Are you a houseplant kind of person?

Some people are and some prefer the artificial versions, however, research from many different spheres is showing that we should ALL be filling our homes up to the brim with plants!

Whether or not you personally feel drawn to nature, humans are genetically programmed to have a very deep connection with our natural environment, having lived within the landscape for millennia. Life in cities has removed this innate link and urban living is proving to have negative effects on our physical and mental health, many of us are now searching out a connection with nature.

Introducing plants into our homes is one of the ways we can easily and practically counteract the negative effects of city living. The first benefit of indoor plants is that they can improve the air quality in our homes, not only by creating oxygen and absorbing carbon dioxide but also by regulating humidity and absorbing harmful chemicals such as formaldehyde and other harmful Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs).

The second effect is that being around plants has shown to make us much more productive, and more creative, reduce stress and give us overall higher levels of wellbeing. With these kinds of benefits, it seems obvious that we should have not just one or two but plants in every room.

Have fun styling with indoor plants

If you’ve decided to enhance your living or workspace with plants the most important thing is to have fun with it! You really don’t have to be perfect about plants, be spontaneous and natural rather than trying to control the look too much.

• See your plants as another form of art in your home and enjoy creating vignettes on shelves, in corners and in spaces where there are natural gaps.

• Layer your plants together with a mixture of tall medium and small plants; don’t just put them all the same size together.

• Be aware of how big your plants are going to grow before you buy them, they can start small but take over, so if you have a particular area in mind you don’t want your plant to outgrow it.

• Various pots in different colours, patterns and sizes are another way to have fun with your styling. There are also lots of different styles of planters and baskets out there to vary the combinations.

• Hanging plants from your ceiling is also a great way to display them, creating a focus at a different height to make the room more interesting.

• Green or living walls are often seen in corporate environments but are crossing over to residential spaces and are a fabulous way to add greenery into a smaller space where there isn’t room for pots.

What different types of plants could you grow?

There are lots of options when it comes to the types of urban greenery you can grow in your home; many of them have extra properties that can enhance your home further.

Scented Plants – Fragranced plants can be a wonderful addition to any home, providing a signature scent and evoking memories. Plants can also aid sleep and we recommend growing lavender in your bedroom because of its soothing fragrance and ability to lower stress and blood pressure.

Edible Plants – Growing herbs and microgreens in your home makes sense so that you can add them to salads or cooking, retaining the freshness, taste and nutrients. Microgreens such as lettuce, spinach, radish and watercress are good along with herbs such as basil, mint, tarragon, chives, dill and sage.

Wellness & Health Plants – Lots of indoor plants can have additional health and wellness properties such as Aloe, which can be used directly on skin as a moisturiser and to sooth rashes and burns. Camomile, sage, mint, thyme and rosemary can also be used in medicinal teas, for bathing and in preparations for skin.

Plants That Boost Air Quality – Some plants can really improve indoor air quality, filtering out lots of nasty chemicals whilst producing oxygen. Plants to look for are spider plant, weeping fig, peace lilies, snake plant, Boston fern and English ivy, which can even absorb airborne faeces and mould!

Your Own Ecosystem – Create your own mini ecosystem by growing plants in water, if you use a glass vase the roots can hang decoratively into the water and in some cases fish and other creatures can also be introduced. The water is kept clean and oxygenated by the plants and this creates your own Aquaponic system.

On Trend Plants – There is a huge trend in cacti and succulents in home décor, their strong and defined shapes make them a good addition for providing some structure in a display and the varying colours and sizes make them very adaptable.

Look after your plants and they will look after you…

One of the things people often say is that they find it hard to look after their plants; it takes some time to learn but is well worth it. Here are some tips to help you start to understand the health of your plants. Apps such as PictureThis are also great for diagnosing problems.

• As a rule of thumb if the leaves are thin, small and/or delicate they are likely to need a shady area. If the leaves are thick and succulent they will need more natural daylight. Make sure you look up your plant variety and don’t give the plant too much or too little sun.

• When you bring plants home they should be re-potted to ensure that there is enough soil so that it doesn’t dry out too fast.

• The base of the pot needs to have holes in it for the water to drain away or pebbles should be introduced into the base of the pot because sitting in soggy soil is not good for plants.

• Don’t water your plants more than once a week and always do it from the bottom, sitting them in the water to drink rather than pouring it into the top.

• Plant food is essential!! They can’t live just on water, light and air alone. Aim to feed them approximately once a week.

• Rather than feeding them with bought plant food how about feeding them watered-down compost juice? If you have an indoor composter this can be a great source of plant food as can dirty water from fish tanks as it contains lots of nutrients from fish waste.

• Place your plants in places where you waste or use excess water, such as running the shower before it gets hot, collect the wasted water in a container and use this for watering.

• Use a water-filled pump spray to shower the leaves with moisture.

I hope this has inspired you to make your home green, fresh and beautiful and that your new urban jungle brings you health and happiness!  Look out for lots more trends in the world of plants from green buildings and cities to forest bathing, there are many new and innovative ideas we’re turning to in order to help improve our health and wellbeing.

This blog was written by Catherine Borse and is adapted from a blog featured on the website of Liquid Interiors Ltd, Hong Kong http://www.liquid-interiors.com/improve-health-wellbeing-plants/.