Increasing Productivity by Investing in Artificial Plants

If you’ve been paying attention to our posts, by now you’re well aware of how beneficial office plants can be for boosting employee wellbeing, improving air quality, workplace safety, and improving general health.

But what about artificial plants for offices?

For some people, they’re an easy, low maintenance alternative to real plants, and to others they’re just a poor imitation of nature.

But in recent years, artificial plants have been becoming more and more realistic, with our most recent artificial flowers being indistinguishable from the real thing to most of our clients and employees.

But just because they appear real, doesn’t mean they necessarily provide the same benefits.

Or do they?

Let’s take a look at the benefits of artificial plants in an office or workplace:

The Evidence:

Understanding why real plants offer benefits for mental health, wellbeing and stress is relatively easy. They constitute the natural environment humans have evolved to exist in, and are a much more natural environment for the human body and mind than a drab office building.

But studies into the impact fake plants can have on workplace wellbeing have been surprising.

Psychology Today states:

“Seeing artificial plants seems to have the same sorts of psychological benefits as seeing real ones — as long as the artificial plants really, truly look real.”

This is an interesting point, because an unbelievable fake plant that doesn’t convince you is likely to achieve nothing - it might as well be a statue, ornament or other non-living object.

Similarly, the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture carried out three separate studies in the US, UK and Netherlands. All three studies concluded that artificial plants can work to reduce stress and increase workplace productivity, both by up to 12%.

While real plants are likely to provide these benefits even further, and offer certain benefits fake plants cannot (such as cleaning the air), the added maintenance of a real plant is a downside in itself. In some offices, this may even be an unrealistic thing to keep in the long term due to regular changes in the temperature, lack of adequate sunlight or ventilation. Artificial plants are the ideal way to avoid these issues and get some of the same benefits without spending time on maintenance.

Why New Artificial Plants Are Better Than Ever

In the past, all artificial plants were made of silk. This made them unrealistic. But more than that, they were flammable and didn’t age well too.

Modern artificial plants use a range of materials and bespoke designs to solve these issues.

Our artificial flowers use a range of fire retardant materials to look and feel more realistic without adding danger to your workplace - and many are sealed in a protective UV blocking layer to increase lifespan significantly.

As evidenced above, it has been proven that artificial plants offer many of the mental well-being related benefits that real plants do.

But there are more benefits of artificial plants over real ones, including:

Access to Different Varieties

You know by now that artificial plants are much lower maintenance, but this also opens up a huge range of new potential plants. If you live in a cold country then a tropical plant that originates from a warm country is unlikely to last long in your office, and vice versa.

But an artificial version of that same plant will last forever, opening up a weird and wonderful world of unique plants that you likely haven’t considered before, or potentially have never even heard of!

No Allergies or Toxic Ingredients

Real plants can provide another downside that is easily overlooked. Many of them can cause allergic reactions in people or contain chemical compounds that are toxic to humans, or pets such as dogs and cats.

Some can also attract mosquitos or cause other hygiene issues.

Not only are artificial plants 100% non-toxic, but they mean no need for pesticides too!

Boost Morale

Studies have found that looking at plants and foliage can increase productivity, morale, concentration levels, and mood. Artificial plants can do this just as readily as real plants as long as they appear real visually.

This also helps to avoid the potential negative effects to morale that can come from office plants dying or suffering from health issues.

How can phs Greenleaf Help with This?

With 25 years’ experience as the UK’s leading supplier of office plants and artificial plants for offices, we have a lot of experience providing our services in a variety of sectors including hospitality, retail, FM’s and public sector.

From living walls and grounds maintenance services to artificial flowers and indoor gardens, we have everything you need to transform your workplace and employees.

We have over 8,000 clients across the UK, each of whom is assigned their own account manager to help with the process.

To learn more about the UK’s leading office plant services and maintenance, contact us now!

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