A Living Wall is a wall partially or completely covered with vegetation. Living Walls are also known as Green Walls, Bioboards, Biowalls, Ecowalls, or Vertical gardens. The Living Walls may be indoors or outside, freestanding or attached to an existing structure.
Common Types of Living Wall
Panel System
Panel systems use wall panels with pre-planted plants. The panels are installed directly onto the wall of a building using a support structure.Plants are pre-grown into panels that can be used inside or outside, and in any type of climate. A phenomenal example of a panel green wall system is sagegreenlife’s Custom Built-In Living Walls.
Tray Systems
Plants are pre-grown off-site and inserted into the wall, which allows for a great degree of design flexibility, especially since trays can be easily removed and replaced. Typically cheaper than panel systems, tray systems are most commonly used in interior settings.
With tray systems, each individual tray is designed to hold a measured amount of water, which means that plants do not have to compete for hydration. Also, because of the orientation of the trays, neither soil nor water spills forward, which makes them suitable for indoor environments.
Since the plants are rooted in soil, tray systems can lead to bugs, fungus, mold and even pathogens. Therefore, they often have to replaced at least every month, which can be costly and inefficient.
Freestanding Walls
Freestanding walls are smaller, movable living walls that can be placed in indoor or outdoor settings. They can be placed against a wall or in the middle of a room, and are ideal for temporary spaces or floor plans that change over time. They can also be used as partitions or room dividers.
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Living Walls are Visually Pleasing
One advantage of living walls is that they can be extremely visually appealing. Adding natural elements to the interior or exterior of a building is a great way to brighten up the surrounding area and immediately improve your mood.
When installed indoors, a living wall can make for a more relaxing, pleasant environment. Outdoors, it can greatly improve curb appeal, make a building eye-catching, and even hide unattractive parts, if any.
They Provide Temperature Control and Heat Reduction
Living walls can be a saving grace. Plants are better at absorbing sunlight than reflecting it, much unlike the hard surfaces that make up most cities. Increasing the amount of vegetation in urban areas often has a positive effect, significantly reducing the amount of trapped heat.
Living Walls Can Reduce Energy Costs
Exterior living walls can reduce surface temperatures by as much as 10°C! This means lower air conditioning costs in the summer, as less heat makes it indoors. This is valid for interior green walls, too.
In winter, green walls provide extra insulation, helping to keep the temperature indoors nice and toasty. And, just like in summer, this can reduce your energy bills, sometimes by as much as 20%!
Vertical Gardens Promote Biodiversity
Living walls can be extremely beneficial in encouraging insect and bird populations, especially in urban areas. Plus, their design means you won’t have to sacrifice tonnes of space in order to promote a sustainable, diverse environment.
This is just one of the benefits that green walls share with green roofs, too.
They Purify The Air Around Us
One of the most important living wall benefits is that they are an excellent way to fight air pollution since they act as a natural filter.
Plants convert the “undesirables” in the air, such as carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, into oxygen. This significantly reduces the amounts of CO2 in the air, improving the air quality and the general well-being of people in the area.
Living Walls Can Lower The Amount Of Dust
Vertical green walls can work wonders when it comes to air purification, so they’re a great investment for areas that tend to get dusty.
Green Walls Help Reduce Noise Levels
Living walls are a great noise reduction solution. Due to their absorption properties, plants can reduce noise levels nearly by half! This can create the perfect environment in an office, where people need to be able to focus, or at home, where you just want to relax.
Vertical Gardens Can Add Value To The Building
Another one on the list of living wall benefits is that they make the interior or exterior of a building stand out. Living green walls are featured in (or on) hotels, restaurants, retail stores, spas, exclusive clubs, etc. more often nowadays.
Moreover, green walls are a fantastic marketing tool that can be implemented to promote a company’s eco-friendly and sustainable vision. A living wall can increase the value of both commercial and residential properties significantly.
Living Walls Provide a Rainwater Buffer
Some areas are at a higher risk of flooding, especially older ones where rainwater and wastewater end up in the same place.
Living walls offer a solution to this problem, as they not only slow the rainwater down, they can also retain and evaporate some of it. Some systems even collect the excess rainwater for irrigation purposes, making green walls almost self-sufficient!
They Improve Your Well-Being
This is a result of all the other benefits of living walls combined. If you live in a highly urbanised city, like London, for example, you’re undoubtedly surrounded by concrete, asphalt, noise, and pollution. This can be detrimental to both your physical and mental wellbeing.
An abundance of vegetation in these kinds of concrete jungles can drastically improve your quality of life. From providing environmentally beneficial effects, like temperature control and air purification, to creating a calm and uplifting work, home, or outdoor space.They can even help in surprising ways, like boosting workplace productivity and patient recovery rates in hospitals!
How to Choose a Living Wall
Purpose and Goals
Before specifying a living wall, consider its primary function and objectives. Is aesthetics your primary driver, or do you also want it to serve a specific environmental purpose, e.g., air purification, noise reduction, or biodiversity? Establishing the goals early on will help guide design decisions and influence the selection of appropriate plant species.
Location and Orientation
Considering the location and orientation of the living wall is vital in ensuring its long-term survival and effectiveness. Factors such as sunlight exposure, wind patterns, and ambient temperature should be taken into account. We can advise if the proposed location of your living wall is appropriate and which plants would work best. South-facing elevations will allow for a wide variety of colorful flowering plants, while north-facing living walls require a more restrained palette of shade-tolerant plant species.
Hydroponics vs Soil
While the idea of growing with soil seems natural, it poses challenges, especially in non-natural, thin substrate locations like commercial greenhouses and vertical green walls. Soil, in such environments, lacks the self-regulatory systems found in natural landscapes, leading to a decline in its ability to promote plant growth over time.
Structural Support
Installing a living wall cladding system on an existing or new structure requires an evaluation of the structural support and modifications to accommodate the additional weight. The load-bearing capacity should be assessed by a structural engineer to ensure that the wall can safely handle the weight of the plants, substrate, and irrigation system.
Irrigation
A well-designed irrigation system is essential for maintaining a healthy living wall. The BioPanel™ system includes a fully integrated automatic remotely monitored irrigation system. A plant room or roadside cabinet will be required to house the controller, pump, and other associated components. As part of our maintenance packages, we remotely monitor and manage the irrigation system, allowing us to adapt to the ever-changing needs of a living wall and identify and rectify faults before they affect the living wall. PlantBox living walls can have a simpler irrigation system, from a simple hoselock connection with a tap timer to a fully automatic irrigation system.
Plant Selection
Choosing appropriate plant species for the living wall will ensure it looks great for years to come. Our design team will pick species from our extensive tried and tested plant database, chosen to complement the local climatic conditions, aesthetic, and environmental aspirations. To ensure the wall looks great all year round, we choose evergreen plant species; seasonal flowering plants can be included for a pop of color and to attract pollinators. Plant species can be zoned or as part of a cohesive matrix.
Lighting
Living walls need at least 1000 lux for plants to thrive; if the location doesn’t get enough light, supplementary lighting will be required. Although we can advise on requirements, we recommend working with a lighting engineer.
Creating Habitats
Biodiversity is often high on the agenda when designing a living wall. Including a wide variety of plants and native species in living walls fosters biodiversity. Including flowering plants ensures a continuous food source for pollinating insects, with staggered blooming times to maintain nutrition. Incorporating habitat boxes into living walls offers safe havens for insects. These features cater to lacewings, ladybirds, invertebrates, and various solitary bee species, contributing to insect diversity.
Access
An often overlooked yet critical aspect of specifying a living wall is ensuring adequate access for installation, maintenance, and inspection. Careful planning for access points should be integrated into the design to facilitate regular and efficient maintenance tasks. Access for temporary equipment such as scaffolds, scissor lifts, and cherry pickers should be considered.
Maintenance and Care
The long-term success of a living wall is dependent upon a robust maintenance and care program. Before specifying a living wall, consider the ongoing maintenance requirements and ensure you provide clear guidance to the end-users or caretakers. We offer a full maintenance service to keep living walls looking their best. We also offer a performance guarantee which ensures 95% plant coverage at all times.
Irrigation
Living walls are often referred to as Vertical Gardens and for a good reason, because that is exactly what they are – they are gardens that grow on walls and consequently require much the same sort of care as a normal garden. As any good gardener knows one of the key ways of maintaining thriving plants is by ensuring the plants are watered correctly. From time to time it is important to check that all aspects of the irrigation system are functioning including timers, filters, valves etc.
Access
This is not always an immediately obvious consideration but we do advise that you think carefully about where you situate your living wall. Maintenance will be necessary from time to time and depending on the size and location of the installation, anything from a ladder to a scissor lift will be necessary. Again our experts are always available to advise on exactly what type of access will be needed.
Drainage
Whether the living wall is indoors or outdoors it is important to check that there is no water collection building up as a result of clogged drainage. Check for organic matter such as dead leaves, soil, and mud and also check for public litter, which can also build up over time.
Plants
No living wall plant is static. As a living organism it is subject to the same laws of nature that we are and consequently the plants in your vertical garden will need attention. Check for leaf damage, disease, die-back, and any dead foliage. This will give you some idea as to the health of the plants. Some weeding may be necessary for external plants and some interior plants may also require dusting.
Light
Plants on a living wall require specific light conditions. Some require shade others direct sunlight. Getting this right at the start of installation is essential and consulting a company that specialises in vertical gardens can save an awful lot time and money.
FAQ
Q: Do living walls get mold?
Q: Do living walls need waterproofing?
Exterior living walls generally do not need waterproofing between the system frame and the building, as it was already designed to withstand weather and the elements. As a preventative measure, we caulk or silicone the holes we drill into a wall to protect it from any water intrusion.
Q: What is a living wall?
Q: What are the requirements for a living wall?
Q: How is a living wall constructed?
●A steel framework is affixed to a wall, fence or other structure.
●Depending on system, to this is attached a) a network of troughs or pockets in which plants are planted in growing medium or b) pre-vegetated mats.
●The plants are positioned on the wall according to the planting plan, which takes into account, visual impact, coverage, year round interest, bio-diversity etc.
●The plants are fed and watered using an irrigation system or hydroponics system.
●All walls require a maintenance system to ensure that plants remain healthy and are replaced when required.
Q: What are the financial benefits of living walls?
Q: Do living walls reduce storm water runoff?
If storm water management is a high priority, the rain should first be captured from the roof, stored in a cistern, then filtered and used to irrigate your living wall.
Q: How do I select green wall plants?
●Annual plants.
●Perennial plants.
●Edibles such as vegetables, herbs, and strawberries.
●Succulents.
●Tropical Plants.
Q: How often do green walls need to be watered?
Q: How does the height of the living wall system affect irrigation?
Q: Is supplemental lighting required for indoor living walls?
Q: How long should indoor plants be artificially lit?
Q: How long do living walls last?
Q: What is the benefit of an indoor living wall?
●A unique interior feature unlike anything you can buy in a store.
●Low-maintenance hobby for people with less time on their hands.
●Great indoor garden for homes short on outdoor space.
Q: What plants are suitable for outdoor living wall?
Q: How do living walls reduce energy costs of a building?
Q: How to maintain a living wall?
●Inspection and functional testing of irrigation systems.
●Inspecting cable and wire-rope systems.
●Feeding and fertilizing.
●Removing weeds.
●Cutting back climbers and perennials.
●Pruning woody plants.
●Repeat seeding.
●Repeat planting.
●Pest control.
●Removal of refuse.
●Plant protection.
●Inspection of the drainage system.
Q: Can I grow a living wall indoors?
Q: Do I need a professional to install a living wall?
Q: Can your living wall be customized to fit any size wall?
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Living Wall, Indoor Plant Wall, Plant Wall