Greenery In The City
Our world is full of technological advances that fill our lives full of new ways to achieve greater things. Yet, we have somehow managed to forget the most basic necessities in life. We have taken for granted the need for living plants to be around us, especially in bigger cities.
Although some fake foliage can be pretty, nothing beats the look and feel of true nature around you. Fake plants are nothing more than a decoration that supply you with no real benefits other than something nice to look at.
Real, living and breathing plants play a huge role in several aspects of our lives. Plants look absolutely beautiful no matter where they are or what species they may be. More importantly, they nurture our minds, allow us to have clean air, improve our natural senses and cognitive functions.
City Landscaping
It comes as no surprise that nature takes a hit when cities are constructed. When an area has to be cleared for a building, the foliage is removed or trampled on. In commercial settings, having a beautiful planted green wall installed outside the building can serve many purposes.
“Green coverings can significantly reduce other pollutants in the air as well, including soot and dust. Research has shown that even a plant on your desk can improve the quality of the air inside your home.” David Nield reported in This Is Why We Should All Be Covering All Our Buildings With Plants, Science Alert, October 7, 2016.
There is nothing more depressing than staring at the same cold walls on a daily basis. Even if those walls are in the office, or connected to the outside of a commercial building they pass by to get to work, humans need more than concrete, brick, and mortar.
People need trees, plants, and foliage just as much as any other animal on the planet. Being an advanced species with lots of technology does not change our basic human needs. If anything, being the dominant species has left us need more of what we’ve left behind.
What better way to get back to nature in this hustle and bustle world than to bring life to the places that need it the most? Hardly anyone has any time to go to the countryside and spend a few days in much needed natural surroundings.
Placing plants on the outer wall of an office building or apartment complex would help keep the air in a localized area cleaner, easier to breathe, and they make the city itself look more beautiful. Several cities around the world have taken to covering their walls with live foliage in an effort to keep the workplace cooler too.
Office Landscaping
While it is true that there are several benefits to having plant life that lives outside, the benefits of having them inside are even higher. Japanese researchers have reported to CNN that just staring at a plant on a desk can reduce stress at work.
Kristen Rogers, CNN, Keeping A Plant On Your Desk Can Reduce Workplace Stress, Study Says, updated on Saturday, February 28, 2020, reported: “This study verified the stress-reducing effect of gazing intentionally at a plant for a few minutes and actively engaging in the care of it in a real office setting when an employee felt fatigued.”
There are several plants that can be placed inside the office that will help workers and clients to relax, breathe better, work more efficiently, and still keep the office looking professional. Most plants provide the humans around them with valuable oxygen, some help prevent allergies; some keep the mind sharp, while others prevent stress, cough, and headaches.
Indoor plants can be placed around the office in different ways. Hanging planters, wall planters, floor planters, small desk planters, or a combination of all four. Planters can easily be color coded to give people a sense of location too.
Indoor Living Walls (often called Living Green Walls) are a wonderful way to add nature to any commercial building. The wall-mounted plant display is a prime example of indoor plant art. Many of these living walls include their own built in irrigation system that can water plants for periods of time.
These wall plants can be customized too, many installations will include a branding identity such as a logo or company name, but they can also designed to spell out something fun or work related along the wall.
Bringing The Outdoors In
The whole idea that trees, plants, and foliage belong outdoors is a terrible misconception. Outdoor plants are absolutely beautiful, but what better way to bring life into the office than by placing living and breathing plants in beautiful displays.
Above the look and smell of having plant life inside and outside the office, the health benefits of those that spend time around the plant life would improve. Displaying plants that prevent cough, fatigue, headache, allergies, and encourage cognitive functions would improve the overall quality of life within the work environment.
“Analysis into the reasons why plants are beneficial suggests that a green office increases employees’ work engagement by making them more physically, cognitively, and emotionally involved in their work.”1
These studies show the true power of having plants inside and outside the office. When clients and workers are calm, energetic, and free of daily health problems, their stress lowers and improves how they work together. When workers have less stress because their mind is clearer, the obvious side effect is more work gets done.
