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Special to Road Trips for Gardeners

From the National Garden Bureau

Humans breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. Plants “breathe” in carbon dioxide and release oxygen. We are perfect partners with plants.

While we have officed at home, more and more of us have felt the benefits of houseplants. Filling our home office with undemanding plants we’ve understood more fully the calm they can bring. Now, as we are moving between home and office, employees are wanting their workspaces to reflect that “at home” feel and are asking employers to provide it.

Our collective experience over the last two years has proven to businesses the value of plant life in the office and they are looking to provide that atmosphere as they bring their employees back. One study, highlighted in a 2020 article in Science Daily, suggests that business owners would see an economic benefit in providing small plants at the work areas of their employees.

Visualize stepping into the lobby of an organization: see it with large greenery, then see it without and you will feel a difference. It is obvious that plants in the office offer a visual benefit. In fact, the color green is noted for having a calming and relaxing effect.

Studies conducted over decades continue to prove the vast array of benefits that include reducing stress. A 2010 study by the University of Technology in Sydney found a 58 percent reduction in depression and 37 percent in anxiety. Anger dropped by 44 percent. Other studies suggest productivity increases by 15 percent, absenteeism drops by 14 percent. 

The University of Vermont cites studies that prove it is cost-effective to keep employees happy and values plant “assets” at ten times a building operating cost and 100 times the energy cost.

They add moisture to our dry indoor air through transpiration. An often-cited NASA study (start at page 9) ranks the top fifty plants that might some toxins from the air.

Plants in a work atmosphere reduce noise which helps us concentrate better, connect us with our innate desire to be in nature, boosts creativity, and are also attractive to job applicants. In this time of high demand for employees, anything we can do to attract them is a plus! The appetite for houseplants nationally is very strong. Gen Z are entering the houseplant market earlier than nearly any generation before them.

Plants need people to water them, feed them, provide them with the proper lighting and humidity levels. The wonderful part is that there are so many choices.

Some of the easiest plants include:

• Sansevieria aka Dracaena
• Pothos
• Philodendron
• Succulents
• Cactus
• ZZ plant
• Peperomia
• Bromeliads

Of course, the more light coming in and humidity in the air, the more variety of plants will work. Every day is “bring your plants to work” day. Or just leave them there and let them do their thing.