Get an instant mood-boost with a Gromeo mini green wall
Nikaya is a designer and artist based in Berlin. With strong interests in materiality and the social dimensions of design, she is drawn to innovative projects which challenge existing processes and perceptions.
The stylish hexagonal panels of Gromeo create a lush pocket of jungle wall that is easy to hang and maintain.
Are you itching to get some greenery to your rooms? Impatient, lacking in space for pot plants and not sure which varieties to select? A Gromeo green wall panel could be the perfect instant fix to introduce some natural green vitality and life.
Why Gromeo? To easily transform indoor spaces bringing some greenery from the outdoors in
Gromeo panels are great in a home, office, or commercial spaces. They come fully planted and require no power or plumbing to be installed.
The minds behind Gromeo – Habitat Horticulture
Habitat Horticulture is a firm obsessed with using natural greenery to enhance the places where people live and work. They design, install, rent, and maintain living walls and plant installations, and revel in bringing people closer to nature. There is also a strong view of sustainability and the mental health benefits that plantings bring.
The San Francisco and Los Angeles based company was founded by horticulturist David Brenner in 2011. David studied horticulture at California Polytechnic State University, with a focus on environmental psychology. His apprenticeship was undertaken at the prestigious Kew Gardens in London.
The technology of living walls pulls together knowledge from horticulture with engineering and architecture. The company is staffed with landscape architects, industrial designers, botanists and horticulturalists.
The firm has created living walls at many scales. David Brenner’s The Living Wall at San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art completed in 2016 is the largest living wall in the US. His work Urban Ecotones in Oakland, California was honored with achieving public art status. Habitat Horticulture installations can also be found on the walls of top companies like Salesforce, Autodesk and Tesla.
Curious to know more about products that add green to the home? Don’t miss Liven your space with Limbus GreenFrame – Dedicated furniture for your plants.
Materials & Techniques – Maplewood and a unique growing medium called GrowtexTM
The front and back panels of Gromeo are a natural maple finished plywood. Between the panels, and visible at the sides is a white polystyrene edging.
Not quite a set and forget display, the Gromeo is still very low maintenance and just needs topping up with water every two weeks. It is completely self-contained and the one-gallon water reservoir in the bottom keeps the plants moist for up to 3 weeks.
A soft inner structure of pockets houses the plants and keeps them perfectly moist and aerated. Capillary action draws the right amount of water from the reservoir up to the roots. The pockets are constructed from a special geotextile called GrowtexTM which is unique to Habitat Horticulture and made from 100% recycled PET.
Gromeo comes ready to hang. A selection of plants have already been arranged in their pocket homes and the panel just needs to be attached to the wall.
There are two sizes. The standard is 24″ high and 26 ½″ wide and weighs approximately 25lb. when filled with water. A mini Gromeo weighs 12lb and is 17 ½″ and 19 5/16″ wide. Both sizes are 4 5/8″ deep. Gromeo is made in Berkeley, California.
Style & Aesthetics – Compact and versatile
Gromeo living wall panels are stylish and compact. The natural timber surround provides a simple framing that sets off the soft greenery. The hexagonal shape also lends itself well to creating display walls and larger features by placing several Gromeos next to one another.
A range of curated plant palettes can be selected from. Pick from such styles as ‘Green Dreams’ and ‘Satisfy My Soul’, according to the light conditions of the space and aesthetic preferences.
Touching-up the arrangement or a full makeover is very straightforward. Plants can simply be swapped in and out of the pockets.
Plants clean the air and make us feel good
Indoor spaces can suffer from poor air quality. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are known to contribute to fatigue, respiratory problems, and headaches.
Plants have been shown to provide positive benefits for mental health, increase happiness, self-esteem, and concentration. They also trap particulate matter, take in CO2, and release oxygen.
Design memento – Scale down what you already do well
David Brenner and Habitat Horticulture are pioneers of the green wall. Despite the obvious technical challenges of planting vertically, living walls have become extremely sought after for their lushness and sensory appeal. Plus, they provide substantial health and wellbeing benefits, without taking up valuable floor space.
Gromeo reduces the large scale living wall concept to a simplified and compact form. It has all the advantages of classic living walls but eliminates the complexities. A touch of that awe-inspiring jungle wall feeling is now achievable within the home. Yet, it is also versatile enough to create more prominent displays.
Delivering Gromeo already planted ensures that people can quickly install their greenery feature themselves in one step. They can also have confidence that the plants received are well suited to the growing style and medium.
The writer’s comment – The ultimate lockdown accessory
It is no secret that 2020 has been challenging. Focus on having a productive, as well as a relaxing home environment has suddenly become a higher priority. Our appetite for bringing plants into the home has expanded as we seek to reduce stress and anxiety and make up for our reduced ability to move about. Even if that was the daily stroll through a park we got on the commute to work.
Gromeo is well placed to appeal to anyone wanting an easy, compact way to get those plant benefits or spruce up the home office.
Find out more about products that help you bring plants into your space, don’t miss Natede – Technology, design, and nature joined in one to fight against air pollution.
