Photo of the center field area at Target Field. Home of the Minnesota Twins.

Image Credit: Amy Merideth (CC BY-ND 2.0)

Target Field, home of the Minnesota Twins, is one of the newer ballparks in Major League Baseball and originally debuted back in 2010. The ballpark originally featured a large green batters’ eye area in dead center field that was decorated with pine trees. The green area, however, made it difficult for the players to track the ball when batting at the plate; the Twins organization installed a black wall in its place. Fast forward to 2019 and the Minnesota Twins are adding the first “living wall” in Major League Baseball.

The Twins were searching for a feature that enhances Target Field’s aesthetics but doesn’t interfere with the players’ ability to see the baseball. The living wall will measure more than 2,200 square feet, and will consist of nearly 6,000 sea green juniper plants that will be irrigated by Target Field’s Pentair system. The Pentair system is able to efficiently recycle rainwater and also keeps the rest of the playing field nourished. The living wall will be manufactured by Green Living Technologies (Rochester, New York) while Cityscapes (Boston, Massachusetts) will handle the wall’s installation.

The juniper plants will be installed each March just before Opening Day and will be stored at a local nursery during the cold winter months. The Minnesota Twins will host the Cleveland Indians on March 28, 2019 for what will be the Twins’ earliest season opener in franchise history.

 

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