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While large green wall systems like this one are popular in commercial properties, home installations are usually much smaller.

Scott and Sherolene Barr maintain their outdoor green wall themselves, replacing spent flowers as necessary.

This green wall, which consists of schefflera and neon pothos, is located in the lobby of the Embassy Suites at Brooks City Base.

A hidden system waters the schefflera and neon pathos that make up the green wall in the Embassy Suites at Brooks City Base.

Living green has become a way of life. Raising the thermostat in summer, lowering it in winter. Recycling, turning off lights and installing low-flow shower heads.

Whenever you can, you try to live a little greener.

How about taking that next step and planting a green wall?

Vertical surfaces covered with plants — usually living, but not always, usually indoors but sometimes out — green walls have literally grown in popularity in recent years.

These vertical plantings can be large enough to cover entire walls several stories high or small enough to fit in a hang-on-the-wall picture frame.

“We’re definitely seeing an uptick in demand,” said Joshua Senneff, president of San Antonio-based interior horticultural design company Natura, which installs and maintains these walls.

Senneff credits an increase in environmental consciousness as well as the benefits plants provide, including improving health and mood, increasing productivity and reducing heart rate and stress.

Kristen Kidwell checks on the watering system of the green wall. A floor drain prevent flooding.

The first concern many have about green walls has to do with water. Won’t watering plants damage the wall they’re hung on? And what if it spills and causes a flood?

Not to worry, said Stefani Lackey, marketing coordinator for Green Oasis Plantscapes, which has offices in San Antonio and Austin and offers interior plant services.

“The plants aren’t growing out of the wall,” she said. “And the growing systems have built-in drainage.”

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A closer look at many green walls reveals they’re made up of plants growing in either individual pots or an enclosed tray. Whatever the setup, there’s a waterproof barrier between the plants and the wall, so water damage shouldn’t be an issue.

As for watering the plants, that can be done either by hand or automatically.

At the Embassy Suites by Hilton hotel at Brooks City Base, for example, a narrow, 30-foot green wall dominates the lobby. Containing 858 individual plants in 4-inch pots, the wall, installed and maintained by Natura, consists of alternating sections of dark green schefflera and lighter neon pothos.

“When we started, we had a third variety installed,” said Yolanda Barrera, an operations manager with the company. “But those plants struggled, so we took them out.”

This custom wood frame with living air plants and succulents, preserved moss and preserved natural elements was made by Articulture Designs in Austin.

“That’s the thing about green walls,” said Kristen Kidwell, also an operations manager. “These are living things, so they sometimes don’t act like you expect them to.”

The plants in the green wall sit at an angle on horizontal shelves. At every tenth shelf there’s a drip irrigation watering hose like those used in traditional gardening.

The system is on a timer that turns on twice a day, releasing a trickle of water onto the plants.

Drainage holes in the shelves allow excess water to fall to the shelf below. At the very bottom, behind a closed cabinet, a floor drain prevents flooding.

While large green wall systems like this one are popular in commercial properties, home installations are usually much smaller.

Five years ago, Scott and Sherolene Barr had a green wall installed in the backyard of their Olmos Park home to act as a shield for the outdoor pool shower.

Because the 72 plant-containing pots are only 6 to 7 inches wide, it takes a lot of water to keep them alive.

“And when it’s 103 degrees outside or we go out of town it can be impossible,” Sherolene Barr said.

This custom metal frame contains hundreds of tillandsias (air plants).

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So now they replace the plantings twice a year with fresh flowers.

“It’s not hard,” she said. “We go to Home Depot or Lowe’s and get them. You just have to do it if you want the wall to look good.”

But you do need to know which plants to buy for the space.

Horticulture design companies will visit with homeowners before installing a green wall to recommend plantings based on light, humidity and air flow. For an indoor wall in low light, appropriate plants include philodendron brasil and bird’s nest fern, according to Marcus Lloyd, service and installation manager at Green Oasis Plantscapes. In bright light, he recommends most varieties of croton and schefflera arboricola. For outdoors, hedera English ivy and foxtail fern work well in low light, while most sedums and asparagus fern need brighter light.

The benefits of indoor plants are legion.

They’ve been found to reduce physiological and psychological stress, according to a 2015 study in the “Journal of Physiological Anthropology.” A 2013 study out of Exeter University in the United Kingdom that found indoor plants improve worker concentration, productivity and boost staff well-being by 47 percent.

One area where indoor plant’s benefits may have been overstated, however, is their ability to clean the air. NASA even declared they could clean cancer-causing volatile organic compounds.

Kristen Kidwell, bottom and Yolanda Barrera care for the 30-foot green wall in the lobby of the Embassy Suites at Brooks City Base.

But a 2019 study in the “Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology” found that natural ventilation (i.e. opening the window) cleans the air faster than even a jungle of plants.

If you don’t have a green thumb or just don’t want to be bothered with caring for live plants, synthetic substitutes are also available.

SYNLawn, a national company based in Dallas, sells prefabricated grids measuring 31½ inches square that can be installed by the homeowners, according to national sales marketing director Tina Palombei.

“They’re just as beautiful as live green walls, but without the maintenance and watering,” she said. “They’re really good for people with allergies, and the only thing they need is to occasionally be dusted, or hosed off lightly.”

Palombei said the price of individual panels starts at about $300 and can go higher depending on complexity and the types of plants included.

This compares to beginning prices of $300 to $445 per square foot for a green wall installation in a commercial building, according to Senneff.

“But for a residential installation where you don’t need as robust a system, you can get something starting at about $50 per square foot,” he said.

A closer look at many green walls reveals they’re made up of plants growing in either individual pots or an enclosed tray. Whatever the set up, there’s a waterproof barrier between the plants and the wall, so water damage shouldn’t be an issue.

For those who don’t want a full wall covered with greenery, Austin-based Articulture Designs sells what might be considered green art: live plants arranged in a frame that can be hung like a painting.

Water every five to seven days, but remember that most indoor plant deaths are a result of over watering, not under watering.

Test for soil dryness by sticking your finger halfway down the pot. If the soil is dry, or the plants appear wilted, they may need watering.

Use liquid fertilizer rather than granular fertilizer, which requires water to run over it to be activated. Frequency of fertilizing depends on the plants.

Trim brown or dried leaves and check for insect infestation.

Wipe dust off leaves with a clean, damp cloth and, if desired, apply a leaf shine spray.

These made-to-order works can cost $1,000 or more for a 3-by-2-foot framed planting, although smaller designs are available for as little as $95, according to owner Monique Capanelli.

“We’ll consult with the customer to make sure the plants we use are appropriate for the space they’ll be hung in terms of lighting,” she said.

So maybe it is easy going green.

Richard A. Marini is a features writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Richard, become a subscriber. rmarini@express-news.net | Twitter: @RichardMarini

Richard A. Marini is a features reporter for the San Antonio Express-News where he's previously been an editor and columnist. The Association of Food Journalists once awarded him Best Food Columnist. He has freelanced for American Archaeology, Cooking Light and many other publications. Reader's Digest once sent him to Alaska for a week. He came back.