Green Walls or Living Walls. They mean the same thing and they truly make walls come alive with the vibrancy of plants. They are not all easy to create or maintain, but when you have professionals who not only understand plants and Green Walls, but also joinery and working with Architects and Builders, you have a solutions-based outcome up front.
When you start with the right information and resources, you allow yourself the time needed to not only have the up-front solutions, but time to make changes or corrections along the way. Isn’t that what we want? Easy installation. Easy maintenance. Lush, fresh, healthy plants…always.
Joinery by Design
Green Walls are often interwoven with joinery to bring office plants to the next level. Making them fit directly into their environment, as if they belong there from the beginning, is what architects and designers want for their clients. Putting the two together is not always as simple as getting the right size and having your builder install the joinery. Plants are living. They need space. Space for their root systems, water irrigation and storage, and enough light to reach every plant. In addition, some plants need more space, light, and water than others.
While you are the expert in design, professional plant hire companies are the expert in plants. They should also have a thorough understanding of your joinery project, and the complexities the builder may face when building these on site. This will support the ongoing success of the green wall. Working together will completely ease the installation and deliver best outcomes for everyone involved.
Collaborate Early
When it comes to green walls and joinery, it makes sense to collaborate with your professional indoor plant maintenance company long before you determine the size of your joinery. How much space do you need between each plant? How deep should the space be underneath the plant? Can it be placed next to a west facing window? Do I need plumbing or drainage? Do we need additional lights installed? How many lights?
Knowing the details of what is required well in advance means those changes and corrections can be dealt with before any construction begins. This is a substantial bonus for a smooth installation. The alternative could be a disaster. For the sake of a phone call early in the design stage, you can help everyone involved to have that easier installation.
Space, Light, and Water:
- Plants don’t just need space between them. They need depth for their roots within the pots and space for water to be captured below for the plant to ‘drink’ whenever it needs to. This allows them to remain healthy between maintenance visits, allowing the professional plant technician to top up, clean, clip or replace the plants as needed. (Over time, all plants will need replacing indoors to keep them looking their healthiest as required in an office space).
- Plants create nutrients from strong light sources. This is how they grow and thrive, and stay healthy throughout the year. Giving them light, from natural or artificial sources, means they will continue to grow and flourish. Staff and visitors alike will be entranced by the beauty of your green wall when it’s been installed with correct light for the particular plants within it. Professionals understand just what is required for best results.
- Correctly monitored irrigation is going to play a huge role in the success of your living green wall. Without proper water amounts, plants can die very quickly. Getting this right, with or without plumbing and drainage, is the job of the professionals. They will ensure plants given the water they need, replacing plants as needed until they are all settled.
The Greater Good
We all know by now; Green Walls can reduce air pollution and reduce stress levels in the workplace. This leads to less sick days, better moods, and higher productivity. Now that’s good, but what if we can help the environment as well?
Architects and designers can easily help move towards best outcomes by installing green walls into their projects, with little or no complications with the support of plant professionals. It’s so much more than just higher productivity and wellbeing for the occupants. It’s giving them a way to support their natural prevalence to move towards a more biophilic future for the world.
It’s not just the nature of plants, but it’s intrinsically connected to science. In the built environment, it’s a matter of allowing ourselves to be part of our natural world.
Contact Green Design here to see how we can help you get your project off to the right start for your plant installations.
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