Lanscaping

LANDSCAPE:

Section C

what are the advantages of plants using in interiors designing, Explain how can a plant acts a focal point or specimen plant? For designing the courtyard of a luxurious house, what kind of environment plants would you suggest and why?

Plants provide more than a decorative touch to the indoor environment.The Manual of Interior Plantscapingauthor Kathy Fediw explains how they bring people together, help them relax, and create an environment for cooperation and collaboration.

Indoor plants play an important role in interior design. They bring in a living element that is portable, growing, and ever-changing, for a fraction of the cost of a new wall or architectural element. They provide function and form while looking beautiful. They can change the ambiance and feel of a space. They add color to complement any décor. They enhance the design without interfering with other important design elements.

PLANTS AS FOCAL POINTS

An indoor plant can act as a focal point, drawing people through the space and towards a specific destination. This can be done in several ways.

Large specimen plants can be used alone to draw attention due to their size. Specimen plants are usually 12 to 14 feet tall or more. Palms, ficus trees, and certain dracaenas are most often grown for this purpose. Large indoor plants may be difficult to find and are usually contracted months in advance with commercial growers. Specimens are usually used alone or with shorter groundcover plants under their canopies.

Plants with unusual forms act as living sculptures and are often used as a focal point. For example, marginata (Dracaena cincta) can be grown with interesting twists and bends in its trunks, and eugenias or ficus trees can be pruned into topiary shapes. Keep any other plants in the area simple and low to the ground so the focal plant stands out.

PLANTS CHANGE THE ACOUSTICS AND MUFFLE SOUND

Plants help to reduce the amount of noise without altering the overall design of the space in several ways. The next time you’re in a noisy restaurant, look around the space. You’ll see a lot of hard surfaces—walls, floors, windows, furniture—without much cloth or padding to muffle the sound. Any noises reverberate and bounce back and forth, reaching into the corners. People talk louder in order to be heard, and the sound levels rise even more.

LANTS CREATE VISUAL DEPTH AND DELINEATE SPACES

Large, cavernous spaces, such as building lobbies and shopping malls, can seem intimidating and uninviting. People can feel exposed in big, empty spaces, especially in unfamiliar surroundings. Introducing plants can interrupt that space, creating visual depth and breaking the space into smaller, cozier, more appealing areas. Plants can act as room dividers, creating smaller, more intimate spaces within a building lobby where people can meet and review their notes prior to attending a business meeting.

Plants can also be used as portable walls, creating collaboration spaces in an open-concept office without walls. Most plants in individual pots can be moved as the needs of the tenants and visitors change, something most walls cannot do.

PLANTS VISUALLY LOWER CEILINGS

Tall ceilings can also be daunting and make a visitor feel small and vulnerable. Introducing tall plants with a canopy of foliage into such a setting creates a “false ceiling” by visually lowering the space overhead. Tall, well-spaced ficus trees can turn a large lobby or shopping mall into an inviting indoor garden space. For example, introducing a 15-foot-tall ficus tree in a space with 50-foot ceilings can visually bring the ceiling down to a more manageable 12- to 15-foot height. The heavier the canopy of foliage, the greater the reduction in perceived overhead space.

PLANTS ADD COLOR AND INTEREST

Plants can add splashes and dashes of color to an otherwise monotone setting. We think of plants as being green, yet there are many shades of green. Leaves can vary from deep green to olive green, blue-green, silver-green, or neon-lime green, to name a few possibilities.

Just as spices add interest to a meal, plants add color and interest in subtle or more vivid ways. Leaves can be variegated white, silver, yellow, red, purple, or orange, or even have markings in multiple colors in the case of croton foliage. Vibrant-colored plants stand out while darker shades of green or deep maroon recede, adding depth and acting as a background in plant groupings.

PLANTS IMPROVE ECONOMICS AND PERCEIVED VALUE

Research has shown that when plants are present in a shopping area, people perceive that the value of the merchandise being sold is greater, compared to the same merchandise in an area without plants. In one study, consumers were willing to spend a conservative 12 percent more for products in an environment with trees (Wolf 2002). People also tend to linger longer and buy more merchandise in shopping areas where plants are present. Many shopping malls and boutique shops take advantage of this effect to increase sales.

Plants add a sense of luxury and prestige to a space. People subconsciously associate tropical plants with success, and feel more confident working and dealing with companies that have plants in their built environment.

PLANTS ENHANCE THE DESIGN AND CREATE AMBIANCE