Deciding to bring plants into the office is the first step to a healthier, more vibrant working environment. Humans are designed to live surrounded by the natural world and bringing that indoors is a quick way to relieve stress, manage well-being and clear some of the toxins that tend to accumulate in offices.
So, what’s the best way to infuse your workspace with a healthy dose of greenery? There are more options available nowadays than driving to your local plant nursery and picking out random plants that may or may not be suitable for your office. Modern offices now have the choice to either buy or hire indoor plants. Here’s what you need to know about these two options before committing to one.
Pros and Cons of Buying Office Plants
Buying and caring for your own office plants can be a timely process. However, do it right, and it can be extremely satisfying to buy office plants that will transform your office into an energetic, healthy, green space.
Pro #1: Start a new passion project
The major advantage of buying office plants is the satisfaction of doing each step of the process yourself. This can involve sourcing the right vendors, researching which plants are best suited to your office, and picking the right pots, fertiliser and topping mulch to balance functionality with style. If you’re interested in plants, you don’t need us to convince you that all of this sounds like great fun!
Pro #2: Retain full control
After you bring home your new plants from the nursery, you’ll be faced with a variety of fun decisions and questions to answer. Where will each plant thrive? Do they need a warmer, sunnier spot or can they survive the breeze and cold of an air-conditioning vent? Does this plant look better over here or there?
And finally you get to lavish some love on the plants themselves; watering, trimming and wiping away dust, helping them grow and thrive under your care. It’s an achievement in itself that will ultimately give you the reward of stunning plants that you nurtured into life.
Con #1: Time
Looking after office plants really is a passion project. It requires dedication, a green thumb, plenty of time and the help of some co-workers to make sure that each plant gets the attention and maintenance that it needs. You’ll need to keep tabs on each plant type within your office to guarantee that each one receives the exact care it requires to remain happy and healthy (unfortunately, you can’t just give your plants sick leave to recover like you can with employees).
Con #2: Expense
Buying office plants can quickly snowball into an expensive project, with indoor plants ranging from anywhere between $60 to over $500. While this may be a great price range for a small office spruce up, if you’re looking to totally rearrange your workspace with plants, the overall cost can quickly add up. Count in the fact that you may have to replace your plants if they die or become sick, and you might have a costly project on your hands.
Advantages of Hiring Office Plants
The major advantage of indoor and outdoor plant hire is that a dedicated specialist does all the plant care work for you!
We can’t all be expert horticulturists, so having someone who knows their Aglonema from their Zanzibar Gem can be a big help when redesigning your office. When you hire office plants, you can be certain that an experienced office plant hire specialist will be there at every step of the process with a green thumb and a keen eye for design.
Receive expert design advice
Indoor landscaping and design requires plenty of design experience along with an astute understanding of how plants fit into the layout and style of an office. Plant specialists can transform plants from that sad, forgotten Ficus in the corner to a stunning, central feature of your office.
With the creative eye of a plant hire specialist, the sky really is the limit. Turn your office into a relaxing haven with unique plant design and installations, such as green wall offices and living plant art.
Forget about the tricky installation process
Beyond just physically bringing the plants into the office, a plant hire specialist knows the ins-and-outs of each plant and the climate that they need to thrive in your workspace. When installing your plants, your dedicated plant specialist will consider your office’s air quality, light, humidity and temperature to make smart choices on each plant’s placement. You can be sure that your plants are happily growing in the ideal environment, whether that’s by a window or a not-so-bright meeting room.
Keep your plants happy and healthy
Arguably the most difficult part of having plants is keeping them alive! To maintain a happy and healthy plant portfolio, they need specialised care. Your plant hire expert knows how much water, food and attention each plant needs, pruning and shining the plants so that they always look healthy and hearty.
If the time ever comes, you can replace your plants hassle-free
Even with the best care, things can go wrong. Sometimes plants start to look tired, need to change pots to suit the latest style or just need to be relocated to a new office, which a plant hire company can do free of charge. No need to worry about organising weekly visits to the local nursery!
Reduce costs with end-to-end service
When adding up the cost of labour, plant maintenance, replacements, and installation, it is often cheaper to hire plants than buy them outright. You’ll receive beautiful plants that are yours to enjoy but not yours to worry about.
Hiring vs Buying Office Plants: The Verdict
If you’re looking for a new hobby to dedicate yourself to for the long run, then buying plants is definitely for you. But if you want the expertise, eye for detail and dedicated care of a specialist, then hiring plants and having an expert take care of the design and maintenance of your office is the right choice for you.
Intrigued by the idea of teaming up with a plant specialist to bring your office to life with hired plants? Get in touch with The Plant Man today to find out more about how easy it can be to redesign your office into a vibrant, green space that you and your employees can genuinely enjoy.