel this week in an effort to publish previous content from past outlets. Lots of new information on Living Walls and Green Walls to come out in the next week or two and I am very excited to share the pics, projects and data with you. Please comment and thanks for viewing!

Three types of wall in this picture - panel, solid block and living wall modules.

I am always talking about "the question" - why would you choose a solid wall with no possibility for vegetation and habitat, when you can have a "living wall" at a comparable cost which brings so many benefits to the project and our environment? My thinking is, lack of understanding and product availability! This Blog, published research and widely available living wall systems are part of the answer. Enjoy the entry!

Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville has been monitoring 18 test "living walls" for several years now. Previous data has given us a better understanding of benefits derived from the selection of a living wall over more traditional "solid" or non-living walls. Green roof and green wall performance research is being undertaken in more locations by more private entities and universities than ever before. The results are shaping current product enhancements and future product development in ways that will benefit our environment and our communities. I am proud of the efforts and results from the SIUe research team. My own products are benefiting daily from the ongoing collaboration with Dr.Retzlaff and his group. Thanks guys!

As we move forward in defining living walls as BMP's for stormwater management and land development practices, published research such as this report will lead the way. Please review the embedded paper and give me your comments.

Great structure but it could be so much more!

This wall was teeming with honey bees when I shot the pictures!

Just received an update from Mark O. ( one of two grad students over-seeing the test trials ) at SIUe regarding the growth condition of the 18 test walls at their field site. The May 11th pictures below, show the entire site in perspective, the best growth species this year ( sedum kamchaticum ) and the un-planted control wall for perspective. Enjoy and stay connected as we publish this years test data on "heat island reduction", vegetation's effect on "retention / detention" and runoff "water quality".

The entire site on May 11th 2011.

One of the 3 un-planted control walls that we use to establish a benchmark for the effect plants have on the fully vegetated test walls.

One of the 3 walls planted with Sedum Kamchaticum showing the best coverage so far this season. Looks like a shrub at this point! Very likely to reduce "Heat Island Effect" as well as positively impact "Runoff Water Retention" , this study year.

Why would anyone select a solid concrete wall if they did not have to? Maybe psychological testing is our next field of study??

Does your yard need a retaining wall to create more useable space ---- how about making it a Living Wall?

Have you ever driven past a retaining wall that was performing a structural function but it was totally covered in plant material and all you could see was the plants? If you have, then you have seen at least some version of a ?living or green? retaining wall.

Some living retaining walls here started out the old-fashioned way, like they did in Europe, as old walls that had vines grow up to cover them so you couldn't see the stone underlayment. Other living walls that I'm so excited about are walls that were intentionally created to support plant growth. Living wall systems may come in various sizes, shapes, colors and methods but they all have one thing in common. They hold soil within the face of the wall which is easily accessible for plant material to be planted within it. This makes an acceptable culture for plants to grow over the wall face, flourish and stay there through all types of weather and seasonal conditions.

So the question is, why would you want a plant covered retaining wall ? what?s wrong with a solid, traditional wall? Well, I'm not going to get to the bottom of that question in one blog segment. I am going to start the conversation right here by inviting you to review a short slideshow that's included with this segment that represents a bit of living retaining wall "re-con" on my part. At the very least, it should be fun to look at and to see all the different varieties of living/green walls around the world. Living or green retaining walls are aesthetically different and to many people, very pleasing since they represent green space and habitat. Even if you're not into green space and habitat, a living wall does serve to moderate temperature in the built environment by keeping the retaining wall closer to the natural air temperature without absorbing and radiating the sun?s energy well after dark. Living retaining walls also filter runoff water from rain reducing the amount of rainwater that ends up running into the gutters, down the street and instantly into rivers without recharging the ground. Living walls function a lot like green roofs and rain gardens (more on those structures later).

Living retaining walls can serve many purposes. They can be large structures holding up buildings, parking lots, roads or they can be simple backyard walls that served as a garden in a very small area. I have seen many unusually and creatively planted living walls all over the world.  Walls serving as herb gardens for those that like to cook or even chefs with restaurants. I've also seen living walls that served as wonderful vegetable gardens and community gardens for inner-city residents that just don't have enough green space to create a proper garden on flat land. As a result, I've seen gardeners harvesting strawberries and picking beans while standing up, as opposed to what I did when I was a kid, which was crawling down the rows on my hands and knees. No matter what function they serve, selecting a living wall over a more traditional solid wall is a smart choice for the environment and ultimately our communities.