How to make a live moss wall DIY? Moss walls are among the most original, elegant, and aesthetically pleasing ways to add some greenery to your interior.
A moss wall can be made either from preserved or live moss. Both types of moss wall art have their advantages and disadvantages which we shall take a detailed look at below to help you pick either a preserved or a living wall.
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Living Moss Walls
Live moss walls are indeed appealing in many ways yet most people would never install them inside their houses in spite of this. Let’s figure out why by considering all pros and cons of living walls.
Advantages live moss wall
The aesthetic qualities of moss wall art lead to many benefits most of which we consider obvious enough not to be discussed in this article.
Below we will only mention other qualities of moss having nothing to do with its appearance.
Air purification
Moss consumes carbon dioxide during photosynthesis and feeds on other types of air pollutants as well thus improving the air quality.
As you can see, in sufficient quantities moss will perform just as well as any air filter but for a considerably lower price.
Humidity control
Moss consumes moisture when the humidity is too high and releases it when it’s too dry.
But don’t expect to save money on humidifiers since moss itself requires various methods of watering which commonly come at a larger cost than a regular humidifier.
What can, however, save you some money is the fact that normal humidity levels help you cope with cold and heat much better so you might not use cooling and heating systems as often as you are used to.
Lower noise pollution
Moss has been proven to muffle various sounds sometimes decreasing the noise level by up to 10 Db.
Disadvantages live moss wall
Why would anyone opt for preserved moss anyway if a living moss wall art can bring so much good to one’s home? Well, unfortunately, it’s not the only thing it brings. There is also this.
Moisture
Living moss is a wet substance and requires constant moisture. This will inevitably cause serious damage to your wall and is very difficult to prevent on top of that.
There are basically two situations when you could theoretically hand a living moss wall inside. Either you have a rough concrete (or similar) wall which can’t be damaged by water, or you specifically plan out the hanging location with a specialist.
If you for some reason believe your wall is fit for hanging a living moss wall, we highly recommend you get a professional engineer’s advice first.
Yes, and of course hanging a living moss wall outdoors is a decent option as well so long as the climate in your area allows it.
Need of care
This is perhaps the most obvious quality of moss, but we still have to mention that it requires daily care, which for some people may turn out to be too challenging.
Can You Have a Lliving Moss Wall? Construction and Maintaining Guide
Well, this must have been enough for you to pick your moss wall art type.
In case you are wondering about the qualities of preserved moss walls, we have to disappoint you by saying there is nothing particularly special about them since they are completely dead and dry and only serve as decorations.
So let’s now show you how each type of DIY moss wall can be created and installed.
Living moss walls DIY
1 – Buy moss and other materials
To buy live moss, you first have to consider how much of it you’ll need by choosing the size of your future wall. Get a piece of plywood or a frame (wooden in most cases) of that size.
Then you can roughly estimate the total amount of moss you’ll need. We suggest you buy some extra moss to be able to fill in the gaps in later stages.
To create a background for your moss wall art we recommend using mood moss, pillow moss, or sheet moss while reindeer moss, broom fork moss, prairie sphagnum moss as well as some other rare types of moss (depending on your preferences and the assortment you choose from) will work nicely as accents.
Sheet moss is most commonly used for background and it’s our personal favorite.
And then there is a ton of other organic objects to choose from to make your stunning moss wall art even better. Spider wood roots, twigs, driftwood, dried bark, sponge mushroom, succulents, various living plants, and even rocks – whatever your imagination allows – they can all be found a used.
The only element of the latter list we’d like to clarify is live plants a Live Moss Wall. These can be:
- Air plants (including orchids)
- Strings of hearts
- Brazilian hill flowers
- Pothos
- Ferns
- Vines
And lastly, buy some floral glue. Keep in mind all other non-organic types of glue will kill your plants a Live Moss Wall.
2 – Plan the layout a Live Moss Wall
Create a piece of paper the size of your panel and lay out the pieces of your future moss wall art. Try to stick the pieces to the actual wall in a similar manner and plan the order you’ll do this in advance. We recommend starting with large pieces of hardscape and sheet moss (or whatever else you chose for the background).
3 – Glue everything together
Spread your floral glue evenly across the panel/frame. You can use foam cut-outs to accentuate hillsides and valleys if you want to go for a 3D moss wall.
If you work with a plywood panel, be sure to put some masking tape along the edges to make them look neat after everything is finished.
Now place all the elements according to the pre-planned order. Sure enough, you’ll fail in some areas, and that’s why we advised you to buy some extra moss. Use it to fill in the gaps if you find any after the glue dries.
4 – Hang your moss wall.
If you did everything according to our instructions and didn’t install a custom watering system, you shouldn’t have difficulty hanging your living moss wall.
Just treat it like any other framed picture or piece of plywood – we hope you don’t require any advice in that area.
How do I care after a living moss wall?
Here is a short list of things to do and to avoid which should be enough for you to provide the necessary care for your moss wall.
- Mist the moss wall every day
- Don’t expose it to sunlight – live moss prefers shade; at the same time you have to make sure all the other plants you chose to include receive enough natural light
- Check that none of the pieces of the moss wall are falling out
- Make sure the humidity doesn’t get too low for the live moss can’t exist in dry air
Honorable mentions
You can also avoid creating a DIY moss wall by buying a pre-made living moss wall panel. All you need to do is hand it on the wall and care after it the way we’ve just described.
Artificial and preserved moss walls
First of all, let’s talk about what preserved moss is.
Preserved moss was once a living plant in which the water was later replaced with glycerin. This allows it to retain its spongy structure while.
Keep in mind that preserved moss is not completely like the original live moss it was made from. Preserved moss loses color so it has to be specially dyed, and this means the color of preserved moss can’t quite be called ‘natural’.
Meanwhile, artificial moss, just as its name suggests, is merely a piece of plastic.
It can give an affection of live moss from afar and is very cheap, so getting some of it to create a moss wall for a dark corner of an uninhabited room of your house is not such a bad idea after all.
Construction Guide
The creation process of a preserved moss walls diy is in many ways similar to that of a living wall. Below we shall only mention the differences you have to consider while creating and maintaining your preserved moss wall.
Buying materials and assembling process
In terms of materials remains the same except for the type of moss and glue.
Since you don’t have to worry about killing the moss, you can use wood glue, silicone glue, or basically, any other glue which will work for both surfaces it’s going to be applied on.
You can even use some types of living plants that don’t require a lot of water such as air plants, succulents, etc.
And in terms of how to build a preserved moss frame, there are no differences at all bar a single piece of advice for you.
The dye can leak from preserved moss, so we recommend using gloves while working with it.
Maintaining a preserved moss wall
Firstly, as ironic as it sounds, preserved moss should not be exposed to sunlight just like real moss, but this time because the dye will fade in the sunlight.
Yet unlike live moss, you shouldn’t let your preserved moss wall art become wet.
Also annually spraying your preserved moss wall with some glycerol solution wouldn’t hurt.
Conclusion
There is a number of distinct criteria based on which you have to decide whether a live moss wall would fit into your room.
We provided you with instructions to create both types of green moss walls diy yourself, but if you want to avoid DIY work, buying a pre-made moss frame is also an option. This would be especially justified in the case with life moss for. Read how to grow hydroponic herbs at home
F. A. Q.
How long do moss walls last?
A preserved moss wall can last for decades if you regularly renew the glycerin and dye.
Live moss walls, on the other hand, deteriorate over time, but depending on how well you care for them they can last from a couple of months to a quarter of a century.
Do living moss walls need light?
Yes indeed, since live moss, just like any other plant, feeds on photosynthesis and therefore complete lack of natural light would be fatal for it.
But at the same time, live moss prefers shade to direct sunlight, so too much light would kill it as well.
