FosterPlants.com

Space is limited and floor space is at a premium, so why not go vertical?

There are so many good reasons to go vertical with plantings that it would be silly if we didn’t at least explore our options!

That being said, yours truly can’t wait to do our first  living wall, or vertical garden, or greenwall™, or whatever you want to call it.

There are so many options out there as far as vertical gardening “systems” are concerned and so we’ve been doing our due diligence to determine which of the various systems we would want to offer to our clients.

Here’s what we’ve found. There’s a cornocopia of systems out there and there are good systems and not so good ones. There are some that are suitable for interior applications, but they’re not very suitable for exterior applications — and vice versa. There are some that are great for temporary or rotating applications, but they wouldn’t necessarily be good for permanent ongoing ones.

Some are just too darned complicated and some way too expensive.

Seriously, it’s a Zoo out there in vertical-gardening-wall-land and that’s just one of the reasons why you need a professional that knows what they’re doing to make this happen for your space.

At FosterPlants, we’ve begun testing many of the various systems and one of the best for interior applications that we’ve come across is the TerraScreen™  system, shown above. The primary advantage of this system is that it facilitates simple and quick change-outs of the plants. That’s great for a lobby space where one might want to implement seasonal plantings or change things out as the property holds different events.

We have many other living wall systems that are suitable for both interior or exterior applications so let’s explore what system might be best suited to your space and get you going vertical.

Give us a call at 305.251.7383 or 877-647.1782 and we’ll begin Making Your Space Green™.

Photo credit: TerraScreen™ available from FosterPlants™

Envision this.

You’re sitting at you desk working on the computer and there’s this annoying little miniscule bug… or perhaps a few of them that keep flitting around — right in front of your face — between you and your monitor and they’re really annoying.  Just about impossible to swat too!

Have you been there?

Say hello to the Fungus Gnat.

This little critter isn’t harmful to humans or animals, but they are extremely annoying, as you may know, and eliminating them from your space can be quite a challenge.

Where do they come from? Well, several possible sources. they could be coming into your space in the soil of your plants at the egg or larvae stage, or they can fly into your space through an open door or window at the adult stage. Kind of like mosquitoes or flies. The only way to eliminate them once an area is infested is to treat both the nesting area  (which could be, but isn’t always necessarily the soil of your plants) and the adults that are flying around.

I won’t get too technical here, but if you’d like to find out all the technical details, there’s a great article at https://class-insecta.com/Fungus_Gnats.html

How can you prevent the likelihood of an infestation?

• Make sure that your plants are sourced from a reputable Interior Plantscape Professional (we know a good company if you need a recommendation )
• Make sure that that company treats all of your incoming plants to eliminate any larvae that may be present in the soil. We do.
• Ask your staff not to bring gift plants or plants from home into the office as they may unknowingly introduce the dreaded fungus gnat into your space.
• Use covered trash receptacles in your kitchen areas and require that they are emptied daily making sure that the trash is properly disposed of outside of the space.
• Require your staff to dispose of any food that they may have taken to their workspace in that covered trash receptacle in the lunch room.

What to do if you do have an infestation?

• Call your Interior Plantscape Professional  and let them know that you’re having the problem. They will know what steps to take to eliminate the infestation.
• Call your Pest Control Professional also, as the infestation may not necessarily be emanating from the plants.
• Be patient and understanding during the process as the only way to completely eliminate the problem is to break the life cycle.
• Realize that your Interior Plantscape Professional is on your side and wants the issue resolved as much as you do.
• Understand that the plants, although they may now be the nesting area may not necessarily have been the cause of the infestation.

Please leave us a comment if you found this post useful.
Our thanks to Class-Insecta.com for the use of their photo.

It’s 2010, can you believe it! Where did 2009 go?

Some things may be different in 2010 than they were in 2009 or before, but one thing remains the same.

First impressions are… well, first impressions, and you only have one opportunity to make a first impression. After that it’s gone. Poof!

The first area of your space that your clients and visitors see is you reception area and in addition to all the great furniture and art that your Designer placed there,  we’d like to suggest that a few live plants in awesome planters would really complete the space.

Whether you get them from us or a cometitor isn’t really the point, as long as you get them.

Reasearch has shown that live plants that are professionally maintained will increase productivity and promote a sense of well being, reduce absenteeism and assist with the removal of  Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s) that are scurrying around in the air that the occupant’s of your space are breathing!

Not to mention that they will enhance the aesthetics of the architecture and design of the space and really won’t cost that much in the scheme of things.

Sounds like a good thing to us!

Next time we’ll tell you how a few well specified plants and planters could be better than too many, or none, and what factors you should consider when comparing  Interior Horticultural Professionals.

Check back in a couple days and we’ll tell you more.