Did you know house plants can improve your productivity by up to 15%? This astounding fact has led to a whole new trend in office design. Garden walls, house plants as room dividers and even “plant” allowances for staff have all gone mainstream. But plants are not just for the office. They’re also the perfect companions for home workers – providing a myriad of wellbeing benefits to keep you at the top of your game.
How house plants help purify air
During photosynthesis, house plants remove carbon dioxide from the air and replace it with fresh oxygen helping us to feel less tired and more energised. Now that we’re all working from home, few of us are aware of the hidden pollutants in our home environments. Paint and varnishes, pet hair, mould, smoke from candles – the detritus of daily life all have a cumulative impact on how you feel. To clean up the air in your home, opt for Chinese Evergreens, Aloe Vera plants, ivy plants or Bamboo palms for optimum air purifying impact.
How indoor plants help you focus
Biophilia is the technical term for the affinity we feel with nature and is the buzzword in modern office design. Contemplating nature (and this can apply to pictures as much as the real thing) enables our brain to feel more relaxed and better able to concentrate on the task at hand. If you’re struggling with motivation while working from home, invest in a variety of different plants and place them strategically around your desk in your immediate viewpoint. This visual boost helps us be more creative and some claim can increase memory and attention span by up to 20%.
How house plants can reduce noise
It’s a little known fact that house plants can help to reduce noise – a godsend for flat dwellers when working from home. Plants can absorb noise through every element of their being – stems, leaves and branches. House plants with thick leaves such as rubber plants offer the best sound absorption. If you’re struggling with noisy neighbours, choose a selection of both large and small plants to create a greater surface area. Place the plants around the edges of your room immediately next to the source of the sound and the offending noise will be absorbed into the plant’s leaves and soil.
House plants can help transform your living space
A house is not a home without at least one house plant. They brighten up the most jaded of decors and inject new vitality into tired living spaces. Their vibrant green energy never ceases to lift the spirits and provide a burst of calm serenity. In lockdown land, the world is split between those who have gardens and those who don’t. If like me, you’re in the latter camp, house plants are the perfect way to bring the outdoors inside. Plants for shade, dark corners or for low light. There’s a house plant to suit every home so there’s no excuse to not invest in some green and leafy friends!
What is the easiest house plant to keep?
Having killed many house plants in my time through ignorance and neglect, I’m only too familiar with the feelings of shame and guilt when a plant dies. To ease yourself into becoming a plant parent, I would start with succulents which are mainly small and thrive on neglect. They can also survive on indirect sunlight (minimum – four to six hours a day) which is handy if you don’t have any south facing windows. Snake plants are also difficult to kill and can typically survive for a month without any water.
My living room is now resembling an urban jungle with ivy plants cascading down my bookcase and my umbrella tree in danger of reaching the ceiling. While they may be costing me in compost and plant pots, my houseplants have created a natural oasis where I feel completely at peace.