Balance May 2019 - 43

BODY & SOUL
FLOWER POWER

t began with the cacti and succulent boom
of 2016/17, alongside other Insta-centric
trends like millennial pink and rose gold,
but it's branched out into everything from
palms and ferns to climbers and hangers. The
insatiable appetite for greenery doesn't seem
to be waning, with Google searches for 'indoor
plants' up over 75 per cent in the last five years.
There are a few explanations for 'plant lady'
replacing the passé 'cat lady', from minimal
access to gardens and the millennial penchant
for mindful hobbies, to Insta-botanists like Ro
Co and Noughticulture. "We're engaging with
house plants in a different way, as they ease a
number of current issues", says Alice Vincent,
author of How to Grow Stuff and founder
of Noughticulture, "from portability suiting
'generation rent' to the nature fix that helps
counteract digital technology engagement."
A 2016 National Garden survey observed of
six million people who had taken up gardening
that year, five million fitted neatly into the
1984-1996 birthday bracket, and the benefits
are wide-ranging. In workspaces, they've been
proven to reduce sick days, potentially due to
producing immunity-boosting phytonides,
increase productivity and minimise noise.
They also purify the air, replacing breathedout CO2 with oxygen, while removing harmful
chemicals and damp. Within homes, they
lower blood pressure and improve mood, even
helping combat Seasonal Affective Disorder, so
let Balance help your inner garden flourish.

I

PLANT
T R E AT M E N T

STRING OF HEARTS

Benefits It's a beautiful
trailing vine, making it
perfect for decorating
shelves or window sills
What to do To avoid rotting,
make sure the soil is dry
between watering,
especially in winter when
it goes dormant. Keep it in
a pot with good drainage,
with one part sand to
two parts soil

CACTI

Benefits Cacti are
notoriously hardy, so
perfect for first-time
plant parents
What to do The main thing
to remember is don't
overwater them, as they're
far more likely to be killed
by over than underwatering.
Bear in mind they're
originally hot region and
desert plants

DEVIL'S IVY

CAST IRON PLANT

PEACE LILY

ENGLISH IVY

ALOE VERA

PRAYER PLANT

SUCCULENTS

UMBRELLA TREE

PLANT DESGINS

Benefits "One of our
favourites for its speedy
growing and extreme
survival skills", says Caro
Langton, co-founder and
creative director of Ro Co
What to do "Water
generously, but only when
the soil feels completely
dry. Prune tips of long
and spindly stems to
encourage side shoots"

Benefits "Ivy is grown
surprisingly successfully
indoors and can be trained
to either trail or climb,
depending on your
preferences," Langton says
What to do "It requires
bright, filtered light. Line
its drainage tray with a
handful of small stones
to ensure it doesn't sit
in water"

Benefits The perfect
choice for purifying the
air, with minimal
maintenance required
What to do Most
commonly succulents
die from overwatering so,
to avoid them sitting in a
pool of water, choose a
pot with drainage holes
or add a layer of stones to
the bottom

Benefits "This plant is
renowned for tolerating
environments with
minimal natural light,"
explains Langton
What to do "We
recommend giving it
indirect light for optimum
vitality. Water the plant
generously, but always let
the soil dry out completely
before watering again"

Benefits "Really tolerant
and if you get sunburn,
snap off a leaf and squeeze
the soothing gel inside onto
your skin," Vincent says
What to do "Water when
the leaves start to shrivel; a
healthy aloe vera will have
the fleshiness of a ripe
grape. Good in bright spots,
the leaves may turn brown
with too much sunlight"

Benefits They are
reasonably sturdy and can
grow big pretty fast, so
ideal if you want
something dramatic
What to do Be aware that
they'll need repotting fairly
often, preferably into
something with a drainage
saucer, and watering a few
times a month, when the
top soil becomes dry

Benefits "The peace lily is
known to cleanse indoor
air of harmful toxins',
Langton says
What to do "It prefers a bit
of shade, so choose a spot
near a north or west-facing
window and keep its soil
damp. Don't worry if it dries
and droops as a little water
will soon perk it up, but cold
draughts could kill it"

Benefits Ideal for those
who suffer from dry skin
conditions, it's an effective
air purifier, improving
humidity and ridding
spaces of harmful toxins
What to do "They like
bright, indirect sun, moist
soil and plenty of humidity.
Suckers for a brown crispy
leaf if they don't get enough
moisture" says Vincent

Put simply, we cannot live
without plants. And to
this end, Plant Desgins are
here to make London's
workplaces green. Biophilia
experts, they specialise in
office plants, living walls,
fresh flowers and exterior
landscaping and bring
nature to your workspace.
To find out more, visit
plantdesigns.co.uk

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14/05/2019 11:54
http://plantdesigns.co.uk http://plantdesigns.co.uk
Balance May 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Balance May 2019
