Summer days have past and we have transitioned into Fall with regular schedules, cool frosty mornings, cozy sweaters and rearranging the house and wardrobes to be ready for winter!
For us at Forage + Design, this is also the season to schedule our Forest Art winter maintenance programs.
Moss With Maintenance:
While not all our installations require winter maintenance, there are some species of moss that require some love over the winter season to maintain the soft and supple textures.
Our only species of moss that require a conditioning treatment is the lovely and most colourful range of moss called Reindeer lichen. While soft and squishy in the spring and summer months when the air humidity is highest, in the late fall and winter it can change and start to dry out. It becomes brittle and easy to break if touched when the humidity is low.
Moss Maintenance:
Maintenance schedules are dependent on when the Forest Art is installed. We suggest monthly conditioning applications in the cooler months after the seasonal humidity has dropped below 45%. In Alberta this tends to be around October/November and spans until mid April. During these months 1 x application per month is what we find works best for the moss. Each month the moss walls are sprayed with our conditioning treatment made up of a glycerin base (no chemicals or scent). After a light application, the moss will soak up the moisture and bounce back to its soft state.
After approximately 2 to 2.5 years of this regular winter maintenance, our research has shown that the moss starts to stabilize with regular treatment and can go longer between conditioning treatments. This is when maintenance can be made every other month from November – April (3 applications instead of 6).
Plant Maintenance:
Some of our most popular Forest Art designs are luxurious shades of green mosses in undulating textures complimented with layers of preserved plants resulting in a real living wall appearance and feel.
Some of the same humidity conditions for our moss also apply to our preserved plant maintenance. The plants are our most delicate items and are the most affected by low humidity and direct sunlight. We typically give our plants about 1 – 2 years before changing out for new plants. Symptoms of plants needing replacing can be curling, shrinking, fading, and sometimes discoloring.
Plant Replacement Process:
After your Forest Art installation, we suggest a replacement visit every 1 or 2 years depending on how quickly your plants need to be replaced. This is a quick procedure with us removing tired plants and installing new, fresh preserved plants. Each time we replace the plants, Forest Art takes on a new design as we like to play with using different plants to compliment and create something a bit different each time for your Art.
Forest Art Care Kits & Maintenance Programs:
If you are looking for care kits or maintenance programs, we recommend you contact us at www.forageanddesign.com. Whether it is for residential or commercial, we have the kits and programs to ensure your Forest Art remains timeless.
Winter has the biggest impact on nature than any other season. In the winter, trees become bare and go dormant, birds migrate south, and many animals hibernate. Let’s embrace and enjoy the seasons change with more time spent indoors, candles lit or fires crackling. Sit back and with a hot beverage snuggled up on your favorite chair and invite calm and stillness to admire the preserved green textures in your hanging Forest Art.