Your old office plants have seen better days and you’ve decided to invest in new indoor planting. Like everything in business it pays to start by setting your scope and defining your goals. What influence will your building design & office layouts have? What impact do you want plants to achieve for you? Here are 5 tips to help you source the perfect plants.
1. Plot Your Plant Sites
Do a survey of your building, ideally with a floor plan in hand (roughly draw one up yourself if needs be). Assess the spaces you have to work with, think about how amenable they are to large/small plants. Decide where plants will have the greatest chance to work their magic on people. Consider the need for durable plants in high-traffic areas. Factor in growth for ordinary plants – are they liable to outgrow a space quickly, or grow into an obstruction for exits or fire extinguishers?
2. Compare Plant Savings
Money doesn’t grow on trees… But your choice of plant can save you money. Should you go for live, artificial or preserved plants? Live plants require costly maintenance and can’t be guaranteed to always look their best when you need it. Artificial plants are becoming more realistic but are still no substitute for the real thing. Preserved plants, on the other hand… They look, feel and smell real and are maintenance-free.
3. Run Plant Health Checks
Plants are wild creatures that we have domesticated. Their ancestors weren’t hardwired to live indoors. So, be careful to choose plants that have proven adaptation to the office eco-system. Make sure you can provide enough light. Or make sure a plant won’t burn out in an office where lights stay on constantly for security reasons. And check for any staff allergies (bugsprays, pesticides and pollen can trigger adverse reactions in certain people). Or, bypass all these headaches with Mummie Plants.
4. Determine Maintenance Costs
All forms of planting require maintenance. Live plants are most expensive to maintain, needing expert checks and spruce-ups every 2 to 4 weeks. Preserved and artificial plants can get by with an occasional dusting, which you can probably organise for very little cost.
5. Preserve your Brand Image
Plants, like brands, have personalities. Choose plants that align the two. If you want to project an image of a progressive company add contemporary plants. And make sure you invest in planters to match. Definitely think of your Plant+Pot as a combined purchase. If a plant is a sharp business suit then the pot is its shoes. A cheap pot will ruin a high-end plant’s first impression.
Hope we’ve helped you along the road to sourcing the ideal plants for your business. Pick up the phone and call us at 01 296 4540 for more free advice.
