Earth wall having a pocket structure for receiving vegetation
AssigneeGrostructures LLC
InventorsJon Calle, Sean O'Donnell
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A pocket structure for receiving containerized plants is sloped and hung from a wire of a wire basket. The pocket structure includes hooks, an irrigation fitting and corresponding drip channel to transmit water toward the rear of the pocket, and slots in the walls. The mesh units include braces and are sized for shipping. An earth wall is formed of the mesh units and pockets, and includes irrigation tubing.
Claims30
A pocket structure for installing in a Reinforced Soil Slope (RSS) earth wall, the pocket structure comprising:
- a pocket sidewall portion defining a front face that forms a front opening and a rear portion opposite the front face, the pocket sidewall portion being adapted for receiving a containerized vegetation through the front opening of the front face;
- openings formed in the pocket sidewall portion;
- a hook surface adapted for attaching the pocket sidewall portion to a wire of the RSS earth wall;
- and
- a liquid receiver adapted for receiving liquid from an irrigation system
- whereby the pocket sidewall portion and the rear portion of the pocket structure is adapted to be located in soil fill of an RSS earth wall of the type formed by the soil fill, the wire of a face of the RSS earth wall, and reinforcement fabric, and whereby the pocket sidewall portion is adapted for roots to grow through into soil about the pocket structure.
A Reinforced Soil Structure (RSS) earth wall system for creating useable land from a landscape slope, the earth wall system suitable for growing vegetation on a face thereof, comprising:
- a wire mesh, the wire mesh defining a wire mesh face and having an opening in the wire mesh face;
- a reinforcement fabric having a face wrap portion that is vertical and proximate the wire mesh face;
- a pocket structure that is located in the opening of the wire mesh and on a backside of the wire mesh, the pocket structure having sidewalls that define a front face and a pocket therein and having a rear portion opposite the front face;
- exterior surfaces of the sidewalls and the rear portion of the pocket structure adapted for engaging soil fill that is outboard of the pocket structure;
- the vegetation being located in the pocket structure and extending through the opening in the wire mesh face;
- and
- an irrigation head located above the pocket structure that is connected to irrigation tubing;
- whereby the vegetation is configured to grow on a front face of the wire mesh and whereby the sidewall openings are adapted for roots to grow through into the soil fill.
A method of creating useable land from a landscape slope by forming a Reinforced Soil Slope (RSS) earth wall comprising the steps of:
- installing wire mesh units in at least one row on an earth surface;
- installing pocket structures on wires of the wire mesh units by engagement of hook surface of each one of the pocket structures with the wire mesh units such that the pocket structures are on a backside of the wire mesh units and sidewall openings of the pockets are adapted for roots to grow through;
- installing reinforcement fabric at least against a vertical face of the wire mesh units;
- installing vegetation into pockets of the pocket structures from a front side of the wire mesh units;
- installing irrigation tubing having drip openings aligned with the pocket structures;
- and
- installing soil fill behind the at least one row of wire mesh.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.