Native plant establishment on a custom modular living wall system in a humid subtropical climate

• Published in: Urban forestry & urban greening 2021-08, Vol.63, p.127234, Article 127234
• Main Authors: Dvorak, Bruce, Yang, Shijia, Menotti, Tess, Pace, Zane, Mehta, Salonee, Ali, Ahmed K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Building-integrated vegetation systems; Green facade; Green walls; Indirect; Vertical greening systems
• ISSN: 1618-8667; 1610-8167
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ufug.2021.127234

The aim of this study was to determine if local or regional native plants might be suitable for use on a custom living wall system (LWS) located in a humid subtropical climate. Nineteen taxa of plants native to the ecoregion or adjacent ecoregions were installed into 297 custom-designed modules fabricated from galvanized sheet metal by-products. This study reports plant survival and health ratings of 75 plants installed in May 2018 and 240 in May 2019. Evaluations taken in September and December of 2019 report that mean health ratings of all plants ranged from 1 to 5 with mean values of 3.6 to 3.68. Survivability rates ranged from 79 % to 100 % for 7 species of succulents, 53 %–186 % for the 11 species of herbaceous perennials, and 100 % for the one species of grass. Planting by location of the upper wall or lower had some, but minimal effect on plant survival. Through this study, we observed that plant selection should correspond with LWS goals regarding maintenance requirements, wall appearance, and the watering needs of plants. This study reports baseline data for the establishment of native plant taxa and plant diversity on a living wall system in a humid subtropical climate.