Minnesota Twins to Install Living Wall Irrigated by Rainwater

Major league baseball team the Minnesota Twins announced plans to incorporate one of the nation’s largest living walls at their home stadium of Target Field in Minneapolis, Minn. The living wall will be comprised of roughly 5,700 sea green juniper plants and will be irrigated by the stadium’s current rainwater recycling system.

The living wall system will measure 95 ft wide and will cover 2,280 sq ft of the center-field backdrop known as the “batter’s eye,” as reported by the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The team has been looking for a new way to fill that space ever since it removed 14 black spruce trees that were installed when the stadium opened in 2010 due to complaints that the trees were a distraction.

“The Minnesota Twins are excited about plans to install one of the world’s largest living walls at Target Field,” said Team President and CEO Dave St. Peter. “Since the removal of the original trees, which were part of Target Field’s batter’s eye in 2010, the Twins have been searching for the right solution which balances playability and aesthetics. We believe the living wall concept delivers on both fronts, while further enhancing the ballpark’s sustainability platform.”

While the space is designed to help batters see the baseball better as it comes towards them, the system also will provide sustainable benefits. Green Living Technologies Intl. of Rochester, N.Y., will make the wall and CityScapes from Boston will install it. The installation process will begin the week of Jan. 21 and be completed before the baseball season begins for the team on March 28, as reported by Fox 9.