by Peter Bateman
Property developers and managing agents are increasingly involved in specifying or arranging for the supply and maintenance of green foliage plant displays in premises ranging from shopping malls to leisure pools and from office blocks to penthouse suites.
This literally growing demand for exotic foliage that is being introduced into the indoor environment means that the selection, care and maintenance of what can be a substantial investment must be placed in the hands of experienced contractors, and not all those hands have equally green fingers.
A Madagascan Dragon Tree, a profusion of Peace Lilies, a stand of Weeping Figs or a display of Swiss Cheese Plants will have different requirements and a contractor will advise on their suitability, how to incorporate them in the decor, and will look after them for the term of their natural life, or as owners or tenants come and go.
There is increasing recognition of the health-giving role of plants in reducing symptoms of Sick Building Syndrome, as they improve the humidity, absorb carbon dioxide and give out oxygen. Some plants, such as Philodendron and Chlorophytum (Spider plant), for instance, also have an affinity for other harmful gases such as formaldehyde, benzene, carbon monoxide and trichloroethane that may build up within modern premises.
Costs of the installation and maintenance inevitably depend on so many factors and the complexity of each display, and therefore it is best to have a clear understanding with your contractor and obtain from him a firm quotation for the work.
A nationwide service that can provide anything from a single Spider plant to a major interior landscape complete with trees and irrigation system puts a whole new meaning into the term “branches everywhere”, and is now available throughout the UK from Rentokil Tropical Plants.
The demand for this “back to nature” theme of “mountain greenery” apparently stems from the development of open-plan offices, stable temperature and humidity control systems, recognition of the physical and psychological benefits of living plants indoors and the availability of a wide range of attractive species that can thrive in such conditions under artificial light with the restrictions of an enclosed, often air-conditioned, environment.
In the past, the popularity of the Victorian Aspidistra was largely dictated by its ability to survive long sea voyages and put up with stuffy atmospheres. Today, plants are flown in from the Mediterranean, Asia, Florida, Guatemala and Europe, rigorously inspected and acclimatised in UK nurseries before being supplied in the peak of condition and installed in whatever combination is appropriate for the customer’s premises.
Architects, facilities managers, designers and plant specialists can together decide on the best solution to meet each need — the contractors being capable of designing building arrangements and maintaining them. The plants and the planters are supplied on a rental and maintenance contract providing for regular visits to water, feed, clean, prune and renew as necessary to keep each installation up to standard.
Plants, whether in small containers or interior landscapes for reception areas and atria, form attractive, living components of a design. They can be used as versatile screens and room dividers, to absorb noise, to impress visitors and customers, and to improve the physical quality of the atmosphere. They lend an air of prestige and reduce stress, and are both decorative and functional.
The experience of Rentokil’s now international Tropical Plant Care service ranges from displays in the dim light of the Manly Marineland in Australia to the brilliance of the Marriott Orlando Center in Florida, and from the State Bank of New South Wales to the Robert Fleming Merchant Bank in the City of London.
The enemies of indoor plants include cigarettes or coffee grounds tipped into their containers, certain types of artificial light, draughts, and the occasional mealy bug or red spider mite. Temperatures that are comfortable for people are probably comfortable for plants, but they will not tolerate too many sudden changes.
Plants need a light intensity between 500 and 750 lux; most offices are about 200-1000 lux. They also need a six-hour rest period in darkness every 24 hours.
Managing agents, designers and architects need to liaise with the specialist contractor at the earliest possible stage.
The contractor’s design staff will need to know about appropriate light levels, temperature and other environmental factors affecting the choice of display, and have at their disposal a range of attractive containers. These may be of specially designed glass-reinforced plastic, imported terracotta from Italy or beautiful oriental designs from China.
At the inception stage, interior landscaping in big office blocks, involving almost mature trees, needs perception by the contractor of the effect on the building as the trees and plants grow, and the best contractors have access to or employ their own quantity surveyors and landscape designers to ensure harmony between the plants and the structure. Ideally, consultations should be made at the earliest planning stage of a project if it is to incorporate any significant use of plants. Whole “rockscapes”, “plantscapes” and features need provision for irrigation systems, access for mature trees, and time for the selection and acclimatisation of specimens.
For the larger atrium that is increasingly a feature of new office buildings, attention must be paid to quality and depth of soil and planting compost, methods to bring in the larger specimens such as the popular Ficus trees, provision of attractive ground cover and perhaps some trailing varieties, with the whole construction served by its own irrigation system. There is no room for failure.
The patented MPS (Mona Plant System) recreates as closely as possible nature’s technique for feeding and watering plants through capillary action so that plants and trees take up as little or as much as they need from the specially designed tanks, links, pipes and fillers concealed under the soil. For watering high-level displays, an electrically controlled automatic Flexiplant Irrigation System has been developed.
The Metro Centre near Gateshead, the Potteries Centre at Hanley and the Apex Plaza at Reading all show the use of plants on a grand scale, but leisure centres, shopping malls, piazzas and buildings such as embassies or top hotels are no longer the only places to enjoy indoor landscaping. Scaled-down versions are available to every office in the land, and can be designed and serviced with the same expertise by the same staff who tend the tendrils in the most astute merchant bank or the most selective showroom.
Earliest possible consultation at design stage still applies if a building is to have a new layout or new decoration, as plants can often be incorporated in a rest area or to indicate flow routes through an open plan. The colour, shape and balance of each display and the design, size and shape of each planter are all matters for consideration.
Where floorspace is severely limited, “toppers” can be fitted to standard office screens, held on by adjustable locking supports. However, plants as well as people can suffer from stress. This can be caused by temperature changes, by draughts, by the shock of transplanting. A good contractor will produce his own formula of growing medium, whether a container mix or a tree mix, combining drainage with nutritional value to stimulate root growth.
Artificial or replica plants can sometimes be used to supplement the live foliage to provide colour in areas where low light levels or difficult access prevent planting. An example is the rose arbour in the Food Court of the Potteries Centre.
The use of replica plants only usually involves flame-proofing the artificial material and careful, regular cleaning to remove accumulated dust from the displays — all of which a plant contractor will do. Replica plants, however, provide none of the benefits of living material with regard to improving the atmosphere; they are a cosmetic compromise for the real thing and need skilful blending to achieve the best effect.
Estate agents with horticultural interests will find the new challenge of indoor plants an attractive addition to their responsibilities. The others will just have to turn over a new leaf.
