Why You Should Use Living Walls

Living walls – a ‘green wall’ made of plant life that has been growing up a vertical wall in layers or struts – have become increasingly popular in recent years. Although they were originally just used for hotel lobbies and fancy office buildings, they have started to spread into homes as well.

While walls can be used for many things, there’s a special something to living walls that make them feel unique and creative. But why should you use them in your own property, whether that’s in the garden or as a back wall of your living room?

Baltimore, Maryland and the greater Anne Arundel County, Maryland area are within our delivery zone at EWM Dumpster Rental.

Relaxation

Plants are relaxing. No matter how much time you tend to spend around them, they can always improve a space, either by adding some green to a bland room or by offering some unique scents and a more natural atmosphere. A living wall is no exception, and can work really well in many cases.

If you want a space to be a bit more relaxed and encourage people to enjoy their time there, then a living wall will work well. It doesn’t completely overhaul a space, but it makes a big enough change to drastically improve how the room looks and feels without getting in the way.

Style

The raw style behind a living wall makes it something worth owning, especially if you struggle to find time to sit outside and enjoy your garden. Not only are they a beautiful thing to look at, but they double as a living and ever-changing work of art, one that you can modify at any time.

If you’re always working or relaxing better when you’re in touch with nature, this gives you a way to experience the outdoors without actually leaving your home. With the right conditions, you might even be able to grow off-season plants, keeping your favorite style all year round.

Insulation

As strange as it might sound, living walls are a great option for insulation. They can help retain heat when it’s cold, meaning that you aren’t opening up a room to more drafts when you install a living wall there. This natural shielding can make a big difference if the temperature drops significantly.

On the other hand, they can be a natural cooling aid during hot seasons. Thanks to the way that most plants handle the heat, they can often suck away some of the warmth to help your home stay reasonably cool and comfortable.

Air Quality

As you might expect, a living wall will boost your air quality by eating up all of the carbon dioxide and monoxide in your home, as well as other harmful air toxins. Since they breathe out regular air, they also help keep your home from getting stuffy.

This improvement in air quality can have a lot of benefits. People with breathing issues won’t struggle quite as much, and you might wake up faster in the morning due to the fresh air. More importantly, any toxins in the air can be dealt with naturally, before they become a problem. 

Improving the quality of a room’s air can have a range of advantages and no real downsides, making it a bit more comfortable for everybody who uses it. However, a large part of this comes from the fact that a living wall will manage both the humidity and purity levels of the air.

Air Humidity

Like the air quality, living walls can also regulate the humidity of a space. Since they need to be watered every so often (with the frequency dictated by the plants used in the wall itself), they’ll often suck water out of the air – including excess humidity.

This can help you avoid those awkward warm weeks where everything is very humid and the air feels sticky. It’s also a nice way to deal with lingering humidity from a shower or some boiling food, since the water vapor can often travel between rooms if you don’t keep doors closed between them.

Air Purity

While air quality might be a more general benefit, it’s important to note that living walls can also purify the air. This can get rid of unwanted compounds that could harm you in the long term, and can offer a range of other short-term benefits.

If you suffer from issues that are either caused or worsened by impure air – like a sore throat, fatigue, or eye irritation – then you might find a living wall useful. They can clean up the space and make it much more comfortable, all without introducing any new issues to the air quality.

Property Value

While it might not matter to a lot of people that just want a fancy wall, a living wall is such a unique concept that it will improve the value of your property quite substantially. If you add on any grants or other benefits that you can earn from the eco-friendly nature, this becomes even more obvious.

Like a lot of more minor home improvements, the total impact on your home can actually be quite important in the far future. If you’re wanting to sell your home, a well-maintained living wall can help you squeeze some more money out of the sale – which is never a bad thing.

The exact improvement depends on what you’ve gotten installed – the larger the living wall, and the more valuable it might be to potential buyers, the higher the property value will be. Exterior living walls can offer plenty of value too, making them a great option if you plan to sell eventually.