Living Walls Made Easy

Note: The following catalog of content covered in this webinar is time stamped to allow you to follow along or skip to sections of the video that are relevant to your questions. You can also search for content on this page using the FIND command in your browser (CTRL + F in Windows, Command + F in Mac OS.)

• Intro
• About Living Walls
• Components
• Benefits
• Living Wall Case Studies

0:00 – 3:49: Intro

3:50 – 4:55: About Living Walls

Problems with Living Walls (3:50)

• Expensive
• Hard to install/maintain
• Plant selection
• “Like having a pet”

4:56 – 11.59: Components

Five components for a successful living wall (4:56)

• Gripple wall anchors
• Galvanized wire
• VerTexx tray
• ¼” drip emitter line
• GardenSoxx

 

About Filtrexx (5:45)

 

Vertical structure (6:40)

• High-strength galvanized wire
• Mounts with Uni-Strut and accessories
• Rigid molded VerTexx trays snap onto the wire

 

Gripple Anchor (6:50)

• Mounted with concrete bolts or wood screws
• Easily adjustable

 

Galvanized wire (7:45)

• Galvanized steel
• 4’ x 8’ panels
• Wire size 4.0g
• Easily cut for custom projects

 

VerTexx tray (8:25)

• Snaps into place
• Injection molded, recycled, BPA free polypropylene
• UV stabilized for a minimum of 7 years
• Water retention of 1/8 inch at base

 

GardenSoxx (9:12)

• 5” diameter by 2’ long
• Standard soil is blend of compost, peat moss, and pearlite
• Can be custom filled with soil
• Planted with plugs at nursery or planted on site with 4” plants

 

VerTexx System Components (10:50)

• 5-inch GroSoxx filled with Filtrexx Certified Growing Media
• Design services
• Installation services
• Pre-grown GroSoxx
• Irrigation
• Wire mesh
• VerTexx Soxx Hanger (100% recycled plastic)

12:00 – 15:36: Benefits

Ornamental/Edible Exterior Living Walls (12:00)

Exterior living wall benefits include:

• Urban heat island reduction
• Improved energy efficiency
• Runoff water diversion
• Improved energy efficiency

 

Ornamental Interior Living Walls (13:05)

Interior living wall benefits include:

• Reduced noise levels through reflecting, refracting, and absorbing acoustic energy
• Carbon reduction
• Living walls can be marketing tools since they are visible to clients and customers in businesses.
• Decreased workplace stress and increased productivity

 

Question: Can the system be mounted on brick for residential purposes? Can it be used with 4”x4” or 8”x8” cedar posts? (14:27)

Answer: Yes. It can be mounted on anything that can handle 20 pounds per square foot. Both of these materials will work just fine.

15:37 – end: Living Wall Case Studies

Santa Barbara Zoo (15:37)

 

Office wall (19:08)

 

The Pad (Silicon Valley) (19:49)

 

Cannon (San Luis Obispo, CA) (20:30)

 

Question: Would the height of the wall be limited to the length of the drip tubing? (21:50)

Answer: You’d just need to calculate the water requirements per plant and then install multiple valves.

 

Question:Can these walls be installed on a curved wall? (23:27)

Answer: Yes. Everything can be bent, including the galvanized wire, which allows for installation on curved surfaces.

 

Question: Any tips on preventing the top of the wall from dying because of too little water, and the bottom from dying because of too much water? (24:14)

Answer: You can run an extra drip line at the top to provide extra water while the plants become established. Otherwise, the goal is to provide the correct amount of water to each level and preventing cascading. It may require some fine-tuning, but once it’s dialed in, it should provide the correct amount of water to each level consistently.

 

The Monterey Hotel (San Luis Obispo, CA) (29:00)

• 1,500-square-foot wall
• Designed for stormwater mitigation

 

Residential installation (31:45)

 

Price Range (32:18)

• LiveWall / Gsky (High End)
• VerTexx ($50MSRP per square foot)
• Wooly Pockets (Lower End)

 

Contact info (33:14):

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Cell: 805-888-9389

Website: www.filtrexx.com

 

Question: What was the cost of the wall at The Pad? (34:17)

Answer: Between $4,000 and $5,000 total. The component cost is typically about $50 per square foot (excluding installation costs).

 

Question: Is waterproofing needed for the interior walls? (35:55)

Answer: Yes it is. You can put weatherproofing material right on top of standard drywall below an interior living wall.

 

Question: What about long-term maintenance of living walls, including plants and hardware. Is weeding necessary? (37:10)

Answer: Although certified compost will not contain weeds, we sometimes see weeds introduced via the planting plugs at the nursery. Another consideration is pest proliferation, which is also something to think about for interior walls. Most living-wall companies will have a plan for keeping pests out of their living walls. Other maintenance includes trimming and general aesthetic upkeep of the plants.

 

Question: For an exterior wall in a residential setting, is it possible to connect to a pump to recirculate water (as with a water feature) rather than connecting to a valve? (38:52)

Answer: Absolutely. You’ll just need to make sure the basin where the pump is installed will contain water. Water features often include a float valve, which provides water once the level drops past a certain level. You’ll also need to make sure the system has enough pressure and volume to meet the water needs of the plants.

 

Question: Is there a specific recommended dripline and lateral line that Filtrexx recommends for these living walls? (40:45)

Answer: It’s up to the designer. For emitter line, Shaun recommends Netafim, but Rainbird and Hunter also make good products. For lateral line, standard ½-inch tubing will be sufficient.

 

Question: How often does the GardenSoxx media need to be changed out? (42:45)

Answer: It depends on what you’re planting, but ornamentals should last 3 to 5 years. With veggies, it’s a matter of pulling out the vegetable plants when they reach the end of the lifespan. It’s easy to pull the GardenSoxx, compost the soil, recycle the existing GardenSoxx, and replace them. To ensure the longest plant life possible, it’s important to fertilize (whether by hand or through the drip system).

 

Question: Can you think of any types of installation that would require reinforcements or other mitigating measures? (45:05)

Answer: The main consideration is making sure that the GardenSoxx won’t fall out of an installation that’s up high (such as on a roof). These systems are designed to withstand any possible issues, although Filtrexx can provide technical specs of components such as the Gripple anchors and galvanized wire if necessary.