MT EVELYN GARDEN CENTRE

The Healthy Home Office

By Steven Touzel, Mt Evelyn Garden Centre

Whether temporary or permanent, the home office has become an important space as more people are working from home. A pleasant and comfortable work zone will improve work satisfaction and productivity.

If a temporary home office space is required, here are some keys to ensure that your workspace is a pleasant and enjoyable place to be.

The Position – Ideally a space away from the activities of the household is desirable. A spare room transformed is excellent if this is available. It will mean changes and rearranging, but this is normally achievable with skilful use of space.

It is not always possible to find a spare room and a small area of the main living space may need to be claimed. This should be screened off from the living area as much as possible. Plants are great for screening off a separate workspace. Create your own little jungle corner.

Think Big – If the space is available, bring in some large potted plants. Olive trees are very hardy and will cope with periods indoors. Even Citrus trees can be added to your indoor space and bring with them a wonderful fresh fragrance. Think outside the normal to bring the natural goodness of the outdoors to the indoor spaces.

Your View – Windows will give access to fresh air and a view of the great outdoors. A view into the garden is fantastic and will connect you beautifully. If the view is less than inspiring, create a view with plants. This can be a garden or a collection of potted plants.

The Workspace – A desk or table with ample room for equipment is ideal. The key to working at home is to be organised. Bookwork and papers can easily be piled if organised correctly. A comfortable chair is a necessity for the long hours of sitting. To be able to use the chair from the ‘normal’ office is a huge advantage if this is possible. A beautiful potted plant or two in your space will make life much more pleasant. The Routine – Work in some daily exercise. Have your start and finish times. Take your breaks with a walk around the garden. This is a great chance to check on the progress of the veggie patch. A ten-minute stretch and stroll is recommended for each hour of sitting. When the workday is done, close everything down and be prepared for the next day. Resist the temptation to return to work projects until it is start time tomorrow. A good walk or a half hour in the garden will give a great unwind time to move into an after-work mindset.

Plants are proven to improve the air quality and general well-being of our spaces and our lives. Now more than ever, it is important to connect with nature and with each other. Make your ‘Stay at Home’ time an experience to refocus and reset the important things of life.

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Shop Local – For the Right Advice

There is no doubt that plants and gardens provide their own form of garden therapy – it’s proven by research. There’s also no doubt that plants need a little care to thrive, so make sure you buy quality plants from the plant experts, your local independent garden centres.

Whether you are a keen gardener, a novice, a dabbler or even a decorator, you will benefit from the right advice. The people in garden centres love plants and love passing on their knowledge in a simple, friendly manner.

Do you need to know the best time to prune, the best time to feed, the best fertilisers to use, or how to control garden pests and more? People often ask ‘which indoor plant is best for my sunroom?’.

You will get the correct answers and much more from local garden centres and nurseries.

While there is also a wealth of information online, nothing beats talking with a real expert face-to-face. You may just want to decorate your home, apartment or unit with relatively care-free plants. Garden centres will help you there, too.

The ‘hot’ plants at the moment are indoor plants, succulents and herbs. The use of plants in health & wellness remedies is also trending. It is this versatility of plants that aids in developing a unique space that is cherished by its owners. So check out local garden centres, and find a plant that inspires you.

Garden Releaf – Get in a garden, get healthy, have fun!

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Leigh Siebler, Garden Centres of Australia E: leigh.siebler@bigpond.com M: 0409 889 779 www.gardenreleaf.com.au

Mt Evelyn Garden Centre

This year Mt Evelyn Garden Centre celebrates 50 years of working with customers to create beautiful living spaces. The garden centre has evolved into a modern destination filled with life, colour and inspiration and is a must on a day trip to the magical Dandenong’s or Yarra Valley.

Mt Evelyn Garden Centre offers a fantastic range of plants for outdoor and indoor spaces. The selection of plants to grow indoors is huge and includes all the favourite lush healthy foliage plants. There is also a great selection of flowering indoor plants to add splashes of colour to the home.

The past few years has seen a massive resurgence in growing plants indoors and the new generation of ‘Plant Parents’ have loved discovering new selections of plants available. With excellent established relationships with Australia’s best plant growers, Mt Evelyn Garden Centre has regular supplies of top-quality larger plants to create instant features in the home. Customers can select smaller plants for offices or smaller spaces or enjoy instant results from the more established specimens that are sure to impress.

The expanded Mt Evelyn Garden Centre showroom is designed with a beautiful rustic charm with a vast range of homewares, gifts, pots/baskets/containers, combo planters and terrariums to suit every decorator style and palette. A visit to Mt Evelyn Garden Centre will inspire great ideas to create wonderful places and spaces in which to enjoy life.