1. Introduction

1.7. How to prepare a maintenance plan

 

 

How to prepare a maintenance plan

The maintenance of living walls follows similar principles to that of the maintenance of plants in gardens. Fundamentally plant and garden maintenance is generally presented in a visual matrix format consisting of tasks versus timings. As with gardens, specific maintenance tasks and timings depend on the scenario. Important parameters that vary from situation to situation typically include:

  • internal or external installation
  • type of living wall system
  • plant species
  • location (climate)
  • micro climate (aspect)

 

This section aims to identify the typical maintenance tasks that are associated with and peculiar to living walls. Tasks that need to be considered are discussed below.  Students should learn to synthesise their prerequisite knowledge of garden and plant maintenance with the situational parameters and the more specific activities for producing a living wall management plan.

 

Plants

Ideally the plants should be inspected once a month to ensure that they are free from pests and diseases, and to enable plants to be replaced as necessary. In addition, different plants have different requirements in terms of pruning or tidying, and these maintenance tasks take place at different times of year (see unit 4.4). The following examples of plants commonly grown in living walls illustrate this variability:

  • Hylotelephium spectabile – cut back after flowering to maintain shape or leave seedheads overwinter
  • Thymus ‘Doone Valley’ – clip to shape with secateurs after flowering (Pruning Group 10)
  • Bergenia ‘Pink Dragonfly’ – remove faded flower spikes
  • Carex oshimensis ‘Evergold’ – in summer cut out any dead leaves
  • Ajuga reptans – no pruning required
  • Pachysandra terminalis – no pruning required

 

 

 

Systems

In addition to the regular maintenance tasks (see unit 4.6), different systems require different levels of maintenance. The irrigation plant room and substrate moisture should be physically checked once a month, while ideally the irrigation log and moisture metres should be checked remotely on a daily basis. Nutrient and pH levels should be checked every month, and the lighting system every 3 months.

 

Example of a maintenance matrix

 

Table 12: Example of maintenance matrix

Maintenance operation

J

F

M

A

M

J

J

A

S

O

N

D

Monthly inspection of the wall: substrate moisture, plant health

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

Prune, tidy and replace plants as necessary

 

 

 

 

*

 

*

 

*

 

 

 

Add biocontrols to the irrigation system

 

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

 

*

 

 

Daily check of remote sensing irrigation log and moisture metres

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

Monthly inspection of irrigation plant room

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

Test nutrient concentration

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

Top up nutrient tank

 

 

*

 

 

*

 

 

*

 

 

 

Flush out irrigation lines

 

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

 

*

 

 

Pressure test irrigation system

 

 

  

 

*

 

 

 

 

*

 

 

Test water pH

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

Check automation system

 

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

 

*

 

 

Check lighting system

 

 

*

 

 

*

 

 

*