Office Plants - 5 Common Questions
Five Common Questions About Office Plants
With the rise of biophilia, wellness, and a focus on creating office environments that inspire your team we're frequently getting asked for help integrating planting into offices. To help answer some of the more frequently asked questions, here's a quick guide. What are the best plants for offices? It's a good question and one to which there are a million and one different answers too. Live plants grow naturally in hugely varied conditions, so while there isn't a definitive 'best plant', there are varieties available that will be happy in a wide range of different office environments. Our consultants are always happy to advise on the best planting solution for your space and will help choose plants that will thrive and look great. For all-round toughness and flexibility, Sansevieria Laurentii are a great option with their structured shape, great coloring, and ability to withstand a wide range of conditions. We're also big fans of Ficus, although they need a bright location (they drop leaves if there's not enough light), and Bromeliads for getting vivid pops of colour into your interior space. What are green walls? The answer is that there are 3 main variations on the green wall theme. The first option is a Living Wall, which is created using live plants planted into specialist units that are mounted onto the wall. These can be used both indoors and outdoors, and can be as big or small as you like - National Grid boasts that theirs is the biggest in Europe at over 1000m2 and planted with 97,000 plants. They can, however, cause issues when retro-fitted into an existing space, especially internally as they require irrigation and drainage. The simple option for green walls is using replica planting instead. Modern artificial plants have come a long way and now look super life-like, and some even feel like the plants they're replicating. Replica green walls are comparatively simple to install, and can generally be fitted on just 1 day by a trained team of installers. They also offer the flexibility of being able to incorporate patterns, colours, and signage that wouldn't necessarily be possible with live planting. The final option, and one we really love, is moss walls. Created using preserved moss that has been sustainably harvested from forests in northern Europe moss panels look fantastic and are significantly cheaper to install than live or replica green walls. One key win with moss is the ability to incorporate logos, wording, and elaborate patterns into it using coloured moss. It looks amazing and doesn't break the bank - what's not to like?!? How does renting office plants work? This is quite a simple question to answer. There are two major benefits to customers. The first is that whenever we install a rental contract it comes with our maintenance service. This takes all the worry of having to care for the planting off your shoulders, and ensures that your plants are kept in great condition. Our fully trained and uniformed technicians will undertake to water, clean, and prune the plants, and in the case that one fails and needs replacing that will be done free of charge - there's absolutely no hidden costs or charges! The second benefit is that you have the flexibility to add or remove plants from your contract, and aren't tied to the same style of planters forevermore. At any time you can speak to us, and we'll help you to tweak your office plants so that they're suitable for your requirements, whether that's just changing the location of one or completely re-installing the scheme with a new design! Are there peat-free planting options? The answer is yes. We have two peat-free planting options available to us - the first is simply using a certified peat-free compost, and the second is to use a system known as hydroculture. This replaces normal soil or compost with a growing medium constructed from expanded clay granules. What are the benefits of office plants to our staff? There's more and more studies being done on the benefits of planting in offices. However, some headline facts and figures are shown below. The best thing is is that not only do plants look great but they also help businesses save money!- Research has shown that 67% of people are happier and more motivated when they work in locations that incorporate nature.
- Office plants were listed by 20% of people in one study as they element they most appreciated in an office design, second only to natural light!
- 15% of staff report a higher level of well-being when working in offices that have greenery in them.
- Office workers have been shown to be 15% more productive when they have plants in their workspace!
- Another study has found that your workforce will be 15% more creative when working in areas with planting in.