Stormwater Retention on a Living Wall | Plant Survival in a Semi-Arid Climate
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The Journal of Living Architecture is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal, published by the Green Infrastructure Foundation and hosted by the Living Architecture Monitor Magazine. Learn more about the Journal, read all Journal articles, or find out how to submit to the Journal.
Evaluating the potential stormwater retention of a living retaining wall system
Volume 8 Number 1 Pages 1-18
M. Ostendorf (1), S. Morgan (1), S. Celik (1), and W. Retzlaff (*)(1)
(1): SIUE Living Architecture Regional Center of Excellence, Box 1608,
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, IL 62026
(*)corresponding author: wretzla@siue.edu
ABSTRACT
Redesigning standard revetment or retaining walls to capture stormwater could increase the use of living walls and, thus, expand their beneficial impacts, including greening underutilized space. This study evaluated the potential stormwater retention and percent plant coverage of an experimental wall surface for six treatments (five vegetated Sedum treatments and an unplanted ‘control’ wall) on 18 circular living retaining wall systems designed from a standard retaining wall system. Percent stormwater retention, which compared effective precipitation volumes with stormwater runoff volumes, was quantified for 81 storm events from July 2010 to September 2011. Living retaining wall systems planted with S. (Phedimus) takesimensis retained stormwater more effectively than the unplanted wall and other planted treatments, including walls planted with S. spurium, mixed Sedum species, and S. kamtschaticum. Plant surface coverage of the living retaining wall system was the greatest when planted with mixed Sedum species, S. spurium, and S. kamtschaticum. Overall this study demonstrates that properly designed living retaining wall systems may be able to be used as a best management practice for stormwater retention in urban areas. Further study could determine the performance of living retaining walls with a more conventional design (i.e., single aspect vs. four aspects against a slope), over a longer time period, walls planted with other vegetated treatments, and walls featuring different fill and plant materials.
Read the full article at: https://doi.org/10.46534/jliv.2021.08.01.001
Key words: living wall, green infrastructure, stormwater management
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Observations on the survival capacity of 118 plant taxa on a green roof in a semi-arid climate: 12 year update
Volume 8 Number 1 Pages 19-40
Amy Schneider (1), Michelle Landis (2) , Jennifer Bousselot (2)(*)
(1) Denver Botanic Gardens, 1007 York Street, Denver, CO 80206
(2) Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, CO 80523
*corresponding author: Jennifer.Bousselot@colostate.edu
ABSTRACT
The Green Roof at Denver Botanic Gardens was built in the fall of 2007. Since installation, data on the green roof have been collected on 118 plant taxa 43 of which have survived for over 10 years. Plants were grouped based on their metabolic and growth type: succulents, creeping forbs, upright forbs, graminoid, and shrubs. Overall, shrubs and succulents have displayed the highest survival rates, showing the greatest potential for use on green roofs in semi-arid conditions. Graminoids survived about half the time and creeping and upright forbs had the lowest overall survival in semi-arid Colorado. Species survivability rates were calculated based on the number of plants of that species originally installed on the green roof.
Read the full article at: https://doi.org/10.46534/jliv.2021.08.01.019
Key words: green roof, long-term species evaluations, semi-arid