To make a moss wall is one of the best and easiest ways of spicing things up on an empty wall in your home. Moss is organic, affordable, and easy to mold and maintain.
A moss wall can be made using either preserved or living moss or a mix of both with other elements such as wood, stones, and plants.
In this article, we will help you with a step-by-step guide to know all about how to make a moss wall easily, keep reading and you will learn all about it.
Contents
How To Make a Moss Wall
1. Gather The Tools Needed
For outdoor or indoor moss wall art, you need a frame or a panel on which you are going to stick the moss. We recommend choosing wooden frames as they are durable, aesthetic, and easy to use with glue.
You can choose the shape of the frame according to your wall size and other needs. They are commonly available in rectangular, square, circular, and hexagonal shapes.
The next thing you need is wood glue and hot glue to stick the moss on the frame. Use good quality glue that spreads easily and has a strong grip. When you have the frame and glue ready, keep your moss ready too.
After adding the moss to the frame, you can add some artificial or living plants for more texture and contrast. Use preserved fern or bryophytes that hang down rather than stick out of the frame. Make sure that the plants complement the moss design making it look more aesthetic. Air plants make for good complementary elements with moss.
Add other hardscape elements such as stones, wood, rocks, dried bark, and twigs to add more nature to your design. Avoid using heavy wood and stones that can clutter the space. Instead, go for light spider wood to add a three-dimensional look.
2. Imagine the Design
It is important to visualize, imagine, and sketch out the shapes you want on your wall. You may do so by editing or making changes that can destroy the moss once it sticks to the glue. Hence you must be careful while handling preserved varieties as the dye can leak and get onto the hands which is why you should always wear gloves.
3. Assemble the Frame
Cut the plywood according to the size and shape you want to go up on the wall. Attach the plywood to the frame. For moderately-sized pieces, use wood glue to attach both parts. If it is too heavy or big, use a staple gun to ensure that the wall foundation stays put.
4. Apply Glue on the Frame
Spread the glue evenly on the frame and use masking tape on the borders to avoid the glue from spreading outside the frame.
For varying depths, allow the moss to be raised and lowered at different places. It will help give that natural, contrasting look.
5. Place the Moss
Let your creativity flow in all directions at this point if you do not have a design in mind. Place larger patches of moss first and fill in the empty spaces with smaller pieces. The finished frame design might not look exactly like what you had planned or drawn. However, this is the beauty of moss – it is imperfect and instinctive.
Since moss does not grow roots, it can easily anchor onto any solid base with the help of its rhizoids. The clustered rhizoids help it stick on flat surfaces. Moss is also cold-hardy but loses its color when the temperatures fall below 20 degrees Fahrenheit. But as spring arrives, it will bounce back and come back to life.
6. Add the Hardscape Elements and Plants
Once you have arranged the moss on the frame, add spider wood, stones, bark, sponge mushrooms, and other elements for detail and contrast. Many dried accessories are available online and in craft stores.
Use glue to make the preserved plants stick to the moss. You can use living air plants such as the Devil’s Ivy but it will require a light spritz of water now and then. Additionally, you can also purchase a living moss wall kit for the outdoor spaces.
7. Use More Glue and Wait
Lay the frame on a flat surface and compress the moss gently into the glue making sure that it sticks perfectly. Now, wait for the next 24 to 48 hours until it all settles in, you must be patient, so that the glue would do the trick.
Check it again and once you are sure that everything is in place, hang the frame. Add filler moss in empty spaces, if needed and your living moss wall frame is ready to go up on the wall.
8. Do the Wiggle Test
Once everything including the moss has settled in and the glue has dried completely, try wiggling the wall. Wiggle the moss and the additional elements by using your finger and here you must make sure that they do not pull off easily. If they seem to come apart easily, use more glue and do not put the art up on the wall until you are sure that nothing would come apart.
9. Maintain the Wall
You do not have to do much with indoor walls when it comes to maintenance. The moss just loses the shine over time or might fall off. In the case of living ones, you need to spray the moss and plants with water now and then to keep the wall healthy.
Check if the plants and succulents can survive the cold weather conditions in the case of outdoor walls. If they die or go dormant, replace them the next spring with something less fussy and hardier.
How To Choose a Moss Wall, Living or Preserved?
– Decision Regarding Maintenance
First things first, if someone says that moss walls do not need maintenance, it means that they are using preserved moss to make a moss wall. Usually, most moss walls are made by using preserved varieties as its water content is replaced by a preservative called glycerol to keep it fluffy and velvety. To maintain the green color, food-grade dye is used.
– Decision on Misting
A living wall needs regular misting to keep the moss alive and healthy. Maintaining the living walls can be tedious as the excess water can cause molds on the wall, causing damage to your property. So if you want to prepare a living wall, we recommend keeping it outside for best results.
– Pest Considerations
Another advantage of using preserved one over the living one is that it is 100 percent pest-free. You do not need to worry about spraying it with pesticides or constantly keeping a check for diseases. You can preserve the moss yourself.
– Location of the Wall
You can choose between preserved and living varieties depending on where you are planning to put up your art. If you want a minimum maintenance wall that you can just sit back and enjoy, use a preserved one. A lot of varieties are available online and in craft stores so you can pick the ones that suit your design.
Although living moss walls are easier to put together, they are only suitable for outdoor spaces like gardens. Also, it can be expensive and time-consuming to maintain living ones indoors as they hold a lot of moisture which makes them heavy. These heavy structures can cause damage to your interior walls.
– Choosing the Type of Moss
For preserved moss wall art, we recommend using a mix of sheet, reindeer and cushion moss. Some people also use artificial moss in frames as it is zero maintenance but if you want a living wall, use preserved or fresh moss in the frame.
Cushion moss is the main highlight and along with it the flat and adjustable sheet moss and textured reindeer moss provide contrasts to the art. If you cannot find two to three types of mosses, you can use only one type too. But using varieties helps give the art a natural and earthy vibe.
Frequently Asked Questions
– How Can I Preserve Moss?
Preserved moss can be expensive and hard to get sometimes. But you can do it yourself by using the glycerol and methylated spirit method or the glycerol and warm water method. Glycerol is a non-toxic, preservative fat that replaces the moisture in the cellulose keeping the moss fluffy and vibrant.
Methylated spirit or denatured alcohol dehydrates the moss, allowing more glycerol to be absorbed. It is an effective and inexpensive way of preserving moss. To preserve the moss, pull out debris and make sure there are no creatures hinged. Wash it properly until it looks clean.
Squeeze excess water and let the debris dry out for the next few hours. Mix one part denatured alcohol and two parts glycerin or one part glycerin and two parts warm water along with the dye. Put the moss in this mixture and make sure that it is fully submerged.
After you have fully submerged you must leave this beautiful plant for 15 minutes to an hour and when it is ready, pull it out and squeeze out the excess mixture. What you must do at the end is to leave it to dry for a few days patiently and it will be used when ready.
– What Is the Purpose of a Moss Wall?
Numerous moss wall benefits make it a perfect addition to home gardens and indoor walls.
Apart from beautifying walls, it is a natural sound absorber, helps reduce household air pollution by reducing carbon dioxide, and also stabilizes moisture levels. It is beneficial for health, productivity, and overall well-being.
– How Do You Keep a Moss Wall Alive?
It is super easy and convenient to keep moss walls alive as the ones made with preserved moss do not need water and flourish on their own with minimum to zero maintenance.
Living moss needs regular misting but that too does not have to be too frequent. The idea is to keep it damp but not water-logged. Overly saturated moss can have fungal growth which can lead to other diseases.
Conclusion
Add this natural piece of craft to hang in your home and add some vibrant vibes to the area.
Here is a recap of all the important points you need to keep in mind before creating a wall of your own.
- Add a little extra pizazz to the walls of your rooms by making a moss wall. It is inexpensive and low-maintenance and has immense benefits. It is easy to put together and works equally well in gardens and indoor spaces.
- Choose the type of moss that you want to put up on the frame – living, preserved or both. We recommend using preserved for indoor spaces and living for outdoor spaces.
- Both indoor and outdoor walls can be made using mosses such as reindeer, sheets or cushions with accessories such as dried bark and plants to make them more aesthetic.
- These walls have immense health and well-being benefits apart from making the spaces look beautiful.
Now that you know all about moss art and how to make your living wall, how are you going to include moss wall decor in your home?
- Growing Brussel Sprouts in Containers – 7 Crucial Steps - May 30, 2023
- How to Care for Carnivorous Plants: Provide The Right Needs - May 26, 2023
- How Long Do Hibiscus Flowers Last: Ways To Elongate - May 24, 2023
