Top 7 Benefits of Urban Gardening and Urban Farming

Urban gardening and urban farming have become much more popular in metropolitan areas.

Whether you’re a homeowner looking to add an urban garden to your property or a company hoping to develop corporate plantscaping for your employees, urban landscaping has many benefits. We are all looking for ways to improve our health and well-being at this current time. You may be surprised to learn that urban gardening is one of the top ways to achieve your goal.

Let’s examine the key benefits of creating an urban greenscape on your property.

We Will Cover How To:

Encourage Healthier Diets

We all need to strive to follow a healthy diet. There’s no denying that with restaurants on every corner, preparing healthy and nutritious meals can be challenging. You’ll have fresh ingredients when you add an urban garden to your home or workplace. You’ll be able to cook delicious meals for yourself and your family. The goal is to help you to stay on track with your fitness and health goals. No matter what diet you currently follow, you’ll be able to make little switches daily. That way, you can enjoy more fresh produce and colorful meals.

Boost Food Security

The past few years have shown us how quickly we can lose access to stores and products we rely on daily. You’ll boost food security using your urban garden, ensuring you always have access to fresh fruit and vegetables. Food waste is also a huge issue in many countrywide communities. For this reason, having access to a greenscape where you pick only the food you need to eat that day will help to minimize wastage. You won’t have to eat packaged food as much. Instead, you’ll take your produce straight from your garden to your kitchen. You’ll be ready to prepare a delicious meal for yourself and your loved ones.

Grow Safer Food

Urban landscaping offers full customization over the plants and food you choose to grow in your garden. You’ll be able to grow safer meals that you can serve to your family, knowing they are free from chemicals and pesticides in store-bought food. If you are looking to enjoy cleaner meals without any ingredients that could damage your body, you’ll appreciate this as one of the top benefits of urban gardening. You’ll no longer have to question what’s added to your food, as you can choose to use organic products to help grow your produce.

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Develop Under-Utilized Land

An urban garden allows you to use a space on your property that may otherwise sit empty indefinitely. We all know that roofs, in particular, are often under-utilized when they could otherwise create a beautiful outdoor space for you, your family, or your employees. You’ll find that when you plan your urban landscaping well, it could help to add to the value of your property in the future when you look to sell it. Find the best ways to maximize the available space and ensure you add all of the features that improve your property’s curb appeal, such as living walls.

Increase Sustainability

Food miles – how far away your food is sourced – gained more attention in recent years as one of the hottest topics in sustainability. By growing produce in your home or workplace, you can work to reduce your impact on the environment and stop food from traveling around the world to reach your plate. You’ll bring yourself one step closer to the food system when you grow your food and create a greenscape you enjoy tending. We all need to play our part to protect our planet, and this is one of the simplest yet most effective ways you can achieve this in the upcoming years. Urban plantscaping can ensure that you have everything in place to keep your gardening practices as sustainable as possible.

Build Community

One of the best features of urban landscaping is the sense of community this investment can create. An urban garden can become a central part of your work community, allowing people to meet, socialize, and exercise. Many companies encourage their teams to get involved with tending new greenscapes. This team-building offers a way to connect with nature and take a break from everyday work. Urban gardening also brings families closer when they work together to keep it in top condition.

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Save Money on Groceries

The challenges of the past few years have pushed up the price of groceries across the country. With shortages in the supply chain, many families have had to make different choices to stick within their food budget. When you grow food in your urban garden, you reduce the impact of these rising prices. This benefit allows you to spend your money in other ways. Workplaces can use the fruit and vegetables they grow on-site to reduce supply budgets.

Key Takeaways

There are many fantastic benefits of urban gardening and farming for individuals and companies across the country. Living walls and a beautiful greenscape can create an aesthetically pleasing addition to any home or workplace. You’ll find that they can help to offer you fresher produce and healthier cooking ingredients.

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Boston’s Plantscaping Specialists

Foliaire is a full-service interior and exterior greenscape design-build firm in Boston’s historic South End. For over 40 years, we’ve provided award-winning plantscaping services in the Boston Metro area.

We customize and plan our roof garden projects and interior plantscaping to fit your unique space and tastes. That’s how we’ve built a reputation of unparalleled style and elegance for corporate plantscaping and residential community projects.

In addition, we’ve received several environmental design awards and have appeared in several publications. You can find us in Architectural Digest, House and Garden, Horticulture, and Interiorscape.

Follow us on social media @Foliaire for more valuable plant care advice:

Plant Care Tips: How to Take Care of Fiddle Leaf Figs

Fiddle leaf figs are one of the best indoor plants for anyone looking to add a striking addition to any room in their home. With its larger size and beautiful leaves, you’ll want to ensure you understand the top plant care tips for this exotic plant.

Keep reading to learn the best ways to preserve your fiddle leaf fig. We’ll help you avoid common problems associated with this popular plant.

What You’ll Learn:

Light

When finding the correct position for your fiddle leaf fig, ensure your indoor plantscaping sees this plant placed by a window. It needs to receive some direct light daily, so ensure your window is unobstructed. The window doesn’t need to face any direction, so don’t worry if your window isn’t south-facing. Remember that you shouldn’t place it outdoors since full sunlight will be too much for the plant.

Soil

To look after your fiddle leaf fig, you’ll need to plant it in a well-draining potting mixture. It should ideally be rich in organic matter, such as peat-based soil. The soil should be evenly moist, which will help keep the roots hydrated without getting too wet.

Watering

When it comes to indoor plant maintenance and watering for fiddle leaf figs, ensure you water them roughly once a week. This step will depend on the size of your plant, so adjust the amount of water you give it. For example, a six-foot-tall plant may need about ¾ of a gallon weekly. If the top inch of the soil feels dry to you, it needs watering when looking after exotic plants. Slowly water all around the pot to effectively water the entire root ball.

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Temperature

The key to successful indoor plantscaping depends on many factors, including the average temperature of the place where the plant will live throughout the year. Keep your fiddle leaf figs in temperatures of roughly 55 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit for best results. The most important thing is to place this plant indoors so it won’t receive heat or hot air from a fan or heating vent.

Fertilizer

Applying fertilizer is a good idea when taking care of any of the best indoor plants, but you’ll want to be cautious with how much fertilizer you use on your fiddle leaf figs. Avoid using too much fertilizer at once on the plant, or you may find that you’ve undone all of the good work of the plant care tips we’ve shared so far. A slow-release “pelletized” fertilizer is a good option for the spring and summer of this type of plant. This type of fertilizer sits on the top layer of the soil, where it will last for a few months before you need to consider giving the plant more. Consult the instructions on the fertilizer for the correct amount to apply.

Potting and Repotting

Take great care when potting or repotting your fiddle leaf fig. You should repot your plant when it outgrows its previous pot, which is generally just every two or three years for this exotic plant. The best type of pot for a fiddle leaf fig is a tighter container with many drainage holes. This plant can easily adapt to any shape and type of planter, but make sure you water it generously upon repotting it to help it settle into the new pot.

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Common Problems

It’s important to be aware of the common indoor plant maintenance issues that may crop up. Overwatering is one of the biggest issues we see with fiddle leaf figs, resulting in fungal infections or root rot. You may notice that your plant develops spots or dropping leaves, indicating a bigger issue with your plant care. If just the edges of the leaves are turning brown, that’s an indication that the plant isn’t getting enough water.

Drying Leaves

Many of the leaves on your fiddle leaf fig will eventually turn brown and dry. While this is part of the normal process of aging leaves, you should certainly be concerned if this happens to the whole plant at once. If you move your plant to a new area of your home, you may find that it may take a little time to adapt to its new location. You can pluck off any dried and old leaves, but consider whether you are following our indoor plant maintenance tips if you are concerned there is a greater issue. Ensure you are offering the plant enough water and not placing it in sunlight outdoors, as these two factors could be the reason for your browning leaves.

Pest Infestations

As with many exotic plants, pests may decide to give your fiddle leaf figs a visit at any time. You can treat the infestation if you catch this issue before it’s too late. Armored scale insects, spider mites, and mealy bugs are the three most common infestations. Pests may sometimes appear blemishes on the leaves, so use a magnifying glass to check out the issue. Smaller pests can easily blend into the leaf, but the sooner you treat this problem, the more likely you’ll be to preserve your plant.

Key Takeaways

By following these indoor plant care tips, you can ensure your plant lives for many years. These are very long-lasting and beautiful additions to any indoor plantscaping design. However, you’ll want to ensure you give them the correct water, sunlight, and temperature conditions to grow and thrive. While there are a few common issues you need to be aware of, they are generally quite low-maintenance plants that are easy to look after. You’ll find they make a very dramatic addition to any living space, which is why we are seeing more and more homes across the country put these plants on display.

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Boston’s Plantscaping Specialists

Foliaire is a full-service interior and exterior greenscape design-build firm in Boston’s historic South End. For 40 years, we’ve provided award-winning plantscaping services in the Boston Metro area.

We customize and plan our roof garden projects and interior plantscaping to fit your unique space and tastes. That’s how we’ve built a reputation of unparalleled style and elegance for corporate plantscaping and residential community projects.

In addition, we’ve received several environmental design awards and have appeared in several publications. You can find us in Architectural Digest, House and Garden, Horticulture, and Interiorscape.

Follow us on social media @Foliaire for more valuable plant care advice:

Plant Care Tips: How to Take Care of Tropical Plants

Tropical plants are a fantastic addition to any home or office but require proper plant care. Have you reviewed plant care tips for tropical plants before? If not, you may be surprised by some of our top advice.

In today’s blog, we’ll help you keep your tropical plants in top condition. Keep reading as we share some of our best plant care tips for these types of plants.

The Diversity of Tropical Plants

Tropical plants are perfect for your home or office all season. One thing to remember when it comes to exotic plants is that all of them are different. You’ll need to take the time to learn the top plant care tips for your specific tropical plants.

Many exotic plants have special instructions you need to follow to ensure survival. By learning how to water and care for your plants, they can be a vibrant and exciting addition.

Watering Tropical Plants

If you’re wondering how to take care of tropical plants, you’ll want to ensure their soil is porous and evenly moist. Generally, potting them in sandy soil or other well-draining soil is best. The soil shouldn’t be too wet either, but this can be quite challenging to perfect.

While most tropical plants can stay dry for a few days, avoid giving them too much water. When tropical plants are overwatered, they’re more likely to die. Try to water your plants when the soil becomes dry to the touch and frequently check on the soil.

This advice is especially true for hanging plants since they tend to dry out faster. We encourage you to take consistent care of your exotic plants. They need a fair bit of attention to survive.

One of the best ways to maintain moisture is to invest in a supplemental indoor plant watering device. This step will ensure you don’t forget to water your plants. A soil moisture gauge is also worth buying if you struggle with judging water levels. It will help enhance healthy plant care.

Humidity and Indoor Tropical Plants

Tropical plants in the wild usually live in hot and humid locations worldwide. Keeping the humidity levels right can be difficult if you live in a much cooler environment. Therefore, you need to consider how to take care of tropical plants.

The good news is that exotic plants adapt quickly to their new environment. Even your hanging plants will likely thrive wherever they are.

Some of these plants are more sensitive, so you might need to add more humidity in a dry atmosphere. Tropical plants benefit from regular misting to keep the humidity level high, especially during winter.  

A pebble tray with water is another simple and creative way to improve the humidity around your plants. Use an indoor humidity monitor to keep track of these levels, which will help you monitor them daily.

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Light and Tropical Plants

you must place some tropical plants in bright light to grow and thrive. However, you’ll find that others will quickly adapt to your darker home light levels.

A sunny window might seem like the perfect place to put your plants. For some plants, though, this could soon burn off their leaves and damage them.

Rubber trees and dracaenas are two plant species that will need a fair amount of light. If you leave them for too long without light, their leaves will lose color and turn brown.

As soon as you notice a plant getting burned by the sun, move it out of its current spot. That way, you’ll be able to save it before it’s too late.

Do You Need Fertilizer for Tropical Plants?

Many exotic plants people keep in their homes today require special soil. You’ll need to research this before buying these plants, as you may need to purchase this soil simultaneously. Otherwise, regular well-draining soil will do for your hanging plants. Just be sure to keep them well-watered and in good condition.

Fertilizer is important to use in the spring or summer months, ideally in February or March. We recommend adding fertilizer annually as part of your plant care tips. In the winter, you generally won’t want to use fertilizer.

Many people today opt to use organic plant fertilizer, a top plant care tip for anyone with exotic plants. You can also find fertilizer designed for indoor plants to help them grow and thrive.

Some plant owners take things one step further and make homemade fertilizer with compost tea bags. It’s a great way to save money while offering your plants a more natural solution.

Key Takeaways

Following the plant care tips we’ve shared above, you’ll find that you can skillfully care for your tropical plants. These tips should apply to most exotic plants.

However, ensure you follow the specific care instructions for your unique plantscaping. We know how beautiful exotic plants can look in any home or office. It’s something we highly recommend adding to your space this year.

You can follow us on social media @Foliaire to learn more plant care tips on garden decor and garden care.

Ready to unlock your garden’s full potential?

Contact Us

Boston’s Plantscaping Specialists

Foliaire is a full-service interior and exterior greenscape design-build firm in Boston’s historic South End. For the last 40 years, we’ve provided the highest quality office plantscaping services for clients across the Boston Metro area.

We customize and plan our living walls and interior plantscaping to fit your unique space and tastes. That’s how we’ve built a reputation of unparalleled style and elegance for corporate plantscaping and residential community projects.

In addition, we’ve received several environmental design awards and have appeared in several publications. You can find us in Architectural Digest, House and Garden, Horticulture, and Interiorscape.

Follow us on social media @Foliaire for more Boston exterior design and plant care tips:

Plant Care Tips: Top 10 Pet-Safe House Plants

As a pet owner, it’s critical to add pet-safe house plants for your little furry friends.

Indoor plantscaping is something that more homeowners than ever before are researching. These plants can exist in various rooms in your home, adding some color or interest to your space.

However, you need to ensure you only add pet-safe house plants to your space. Keep reading to learn our top 10 pet-friendly house plants, all of which will help enhance the mood and atmosphere of your home.

What We’ll Cover In This Article:

1) Rattlesnake Plant (Calathea)

The colors and unique leaves of the Rattlesnake plant make it one of our favorite pet-safe indoor house plants. It can incorporate low-light rooms and will brighten up any space. The good news is that it’s safe to keep around pets, but you’ll want to make sure you plant it in sandy, fast-draining soil for best results.

Keep an eye on the leaves, and remember that one of the top plant care tips is to water the plant as soon as the soil feels dry. It would be a good option to add to your living room or study and add more texture to even the plainest rooms.

2) Spider Plant

The Spider plant is a popular option with veterinarians, and you’ve no doubt seen it before in your local vet’s office. Thanks to its air-purifying qualities, it can help remove toxins from the atmosphere.

Make sure you keep this plant away from constant, direct sunlight to don’t kill off your new interior plantscaping home addition. This plant is very easy to take care of, so it’s one of our favorites for first-time pet or plant owners.

3) Parlor Palm (Neanthe Bella Palm)

If you want to add a little indoor plantscaping to your bedroom, the Parlor palm is one of our favorites to add to a nightstand. It only needs a few hours of light a day, which is ideal from an indirect source.

This plant is very slow-growing, so it’s a good option for anyone new to adding pet-friendly house plants to their space.

4) Succulents

Succulents are some of the most popular pet-friendly additions to any home. However, you need to ensure the succulents you add are pet-safe indoor house plants.

Haworthia and Echeveria are two of the best options and are super easy to manage. Ensure they get direct sunlight and water them when the soil turns dry.

5) African Violet

Kitchens are a great spot to add some indoor plantscaping. The African Violet is a colorful plant that will bloom well in indirect sunlight.

They are ideal all-year-round plants for any home and are one of the most attractive options for comparing pet-safe house plants.

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6) Gloxinia

The Gloxinia is native to Brazil and blooms in bold shades of pink, red, purple, or blue. You’ll need to keep this plant’s soil moist, but it will only require you to follow basic plant care tips, such as feeding the plant every two weeks.

This plant will be a great option to add to your living room if you are looking for a way to add a splash of color to your home. Unfortunately, Gloxinia is somewhat demanding and requires additional attention.

They also tend to attract unwanted insects. This beautiful flowering plant is perfect for those who already have a good track record of caring for plants.   

7) Venus Flytrap

This pet-friendly house plant is easy to maintain, so first-time interior plantscaping homeowners will love adding it to their homes. Just make sure you add it to someplace where it will enjoy about four hours of direct sunlight each day.

Terrariums and solariums are ideal environments to show off this plant. An even better location might be a conservatory or hothouse.

Peat moss is the best option for the soil. You’ll want to make this plant a focal point in your interior plantscape design.

8) Boston Fern

The Boston Fern consistently comes up in lists of the top indoor plantscaping plants. It’s one of our favorite pet-friendly house plants. You only need to feed it occasionally, so it’s a great choice for busy pet owners.

It’s okay if your dog or cat accidentally bites it as it’s not toxic to either of these animals. You can read our guide on fern plant care to learn more.

9) Watermelon Peperomia

The Watermelon Peperomia is one of the best options for pet owners within this family of plants. It should remain out of direct sunlight, but you won’t have to worry about watering it too often.

You could place this in most rooms in your home. You only need to test the soil from time to time to see if it needs any care or water. This plant prefers to sit in somewhat dry soil.

10) Bromeliad

The final plant we recommend for pet owners is the Bromeliad, which offers a tropical feel to any room. It’s a bright and colorful plant, and the blooms stay in place for a few months.

Any room in your home that could do with a splash of color will benefit from this pet-friendly house plant. We recommend adding this plant to your kitchen or living room. You can open the windows and offer it some indirect sunlight in that setting.

One thing to keep in mind in terms of plant care tips for this plant is that you will need to mist it to keep it in peak condition. Wait until the soil is dry, then completely drench the plant thoroughly for watering.  

What to Do If Your Pet Consumes a Poison Plant

If you know your dog or cat has eaten a poisonous plant, here’s what to do:

1) Remove your pet from proximity to the plant.

Note the plant’s name, if you recognize it, or take a picture of it to help medical professionals in treating your animal.

 

2) Make sure your pet is breathing, alert, and behaving normally.

Call your veterinarian or a phone hotline to help with pet poisoning, like Pet Poison Helpline at 855-764-7661 or ASPCA Animal Poison Control at 888-426-4435. Remember, hotlines like these charge for their services so a consultation fee may apply. A professional can tell you whether you need to treat your pet at home or bring it in to see a veterinarian.

3) Call your veterinarian or the nearest emergency veterinary clinic immediately if your pet is not behaving normally.

Avoid any at-home remedies or antidotes that your veterinarian did not approve. That includes making your pet vomit. Vomiting may be the right approach, but it might also be dangerous based on what your pet ingests and what’s happening in its body.

Act Quickly to Save Your Pet’s Life

Remember, the sooner you get help for a pet who’s eaten a poisonous plant, the better the chances your pet can recover from poisoning. Whether at home under a veterinarian’s orders or in a veterinary hospital, treatment will be specific to the plant that poisoned your pet.

The ASPCA Poison Control estimates that 25 percent of poisoned pets recover within 2 hours. Even with treatment, 1 in 100 poisoned pets die.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so check toxic and non-toxic plants before bringing greenery into the home or planting in the yard or garden. Your pet and your veterinarian will thank you.

 

Key Takeaways

By choosing any of these pet-friendly house plants and following the plant care tips for looking after each one, you’ll find that you can enjoy enhancing your home with these beautiful plants.

These plants are safe to keep around dogs, cats, and other pets, while still brightening up certain parts of your home. We highly encourage you to think carefully about what you add to your home. When you have pets sharing your space, you can keep everyone safe and healthy for years to come.

You can follow us on all social media @Foliaire to learn more plant care tips on garden decor and garden care.

Ready to unlock your garden’s full potential?

Contact Us

Boston’s Exterior Design & Plantscaping Specialists

Foliaire is a full-service interior and exterior greenscape design-build firm in Boston’s historic South End. For the last 40 years, we’ve provided the highest quality office plantscaping services for clients across the Boston Metro area.

We customize and plan our living walls and interior plantscaping to fit your unique space and tastes. That’s how we’ve built a reputation of unparalleled style and elegance for both corporate plantscaping and residential community projects.

In addition, we’ve received several environmental design awards and have appeared in several publications. You can find us in Architectural Digest, House and Garden, Horticulture, and Interiorscape.

Follow us on social media for more Boston exterior design and plant care tips:

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