Moss Walls vs Living Walls: What’s The Difference Between Them?
One of the hottest trends in office design right now is the green wall. By installing a living wall or a moss wall, a workplace instantly provides its staff and clients with beautiful decor that can also help improve their wellness and productivity. The preserved moss in a moss wall or the live plants in a living wall can also provide an acoustic solution to indoor noise issues. In addition, the live plants deliver all-natural air purification to the people around them. And these are just a few of the many benefits that green walls can offer.
If you’re interested in installing a living wall or a moss wall in one or more interior commercial spaces, or if you’re just curious about the benefits that different green walls can offer, you’ve come to the right place. Read on to learn about moss walls vs living walls and how they can transform your workplace, help your employees, and impact your organization’s brand.
Moss Walls vs Living Walls
Moss Walls and Living Walls are both types of vertical gardens that bring nature indoors, contributing to an aesthetic appeal and various health benefits. However, these two types of indoor plant walls differ in several aspects, such as the types of plants used, maintenance requirements, and the overall purpose.
Here are the key differences between Moss Walls vs Living Walls:
Plant Types
Moss Walls primarily consist of preserved moss, which is no longer alive. Common types of moss used include reindeer moss, pillow moss, flat moss, and pole moss.
In contrast, Living Walls, also known as green walls or vertical gardens, consist of a wide variety of living plants, including ferns, flowers, herbs, and even small trees.
Maintenance
Moss Walls require minimal maintenance, as the moss is preserved and does not need watering, sunlight, or soil to thrive. Moss green walls only need occasional dusting and protection from direct sunlight to maintain their appearance.
On the other hand, Living Walls require regular maintenance, including watering, fertilizing, pruning, and monitoring for pests and diseases. Living plant walls also require proper lighting, either natural or artificial, to ensure healthy plant growth.
Installation
Moss Walls are relatively easy to install and can be mounted on various surfaces using frames, panels, or directly adhering the moss to a backing material.
Living Walls require a more complex installation process, which often involves integrating an irrigation system, planters, and a support structure to hold the plants in place.
Water And Light Requirements
Moss Walls do not require water or light, as the moss is no longer alive. This makes them suitable for low-light areas and spaces where watering plants is not practical.
Living Walls, on the other hand, require access to water and light, either natural or artificial, to support the living plants.
Environmental Benefits
Both Moss Walls and Living Walls provide environmental benefits, such as improving indoor air quality and reducing noise pollution.
However, Living Walls offer additional benefits, such as thermal insulation, which can help regulate building temperature, and improved biodiversity by supporting a variety of plant species.
Aesthetics And Design Flexibility
Moss Walls offer a unique, tactile aesthetic, with variations in texture and color that can create a striking visual impact.
Living Walls provide a wider range of design possibilities, as they can incorporate various plant species with different colors, textures, and growth habits.
The Inspiration Of Moss Walls And Living Walls
At Green Oasis, our core motivator is the concept of biophilic design. This design concept is based on the biophilia hypothesis, which was created by biologist and naturalist Edward O. Wilson. Wilson concluded that humans are innately driven to seek out natural environments and find comfort in them.
People enjoy being around plants and greenery for more than just aesthetic reasons. We are drawn to nature-inspired environments because they have a positive effect on us, from providing air purification to acoustic comfort to many more perks.
Benefits of Moss Walls and Living Walls
Moss walls and living walls are statement pieces that look fantastic, whether they are displaying an organization’s brand or being featured on social media — and if you add a green wall, you can expect to have customers and employees post and share lovely photos of it.
Plus, indoor plant walls bring several physical and physiological benefits to the people who work and live among them. Studies show that people who are working near indoor plant walls or nature-inspired elements indoors display improved cognitive functions, including the following:
- Reduced stress
- Increased productivity
- Faster healing
- Better mood
- Higher creativity
More employers are rethinking their shared spaces and finding ways to make people feel better when they’re back in their workplaces. Because nature-inspired designs are so beneficial and can create a better indoor experience, indoor green walls are surging in popularity.
Many interior designers and architectural designers recognize that the future of urban living lies in coexisting with nature. People all over the world are looking to change the way that shared spaces are built and managed, by bringing plant walls indoors. Green walls, including both living walls and moss walls, are just one unique and tailored way that employers can let nature-inspired designs benefit their staff while promoting their business.
Indoor Living Plant Walls: Benefits to Grow
Companies considering indoor living walls as part of their interior design can choose between living walls and moss walls. If you are seeking a dynamic element for your office’s biophilic design, a living wall is the way to grow.
As the name implies, a living wall is made with live plants and will require some maintenance. However, this green plant wall is surprisingly easy to care for. Every Green Oasis living wall includes a self-watering irrigation system, thanks to our unique POD Living Wall System. This living wall system design ensures that leaves and debris do not enter the system to attract bugs or pests and that plants cannot be blown or bumped out of place. Should a plant need to be replaced for a different color or seasonal style, the removable pot in the POD design makes the replacement process a snap. Plus, PODs are modular and can accommodate any curves or shapes, making your company’s living wall an innovative and one-of-a-kind workplace decor that is incredibly easy to manage and maintain.
In addition to being low-maintenance, living walls make gorgeous and highly beneficial additions to commercial spaces. The indoor plant wall provides the benefits of nature within a workplace. Employees who work near an indoor green wall can enjoy the all-natural air purification and acoustic comfort that the plants offer. Both Apple and Amazon have embraced indoor living walls, combining nature with the workplace by adding living walls to their corporate offices.
Preserved Moss Walls: Low Maintenance, Highly Customizable
A moss wall is another fantastic green wall choice that offers a highly customizable set of options while requiring zero maintenance once it is installed.
Green Oasis’ preserved moss is made from real live moss that has been sustainably harvested and undergone an industry-secret preservation process, making it both beautiful and durable. In fact, our indoor moss wall can last more than ten years without needing water or sunlight.
Companies love the low-maintenance features of non-toxic moss walls, which never require care or pruning and have a CLASS A fire rating, yet still offer many of the biophilic design benefits of a living wall. Even though the plants in a moss green wall are preserved, employers still report increased productivity from their staff, who find the moss green wall to be a great acoustic solution that dulls bothersome workplace noises. While the different kinds of preserved moss wall options land at different points of the Noise Reduction Coefficient (NRC) scale, with 0 being no sound absorption and 1.0 being 100% sound absorption, the Green Oasis selections for indoor moss walls have between .55 and .90 NRC ratings.
In addition to its durable qualities, preserved moss walls come in a diverse range of types, colors, and shapes, including the dimensional Pole Moss, the tall and lush Pillow Moss, the clean and simple Flat Moss, and the versatile Reindeer Moss. If you want to take your indoor moss wall or design to the next level, consider how Reindeer Moss is available in 14 different colors.
Unsure whether you have enough indoor space for a moss wall? Remember that preserved moss can be customized into smaller features, like acoustic moss tiles or a backdrop piece. You can even have your company’s logo designed in preserved moss, demonstrating your corporate brand’s commitment to the environment and a green approach to business.
Choosing Between Moss Walls vs Living Walls
Because green walls are so customizable and easy to care for, it’s no wonder that the living wall and moss wall popularity is growing. Adding a living wall or a moss wall certainly gives an office a statement piece that will capture positive attention. More than that, indoor plant walls can offer myriad benefits to employees, impacting their productivity as well as their wellness.
Whether you want a living wall or a moss wall, there’s a fantastic-looking and easy-care biophilic solution available for you — one that everyone who walks into your office will love and that will wow people who see photos of it online and on social media. Contact Green Oasis today, and learn how this small business with more than 12 years of experience with interior plant services can design and install a green wall in your workplace that will help employees take root and support your business’ growth opportunities.