Filtrexx Living Wall ™

How does it work?

Bioengineering provides a softer approach compared to hardscapes. Replacing block walls, cement, gabions or rip rap with sustainable designs that are softer and greener is a common theme among designers wishing to keep their projects looking more like natural areas.

The use of Filtrexx Living Walls™ involves stacking FilterSoxx™ on top of one another in a recessed bank situation, against the bank, with backfill media filling in apparent open voids. The Living Wall™ is also part of the EdgeSaver™ system, where streambanks are in need of lifting banks within the design of the repair work.

The use of Living Walls™ allows the introduction of native vegetation into the system and allows it to become established before it washes away. The reinforcement provided by the FilterSoxx™ allows a good growing media, a nurse crop, irrigation, and proper staking to increase chances of success for establishment.

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Where should this practice be used?

Filtrexx FilterSoxx™ are used in combination with backfill to create a Living Wall™ , a sustainable, customizable, scalable solution to a challenging area of steeply eroded streambanks or pond banks. Eroded edges of streams or lake edges are difficult to re-vegetate because it is hard to establish plants on an already eroding slope. Loose products like soil or mulch are commonly added to edges only to find them eroded or washed away after the first rain. As such, the Filtrexx Living Wall™ uses Filtrexx FilterSoxx™ to prevent erosion until plants become established.

Compost (Growing Media) used to manufacture FilterSoxx™ for Living Wall™ applications has been known to provide an excellent growing media for vegetation establishment. By allowing vegetation to become established prior to further slope erosion, the Living Wall helps provide sustainable, green solutions.

Other ideal locations for a Living Wall™ are in places where current construction abruptly meets a steep slope, bank, lake, or pond. In these areas, tying into native vegetation is a challenge with hard armor tools available. Additionally, clients who want a natural look will much rather have plants as the edge of a parking lot than block walls.