My recent photo stream has been emitting a green glow from my growing number of plant babies, most of which are gifts from my green-thumbed parents who propagate the plants from their thriving home garden. Having grown up surrounded by the greenery of Mt. Makiling, I’ve never noticed how much a difference plants make until I started living in the city, surrounded by gray steel and hard concrete. It was suffocating and depressing to be in a home without any sign of plant life. And so with just a small patch of soil our former residence offered, we planted a thriving bamboo tree and took care of several potted plants. But now that we’ve moved into our #FixerUpper, I’m quite pleased to have converted one of the concrete-paved corners into a grassy pocket garden and it’s been one of my passion projects to grow our home plant population.
I’ve taken for granted the lush greenery I grew up surrounded with, and now that I’m living in the metro, I’ve come to realize that it takes considerable effort to nurture plant babies. However, I’m quite certain of the following benefits our family gets from having plants in our home, making the care for these plants worth it:
- Air Purification – It’s basic science that plants reduce carbon dioxide levels and pollutants like nitrogen dioxide. And the city has extra loads of these gases! Well positioned hedges can serve as excellent dust screens too.
- Stress Relief – I’ve read studies that plants reduce stress, lower blood pressure, and uplift mood. Our home feels more welcoming with the addition of our indoor plants and tending to my garden and indoor plants after bringing my kids to school (read: traffic) surely calms and soothes me.
- Noise Reduction – Plant leaves are known to absorb noise, making it perfect for homes situated along busy roads. Nature’s awesome acoustics.
- Natural Coolant – Maybe it’s the cool, soothing green color of plants. But I also think the water transpired by plant leaves serve to cool down the air temperature. Huge trees that provide shade definitely cool down the heat of the sun too.
- Privacy & Security – Tall Indian trees and lush Mackey hedges lend some privacy when grown around the property. The hardy Bougainvillea offers a prickly defense when grown around the perimeter.
Having a piece of nature in our homes is slowly becoming a luxury that not many can afford, whether it’s in having the land space for a garden or having the time and patience to care for plants. I realize that in this age of instant gratification, with access to everything just at our fingertips, plants instill the virtue of patience in me as I watch nature take control of their growth and development. Minsan nakakainip, kasi sometimes only 1 new leaf per quarter. But when a leaf unfurls, or when rare flower buds bloom, it’s such a miracle to behold.
#DomesticGoddessMNL