Benefits of Plants

Increasingly now people and organisations are appreciating the many benefits of introducing selected living plants into the work and leisure space.

Not only will plants make an interior space more attractive and enjoyable to be in, they also give us some significant health benefits too.  Here’s a short list;

• Research has shown that plants in the workplace can help us concentrate better, leading to improved creativity and productivity in the workplace.  So who knows, your company could benefit massively from a new business idea generated by an employee staring at one of our interior plant installations!
• Plants do absorb harmful pollutants and toxins from the air such as formaldehyde, benzene and nitrogen dioxide – helping provide a healthier environment
• Plants will also absorb noise and mitigate dust levels as well as masking unpleasant smells – all these help to make a more comfortable workplace environment.
• Interior plant installations have also been linked with the reduction in fatigue, stress, headaches and dry coughs – all of which have been linked to ‘Sick Building Syndrome’.

Other benefits that can be derived from putting plants into the workplace;

Plants may help to reduce absenteeism. – You what?!

Research has show that putting plants in buildings can significantly reduce absence from work. Amazingly just a few good-quality plants positioned in the areas where people work or take breaks seem to do the trick. Exactly why this has such a beneficial effect is most likely a subtle but complex mix of the physiological and psychological. But undoubtedly being around plants certainly seems to reduce stress and engender a feeling of well being in most people. It may also be down to the fact that the employer has been prepared to spend money on something that has no obvious function other than to make the workplace more attractive may also be a contributing factor, because thoughtful employers who are prepared to do this are more likely to have more loyal and dedicated staff.

Plants help to increase retail spend.  – You’re joking!

This retail analysts isn’t….
“Retailers have long understood the importance of store environment in enhancing the shopping experience. Interior plants and landscape may create store interiors more favourable for retail activity.” (Ref: “Retail and Urban Nature: Creating a Consumer Habitat”, K.L.Wolf, at the People/Plant Symposium, Amsterdam, 2002.)

Plants can direct the traffic. - You really are joking now right!?

Wrong!
OK so we mean pedestrian rather than vehicular traffic but nevertheless in many larger buildings there is a need to channel pedestrian traffic in particular directions; exits, escalators, check-in or enquiry desks etc. This is particularly important in premises with large, open areas such as those found in airports, shopping centres, hospitals and many large offices. Careful planting offers an attractive and practical solution that gently guides people where you want them to go.

So joking aside it is evident that people do respond positively to the presence of plants in buildings. Modern research backs this up. Healthy, well-maintained plants in well-designed displays enhance the character and appearance of a building and improve the psychological and physical well-being of its occupants. Interior landscaping has been shown to be a sound investment by reducing sickness absence, improving mental agility, increasing use of communal facilities and positively changing people’s perceptions of a building.

 Want to know more? Just contact us we'd be delighted to talk to you.