Living walls are becoming ever more fashionable. They are the perfect way of bringing the beauty and tranquillity of the outdoor world into your home. Living walls can either be incorporated into existing structures or built to stand freely on their own. Many people feel that modern cities are too dead, grey, and bland. They lack the variation that is found in gardens and other natural, open spaces.
Not only are living walls a really effective way of beautifying any home, they are also much easier to set up, install, and maintain than many people realise. Keeping the plants on a living wall alive is easy as long as the owner pays attention, in particular to the irrigation and lighting systems.
Lighting
Most living wall owners opt for LED lighting over other types. This is due to the fact that when looked at in terms of how much they cost to run per hour, LED lights tend to come out ahead of the competition.
Of course, positioning your wall so that plenty of natural light can reach it is a good idea. It is sunlight that allows plants to thrive in outdoor environments and it is just as good for living wall plants indoors. If you’re wondering where can you install a living wall, the lighting and positioning of windows inside your home is a good guide to use.
Irrigation
Irrigation is the method by which you allow water to drain from your living wall whenever it is watered, and plays an important role in determining the overall health of your garden. There are two types of irrigation system; recirculating irrigation, and direct irrigation although we only use the direct irrigation method.
As the name suggests, recirculating irrigation is an irrigation system which recycles the water and feeds it back into the system as it drains. This means that only a relatively small amount of water is needed to keep watering indoor living wall plants. The water is supplied from a main tank, which needs to be refreshed fairly regularly in order to ensure that there is an adequate supply at all times. The water is pumped around the wall and distributed as evenly as possible to all the plants that comprise it. As gravity pulls the water down the wall, it collects at the bottom and can then be fed back into the tank.
A direct irrigation system, rather than using a pump or tank, applies water directly from an external source, usually the same source that is providing water to the rest of the home. Sometimes the water used is mixed with fertiliser and other substances designed to encourage the health of the plants.
A correctly calibrated living wall will give very minimal or no run-off which is why we choose the latter option.
Benefits
Living walls offer a number of benefits, both in terms of aesthetics and practicality. Clearly a well maintained living wall will make a beautiful addition to any home, but as well as looking nice they also offer a number of more practical benefits. For example, living walls are very effective at absorbing pollution from the surrounding air and thus increasing the overall air quality in the home.
Grow your brand (literally)! From covering your entire building with plants to a small entrance feature with big impact. Using a living wall with your brand is a great way to demonstrate sustainability.
