Air Purifying Plants

Why plants?! We say....Why not plants!? There are so many benefits to adding plants to your home or work space. 

Over the past 25 plus years, academics and scientists have researched houseplants to establish exactly why and how they are good for us, our home, our schools, our hospitals, our businesses and our environment as a whole and in doing so, they have established that plants. - Urban Planters

• Creates oxygen
• Increases relative humidity
• Reduces stress
• Make people calmer and happier
• Reduces workplace negativity
• Reduces symptoms of discomfort and minor ailments
• Reduces absenteeism
• Speed up recovery from illness
• Improve concentration, productivity, and creativity
• Save energy
• Noise reduction
• Connects with Outdoors (biophilia) 
• Makes a space more personal 

At Harding Botanicals we specialize in bringing the green into your office spaces and lobbies. Working with you we pick out the perfect plant for the perfect location that will bring all the benefits of plants to your tenants, employees, and clients!

Contact us to set up a free consultation to bring the green to your space:

Alyce Crowley: ac@hardingbotanicals.com

Spring is Just Around the Corner!!

Good ol' New England weather always leaves us wondering how many days of winter we really have left! It can be 70 degrees one day and the next expecting snow!! I am looking forward to being able to completely thaw out and enjoy the warmer days outside. As I sit here, still in my winter jacket, I dream of Spring and am enjoying looking at pictures of spring flowers and spring green gardens! 

We can't wait to get our hands back into the soil and planting container gardens for our clients! We'd love to lend a hand in helping you with sprucing up your building with flowering container gardens and lush garden beds. Give us a shout and we'll happily get designing! You can reach us through phone or email, visit our contact page for our information. 

Here are some spring flower container gardens that are inspiring and are making me smile! What do you look forward to most about Spring?!

Taking care of your indoor succulents

Care for a succulent garden

Light: In general, succulents need about 6 hours of light. Though, that said, 6 hours of direct sunlight can scorch or burn the plants. Placing your succulent garden in a south facing window is a great location, but again make sure that it's not receiving too much sunlight. According to blogger Succulents and Sunshine, an east facing window is an ideal location for your succulents. Things to consider, the farther they are away from a window the more the plants will begin to stretch towards the light (which some succulents don't look too great all stretched out). 

Water: Over watering your succulent is one of the fastest ways to kill you succulents. Here's the scoop; the roots like to be soaked with water but then dry up quickly. So if you keep the soil wet every day your succulents will die quickly from over watering. But simply misting them can also kill them as well, due to them not receiving enough water at their roots. So simply put; when watering give your succulents enough water but allow the soil completely dry out before watering again. Your frequency of watering obviously will depend on the container and the light levels. If you are keeping your succulents in direct sun you may find that you need to water more often than if your plants were in less direct light.

Temperature: Succulents can handle very hot climates but their ideal temperatures for summers are between 70 and 80 degrees. Come winter during their more 'dormant' period, succulents like to be between 50 and 60 degrees.

Bugs: There are 2 common bugs that you may run into; fungus gnats and mealy bug. Generally if you see little flies in your containers you most likely have fungus gnats. This is because the soil is being kept too moist and you are providing a nice home for these gnats to lay eggs. The best way to avoid or solve this problem is to let your soil dry out completely between each watering. Also make sure that your soil is a well draining soil that will mot hold in additional moisture. Secondly, the mealy bug, this bug will appear most likely where the leaves meet the stem. They are a white sticky looking bug. If your succulent gets mealy bug there are 2 different solutions. First mix a bit of dish soap with water in a spray bottle and spray on areas affected. The second method is using rubbing alcohol again you can put this in a spray bottle and spray the plant making sure to also lightly spray the soil as to kill any eggs. Or you can soak a Q-tip in the rubbing alcohol and directly target the bug. 

Pantone Color of 2017: Greenery

The 2017 Pantone color of the year is... Greenery!!! And we couldn't be more excited about this year's choice. What are most passionate about is greenery!! Our purpose is to bring the beauty of outside nature into people's offices and homes. Our designs are aimed to provide a feeling of freshness and life. We all have a sense of calm when we are around plants, and plants bring so many benefits to our living spaces. Greenery reminds us that we can start new and fresh each day!

From Pantone: A refreshing and revitalizing shade, Greenery is symbolic of new beginnings.

Greenery is a fresh and zesty yellow-green shade that evokes the first days of spring when nature’s greens revive, restore and renew. Illustrative of flourishing foliage and the lushness of the great outdoors, the fortifying attributes of Greenery signals consumers to take a deep breath, oxygenate and reinvigorate.

Greenery is nature’s neutral. The more submerged people are in modern life, the greater their innate craving to immerse themselves in the physical beauty and inherent unity of the natural world. This shift is reflected by the proliferation of all things expressive of Greenery in daily lives through urban planning, architecture, lifestyle and design choices globally. A constant on the periphery, Greenery is now being pulled to the forefront - it is an omnipresent hue around the world.

A life-affirming shade, Greenery is also emblematic of the pursuit of personal passions and vitality.

Interior Plant Trends

Introducing plants into your office or lobby really enhances and improves the space. Plants and containers are chosen to fit the aesthetic and can bring in a different element to the space. What I love most though is that, with the right design, it can totally transform an area! 

By adding the right elements in the right spots a modern lobby can look even more modern; or it can make a homey office space feel that much more homey! Take a look at a few of the interior plant trends that I really like and let me know what you think!! Do you like them? Too much? Not enough? Do you think they transform the space?

For more Interior Plantscaping Design Inspiration