4 Reasons to Have More Houseplants

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Adding more plants to your windowsill doesn’t just make your space look greener. Tending to and even just looking at houseplants can positively impact your physical and psychological well-being, according to a wealth of research on the subject. Here are four research-backed pros to exercising your green thumb.

Houseplants may help improve your attention.

Working remotely? Adding more plants to your home office could potentially improve your focus. Research participants performed better on a series of cognitive tasks when working in a plant-decorated room compared to a plainer setting, a 2011 study found. The scientists theorize that indoor plants could help prevent fatigue during attention-demanding work — all the more reason to clear off desk space for some pothos or aloe.

They may also boost productivity.

An international team of researchers found more promising results about the power of plants in a 2014 study. Adding greenery to the workplace not only increased productivity by 15 percent, but it also made staff feel happier, the results indicated. Having plants in the office significantly increased workplace satisfaction, self-reported levels of concentration and perceived air quality. The additional flora may make employees more physically, cognitively and emotionally involved in their work, the analysis suggests.

Plants may make you feel happier.

In addition to improving your focus, tending to your plants could also boost your mood. After participating in several interactive horticulture classes, residents in an assisted living facility reported experiencing better health and happiness in an American Society for Horticultural Science study. In another round of research, people at a rehabilitation center also reported better subjective well-being after completing a plant-centered program.

Plants may have therapeutic qualities.

The presence of flora could potentially help with recovery too, according to research from Kansas State University. Appendectomy patients with plants in their rooms had significantly fewer intakes of pain medication; lower blood pressure and heart rate; less pain, anxiety and fatigue; and higher satisfaction with their recovery rooms compared to counterparts in a control group, the study found. What’s more, 93 percent of patients in the plant-filled rooms named that aspect as the most positive quality of the space. Add a little more greenery to your own rooms at home, and you may find that you agree.

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