Living Wall Maintenance

As well as installing and maintaining our own living wall projects, our team has an enviable track record for reviving walls and carrying out living wall maintenance for 3rd party installs that have not been maintained correctly. Restoring a living wall system to its original condition is essential for clients who have invested in green walls.

Key Living Wall maintenance considerations

Irrigation

Just like any garden Living walls, or Vertical Gardens, require some care and attention to maintain. However, unlike a normal planted garden, a living wall has little to no soil for roots to find moisture making irrigation a vital componant of the installation and its ongoing maintenance. Soil levels should be checked and topped up where necessary and the irrigation adjusted to continue to provide the correct levels of moisture.

The Urban Greening Company can install and maintain a number of different irrigation or hydroponics systems depending on the type of install you have. Periodic inspections are essential to ensure that the irrigation pump functions properly, water drains down through the system correctly (See Drainage below) and sprinklers or other water distributors are working correctly.

Feeding

Plants require food like any living thing but again, due to a lack of soil, a vertical garden or green wall can offer little long term food to your planting without ongoing assistance. This can often be solved by simply adding nutrients to the irrigation system.  However in smaller installs where there is no automated irrigation, nutrients will need to be provided manually to the plants, through  liquid fertilizer or similar, as part of the regular care and maintenance routine.  The specific amount, type and frequency of fertilizer needed will obviously depend on the requirements of the plants growing on the wall and we can advise you on this either at the install phase or as part of a maintenance proposal or plan.

Drainage

Whether your living wall is indoors or outdoors it is important to ensure that there is no old water building up as a result of clogged or obstructed drainage and that organic matter such as dead leaves, soil, and mud is cleared away.

Plants

As the plants in your living wall or vertical garden thrive and grow (hopefully!) they will need attention. Checking for leaf damage, disease, unusual dieback, and dead foliage are also essential parts of any maintenance routine. This will also give you a good indicator as to the overall health of the plants and whether there are any more serious issues going on. Weeding may be necessary for external installations and interior plants may require dusting or spraying to keep them looking their best.