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.
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 a 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.