Brighten Your Senior Apartments in Ocean County NJ with These Friendly House Plants
If you want to really brighten your home with a fresh, natural aesthetic, plants are the way to go. Of course, while plants can add a measure of elegance when it comes to styling a space, we all know they provide so much more than looks. Plants are living beings that need to be nurtured, and developing a reciprocal relationship with them can be incredibly fulfilling. In exchange for the minimum amount of care required to water and feed your green friends, plants will remove toxins from the air, provide you with fresh oxygen to breathe, uplift your mood, and even improve your health.
The addition of plants to your senior apartments in Ocean County, NJ is so replete with benefits, the subject deserves a little elucidation before we go into specific plants.
Why are house plants so beneficial?
Style
While this may be the most superficial of the benefits plants provide for us humans, it is certainly still important. The natural beauty of plants in our living space provides both an inspiring and a relaxing quality. Bringing a bit of nature indoors can add an easy elegance to a space. But really, you can use plants to add zing to a variety of styles. For example, plants can be used in a minimalist style to making for a simple and sophisticated aesthetic. Or plants can be used to create a wild and bohemian feel. You decide!
Air Quality: Purify and Provide
We all know that plants literally provide the oxygen we require to live on this planet. With that in mind, it is a simple truth often overlooked that having plants in our homes will increase the amount of oxygen around us—which means fresher air! What may be less obvious is this: during the day, when plants are actively photosynthesizing, they absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen. However, for many plants this process reverses at night. Succulents, orchids, and epiphytic bromeliads, on the other hand, will provide oxygen through the night, making them great sleeping buddies. By keeping a combination of plants in your home, the air will be constantly refreshed.
Besides just creating air to breathe (as if that wasn’t enough!) plants also remove toxins from the air. They actually pull volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the soil where they convert it into food. Some of these VOCs include common toxins like formaldehyde, (which is present in plenty of rugs and cigarette smoke, to name a few), benzene and trichloroethylene (both of which are found in fibers, inks, paints, books, and more).
Keeping plants in your home will greatly reduce (up to 87% according to NASA research) health damaging toxins. Speaking of health, plants have a lot more to offer in that department as well:
Health and Healing
Aside from the fact that the majority of ingested medicines are derived from plants, studies have shown that just being around plants helps patients heal faster. Studies in hospital rooms with plants shows reduced pain, reduced anxiety and quicker healing among patients. Studies in offices show that those with plants report less sickness and headaches among workers. It makes sense seeing as how plants clean the air. Studies have even shown that plants in the classroom provide greater focus among students. Who wouldn’t want to bring these great benefits into the home?
Additionally, if you live in a dry climate or suffer from any sort of respiratory distress, plants can help in that department too. Plants absorb water…and then release it. In fact, they release up to 97% of the water they take in, meaning they will increase the humidity in your senior apartments in Ocean County, NJ, ultimately keeping dry skin, sore throats, and dry coughs at bay.
Mood
Plants can reduce fatigue and stress and uplift your mood. Just having them in your space can have these benefits, without any effort—or conscious notice—by you. However, it also feels good to develop a relationship with plants, which ultimately improves your sense of well being. Nurturing your plants by remembering to give them water and the occasional plant food, as well as being sensitive to the place in your home where they are most able to thrive, can lead to an incredibly fulfilling relationship. They become friends! You may be surprised how many people develop a deep connection to their plants.
A good way to choose plants for your home is to just follow your instinct and natural attraction. You’ll find it easier to take care of the plants to which you’re naturally attracted, since you’ll want to make them happy. Below is but a small sampling of a truly vast multitude of plants that can make excellent indoor green friends for your senior apartments in Ocean County, NJ. Peruse this list or visit your local plant shop and go for the plants that inspire you the most!
A Small Catalogue of House Plants
Snake Plant, Sansevieria trifasciata (AKA Mother-in-Law’s Tongue)
Snake Plant is a hardy, dense and exotic plant that, as its name implies, sort of snakes its way up to the heavens with its pointed, patterned leaves. It is great for anybody who is new to plants and nervous about killing them, because these tall, dark green plants are incredibly tolerant of neglect—although they do thrive on attention, and can grow up to 5 feet tall over the years when properly cared for!
They like low, medium or high indirect light and well draining soil. They are prone to rot, so let the soil get slightly dry between waterings. In addition to their cool seaweed-like appearance, Snake Plants are especially efficient at removing formaldehyde and benzene toxins from the air.
Aloe Vera
One of the most famous house plants, Aloe Vera is a great practical plant for the home because of its first aid healing abilities. Any minor cuts or burns can be quickly attended to with sap of the aloe: just snap off a piece of the juicy leaf and dab the goop on your wound. A very useful addition to your senior apartments in Ocean County, NJ!
These plants love direct sunlight, so keep them by the window. Like the Snake Plant, Aloe will appreciate it if you let the soil dry out between watering.
There are actually a variety of Aloes out there that all make beautiful house plants.
African Violet, Saintpaulia
If you love flowers (and who doesn’t?), the African Violet is a lovely, continuously flowering houseplant. The little purple flowers will add a lovely splash of color to the atmosphere. However, enjoying these charming flowery plants does involve a bit more involvement than some of the other house plants we’ve listed. They like warm or tepid water that has been sitting for 48 hours and they distinctly dislike their foliage to be splashed with water (it can discolor their leaves), so be sure to pour it strictly at the base of the plant. They also like a filtered bright to medium light, so keep them near a window and turn them regularly to prevent the flowers from reaching for the sun.
Spider Plant, Chlorophytum comosum (AKA Airplane Plants)
Spider plants are a super popular house plant because they are easy to grow and are especially efficient at cleaning the air. As their name implies, they are a bit spidery, with long, light green, grass-like leaves that make dangling spidery offspring. They make for great hanging plants because they’ll grow quickly and dangle more and more. These plants do not need a lot of light or a lot of water to thrive.
Jade Plant, Crassula ovate
The Jade Plant is sometimes called a “Money Plant” because it is said to grow your wealth. True or not, these are wonderful and unique succulents to invite into your house. They grow like a tree with thick branches and big, juicy leaves. They are tolerant of a variety of light situations, from direct to low light and need only moderate watering.
Peace Lily, Spathiphyllum
Another perpetually flowering plant that can make a lovely addition to your senior apartments in Ocean County, NJ is the Peace Lily. Just the name says it all: the soft, dark green plant with a white flower will be happy in shady corners of the house, emitting a soft, peaceful presence. It is also one of the top air cleaning plants for the home. The Peace Lily likes moist soil and low humidity—the bathroom can be a great place for this plant!
Prayer Plant, Maranta leuconeura (also Calathea)
Prayer Plants have some of the most striking leaves of any house plant. They come in a variety of colors—usually a combination—and have strongly defined variegated leaves you will enjoy admiring these for a very long time. In the evening, these plants fold up their leaves as in prayer (thus the name). These plants grow slow, but will grow horizontally if given the space to crawl along a surface. They can also make a lovely hanging plant.
Devil’s Ivy, Epipremnum aureum
Devil’s Ivy is a lovely plant with long tendrils of heart-shaped leaves that makes for a wonderful hanging plant on a book shelf or window sill. Or, if you have an aquarium, you can even let it grow on top with its roots hanging in the water. It will clean the water and is also an excellent air cleaner for you! There are a variety of cultivars with different colors to choose from and it’s relatively easy to maintain.
Don’t be intimidated: Add some plants to your senior apartments in Ocean County, NJ today!
If you’re new to plants and nervous about it, consider getting a succulent or cactus to begin with. They make great house plants in general thanks to their low maintenance requirements. Once you’ve activated your green thumb, you might just discover how easy and fun it is to grow plants and begin to branch out to new, more challenging varieties! Whatever plants you choose, you’re bound to enjoy how much these green beings will infuse your home with a fresh, bright energy.