Most of Rosewood’s work involves designing and installing new vertical gardens.  However, we can also replace a living wall for you, should it be necessary.  There can be many reasons why an existing plant wall might need updating, or even replacing altogether.  Not a Rosewood living wall, of course!  A well-designed and professionally installed living wall should stay looking great for many years.  Certainly, at Rosewood we want our customers to benefit from our commitment to the highest standards.  However, we’re sorry to say that not every company works to the same level.

Why would a living wall need replacing?

Sadly, a lower-quality living wall installation may only last a short time, and the same might be true of a DIY installation.  What causes the problems?  One issue might be that the structure itself may fail.  Alternatively the way it’s set up may not give the plants the best environment to stay healthy and strong.  A third possibility is that the plants themselves could be weak and unhealthy specimens that don’t thrive.  It might even be that the wrong species have been chosen that couldn’t possibly work in the particular location.  A company with years of experience, known for high standards, will do it right!

How to do it right

When Rosewood designs a green wall we consider the planting very carefully.  For instance, if the location is shady for part of the day, it would be pointless filling a vertical garden with plants that need a lot of sun.  Likewise, if it’s in full sun the whole time, planting ferns or other shade-loving species would be a mistake.  Another point to consider is that plants that grow deep roots won’t like being confined in a living wall.  Basically any plant that wouldn’t like growing in a container won’t like being part of a vertical garden.

As well as selecting the best planting design for the location, we also use the best possible components for our living walls.  PlantBox, by Growing Revolution, is an eco-friendly, efficient and well-made system – we don’t use anything else!  The PlantBox troughs provide the ideal container, with water reservoirs that allow clients to water just once a week or so.  Of course, we can fit automatic irrigation so that no manual watering at all is necessary.

An example for you

The photos accompanying this post are from a job we did recently in Belsize Park.  The client asked us to replace a living wall that was not in a good state.  We started by removing the whole thing, including the structure.  Then we started from scratch, taking the utmost care every step of the way.  We began by installing our PlantBox system, then filled the troughs with the plants we had already selected at the design stage.  The location looks as though it’s indoors, but in fact the steps lead up and out into the garden, so the temperature and conditions indicated outdoor planting rather than houseplants.

The large image at the top of the post shows us putting the finishing touches to the new vertical garden, filling the water reservoirs.  Below you can see the old wall before we removed it, and some pictures of the installation at various stages.

If you’d like us to help with replacing a living wall that is no longer looking its best, give us a call.  Alternatively, if you’ve never had a green wall but would like one, we’d love to help you work out the best location and planting for your property.  Phone us on 01727 811448 and speak to Calum, our living walls manager.  He’ll be able to answer any questions and discuss your requirements.