Putting plant life inside your work environment is a great way to
add some natural decor. For many, the indoor shrubbery can significantly
improve mood and ambience -- even morale, especially in office
buildings where plant life offers a welcome shade of green as contrast
to white slabs of concrete, dry walls, "zombie lighting," and stale
carpets.
However, real plants and trees come with a (recurring) cost. In downtown settings, interior landscaping services
can cost building administrators tens of thousands of dollars in annual
contracts for both plant supply and maintenance. According to the
Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the median pay
for general maintenance and repair workers is nearly $17 an hour, and
these workers typically have to water the plants and remove dead leaves
every day.
Preserved plants can reduce or eliminate the need for
such maintenance, while improving your workplace (and home office)
design.
Here's how to preserve natural plants.
1.
Get the following materials: sealer, big pot, drill, contact cement,
and spray insulation. If you need ideas on types of green used indoors,
here are examples of silk trees and other artificial plants.
Clean and seal the tree limbs and scrape off the loose bark. Next, spray them with a sealer.
2.
Add weight to your pot to make it sturdy; this prevents your artificial
tree from being top-heavy. It also mitigates the risk of having the
tree falling over a passerby or desk. Use materials such as soil mixed
with rocks.
3. Spray the pot and insert the limbs. Before
you put the limbs in the pot, cover the inside with spray insulation.
The spray will hold the limbs in place once it hardens.
Next,
drill holes in the stalks where you can place the branches. The holes
should be in a downward angle so that the branches can steadily arch
upwards.
Then, place some contact cement at the end of the
branches so they will stick to the drilled hole. Take caution: The glue
will dry in a few seconds!
4. Finally, cover the insulation
to make your newly-preserved tree look more natural. You can use moss,
soil, or even (green-colored) egg shells. You have plenty of flexibility
here.
