How Green Retaining Walls Can Add Value To Your Home

Your home is your fortress, your castle. Castles are traditionally surrounded by moats. A moat adds protection from invaders. It is a beautiful body of water for fish to swim in, and for frogs to hop from Lilly pad to Lilly pad. The thought of adding a moat to surround your home must sound like a surrealist dream, and in 2010 it probably is. But what about instead of a ring of water fortifying your home, a living wall was able to serve the same purpose?

A living wall is a retaining wall that is covered with real, live vegetation. The wall's support structure and the plants covering it actually form a symbiotic relationship, supporting and enhancing each other's function. The roots of the vegetation grow back into the structure, tying the support modules together, and adding overall strength to the wall itself. While at the same time the wall's modules actually enhance the plant's ability to grow by regulating thermal swings and creating a natural windbreak.

By replacing your standard retaining wall with a green retaining wall, you can increase the value of your home and the pleasure you derive from it. Imagine that a bed of lush foliage or indigenous ivy suddenly replaces the unsightly concrete barrier that surrounds your home.

Some of the benefits of green retaining walls include:

Reducing storm water runoff
Reducing disruption of existing vegetation
Fostering on-site nutrient take-up
Creating urban habitats and gardens

The flexibility of your living wall is only constrained by the limitations of your area's climate and growing season. By carefully balancing your desired look with what is able to grow on the wall, you can set your green retaining wall up for the highest likelihood for success. Since there is no limit to your living wall's height, provided proper reinforcement and soil condition, you can build amazing vertical gardens any where on your property.

Choosing a living wall is a sustainable decision that can earn your existing home valuable LEED credits that can qualify you for tax breaks. Not only that, but green retaining walls can use half as much concrete as traditional segmented retaining walls, while providing a better coverage ratio per module. By converting hardscapes to greenscapes, you not only save money, but you beatify your home while reconnecting with nature in a way only real living wall can.

About the Author

SmartSlope is a leading provider of living walls. SmartSlope's green retaining walls are the next generation of living retaining walls. Visit www.smartslope.com or call (443) 874-7465 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (443) 874-7465      end_of_the_skype_highlighting to learn more about The Strength of Nature.