With national lockdown restricting our use of the outdoors, and an increasing amount of free time, more people have begun to turn to gardening and houseplants amidst the ongoing pandemic. Figures show that there has been a vast increase in the number of people buying plants and bulbs during lockdown. Patch Plants, an online plant store reported a 500% increase in sales since the first lockdown.
Guy Barter, the Royal Horticultural Society’s chief horticulturalist says that indoor plants have been popular as “…they are bought by those who want the benefits of horticulture but don’t have a garden or are not comfortable visiting parks and having to practice social distancing.”
Not only does gardening serve as a pastime, it’s also reported to have significant benefits to one’s mental wellbeing. Researchers have found that people who surround themselves with plants and other forms of natural beauty, inside and out, benefit from stress reduction, reduced symptoms of depression, stronger memory retention, fewer symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress, higher productivity and creativity.
There are many types of wild foliage that you can propagate from and bring into your home to create your own plant. English Ivy, (pictured) is one of these easily accessible, durable and abundant wild plants, that can be propagated through both water and soil propagation. According to NASA’s Clean Air Study, English Ivy is also effective at cleansing benzene, formaldehyde, xylene and toluene from the air.
Words and images by Lily Watts