My office needs narrow and stately office plants.

Mona lisas are tall, narrow and stately interior office plants. Grown on the island of Hawaii in their native lava rocks, hydroponically ; Mona lisa , janet crags can landscape your low light office interiors very nicely. Call us they just arrived! This plant shown here is 6' tall and 2' wide. PDI uses these plants in many of our N.E. Plantscape office spaces within the 128RTE area. Visit us at www.pdiplants.com.

Looking for an excellent low-light plant, then look no further than Dracaena Lisa. Dracaena Lisa are fantastic low light plants that, at first look, appear very similar to a Dracaena Janet Craig. But at closer look, you will see that, unlike Janet Craig, the leaves of Dracaena Lisa are much narrower. The lush dark green foliage of Dracaena Lisa are attached to its notable green trunk, which is also used to distinguished it from Dracaena Janet Craig. The plant produces flowers when chilled but it is highly recommended that these flowers should be removed.

Dracaena Lisa is an upright columnar plant that usually reaches a height of not more than 8ft high. The plant is actually quite difficult to locate. It used to grow exclusively in Hawaii. In nurseries or plant shops, Dracaena Lisa plants are available in 8” and 10” containers.

The green trunks of Dracaena Lisa and the upright growth of the plant made them perfect cane plants. Exotic Dracaena Lisa canes are nice focal point in easily seen areas at home. A combination of Dracaena Lisa in staggered canes or various heights make them very attractive even in narrow spots in Boston, MA offices and buildings.

Why use arboricola indoor office plants in your officescape?

In most garden centers you’ll find a regular “mix” of plants filling out many of the spring houseplant assortments. One of these plants is the Schefflera arboricola also known as the dwarf schefflera, dwarf scheff, arb’s and dwarf umbrella tree.

The Schefflera is the "dwarf" brother to the old time umbrella plant – Schefflera actinophylla. Today, you find one variety of the large Schefflera grown called ‘Amate” however the “Dwarf Umbrella” has quite a few varieties and is easy to find in almost any garden center or nursery.

Here’s a couple of the varieties commonly found today:

Arboricola – regular green variety

Renate Green variety that has more ripple to the leaves

‘Gold Capella’ variegated yellow or gold and green leaves

‘Trinette’ variegated cream and green leaves

‘Dazzle’ variegated some leaves almost completely creamy white

Discover the Natural Solution For These Plant Pest!… Everyone fights bug problems from time to time! But, office personal have few safe solutions… until now! Check out our insect pest blogs to read our latest article on an easy, safe, natural solution for your houseplant pests!

There are others currently being introduced and tested. I’m sure we’ll see many new varieties of arboricola introduced over the next 5 years.

Arboricola propagation starts in a variety of ways: seeds, cuttings and air-layers, and then grown in full sun to produce thick full plants. Usually the umbrella’s you’ll find in the garden center will be of the bush form. Pruning the bushes make them full, round and thick with leaves measuring 4 to 6 inches across forming a “fingered umbrella”. The dwarf scheff is also grown in tree forms, bonsai and braided just like Ficus trees. The lifespan of a Schefflera/Umbrella tree can be years when cared for properly.

Whichever form you buy remember when plants move indoors they go through a period of acclimating.Expect as part of your umbrella care for the plant to thin out and loose some leaves.

The Schefflera arboricola can adapt to a wide variety of light levels but prefers higher light if possible especially the variegated varieties – ‘Gold Capella’ & ‘Trinette’. If left alone the branches can stretch and grow “out of shape”. It’s easy to keep them shaped with occasional selective pruning. Fortunately, just like a Ficus the dwarf Schefflera can also handle some radical pruning and come back strongly. Don’t be afraid to prune the plant when needed.

If leaves turn black and begin dropping off it’s a good signal the soil is staying too wet or moist. On the flip side when leaf tips wrinkle if they are too dry.

These plants have a pretty extensive root system and can even grow climbing a tree. They also seek water when being grown outside. As with most plants used indoors, arboricola does not like to sit in water.

Avoid letting the plant sit in that saucer after you water it likes to be moist but not wet… you don’t want to promote disease. The Schefflera is in the Aralia family and like many of the plants from this family spider mites like this plant. Clean the plant regularly when indoors and don’t forget the undersides where mites like to hang out. Check with your local garden center for some of the “safe” preventive measures such as “Safer Soap” or than that disease is not a big problem to this plant.

That’s a quick look at one of the most easy to find indoor plants today – the Umbrella or Schefflera plant.

Remember when caring for your dwarf umbrella / schefflera

1. Don’t keep the plant wet

2. Place the plant in as bright an area as you can

3. Watch out for mites

4. Don’t be afraid to prune when needed

Plantscape Designs interior landscapers repeatedly design with the arbricola in mind in our Boston, Ma officescape locations.

Why PDI uses Dallias in our outside container planters, Boston, MA?

Plantscape Designs of N.E. applies annual flowers like Dallias, sweet potato vines, colorful coleus and marginata spikes to many of our outdoor gardens in the Boston RTE 128 business community.

These lush flourishing outdoor annuals soften the hard concrete and metal table and chairs of your outdoor cafes and roof gardens.

Adding live color invites your employees to remain on your work place properties with out leaving your building and not being late for work the remainder of the day.

Plantscape Designs of N.E. supplements many of our clients interior plantscapes with outdoor plantscaping possiblies such as in the above photo in the downtown Boston, MA areas.

Why use arrow head indoor office plants in your officescapes?

The arrowhead plant goes by numerous names including arrowhead vine, American evergreen, five fingers, and nephthitis. Although it may be grown outdoors in some regions, the arrowhead plant (Syngonium podophyllum) is typically grown as a houseplant.

Overall, arrowhead plant care is quite easy. The arrowhead plant should be allowed to dry out between waterings. Although the plant enjoys some moisture, it should not be kept too wet, which may lead to root rot. It prefers temperatures between 60 ºF and 75 ºF but can tolerate a wider range, if necessary. Proper arrowhead plant care requires humid conditions, especially during dry winter months. Mist the plant daily or place its container on a tray filled with pebbles and water for optimal growth. The arrowhead plant can be fertilized monthly with a balanced fertilizer.

The leaves change shape as the plant matures, beginning as an “arrowhead” shape, and then changing into three to five finger-like sections. Leaves are generally green in color but there are many varieties that include variegated leaves of differing shades. The heavily variegated varieties require bright, filtered light. Average light is the norm for solid green varieties or those with less variegation. Keep them away from direct sunlight, as this will cause the arrowhead plant to burn or bleach. The arrowhead plant will tolerate low light levels on occasion.

Arrowhead Plant Root Structure

The arrowhead plant root structure is quite extensive, spreading and growing to the point of becoming invasive in the wild. Even within a contained environment, because of arrowhead plant root structure, the plant should be repotted every second spring. This plant can also be propagated through division, cuttings (which can be rooted easily in water), and air layering. Gloves should be worn when working with the arrowhead plant, as its sap can be irritating to sensitive individuals.

If the arrowhead-shaped foliage is preferred, simply cut off the climbing stems as they develop. The plant will take on a bushier appearance, with less climbing, and the leaves will remain more arrow shaped.

Plantscape Designs Inc of New England has been applying these colorful indoor office plants in our clients interiorlandscape designs for over 38 years.

Why use Pteris ferns in your interior office plant design?

Pteridaceae (in Pteridaceae (plant family): The Pteridoid clade)

The Pteridoid clade contains 17 genera and about 400 species. The largest genus, Pteris (brakes), consists of about 250 species distributed throughout tropical and warm temperate parts of the world and is known for the large number of hybrids between various species.

DESCRIPTION: This is a large group of Ferns that can be grown in greenhouses, hothouses, and homes. There are hardy kinds that lose their leaves (deciduous) and kinds that are evergreen. They are found wild in many parts of the world, such as tropical America, tropical Asia, India, China, Japan, West Indies, southern Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. Pteris vary greatly in their sizes and shapes. Some are a few inches tall and some are several feet tall. Most kinds have fronds that are divided deeply into many long, ribbon-like sections. P. cretica, the Cretan Brake, is one of the most popular kinds. Growing up to 18 inches high, this Fern forms masses of light green, evergreen or semi-evergreen foliage. The leaves are broadly oval to triangular and divided into finger-like segments. P. cretica albolineata grows up to 18 inches high and has evergreen or semi-evergreen leaves, up to 8 inches long. These are in forked or linear segments. They are pale green striped down the center with creamy white.

PDI currently applies these types of indoor office plants in many of our interior N.E. plantscapes in and around the Boston/ Cambridge, MA areas.

Why is Plantscape Designs Inc. a "Nice Little Company"?

1. PDI loves our office plantcare work.
2. PDI does weekly visits to your office.
3. PDI does not use insecticides, we use safe biological controls.
4. PDI has monthly educational plant clinic meetings for its technicians.
5. PDI fertilizes on a monthly basis.
6. Rapid 24 hour replacement of green tropical plants.
7. PDI uses recycled polyresin containers.
8. PDI management and staff are sensitive to your plantcare needs Boston, Ma.

Why group your indoor office plants?

The advantages of grouping your indoor office plants is as follows:

One, juxtapose three or more different plant leaf sizes and shapes makes for a more interesting botanical interior office design statement.

Two, grouping plants can direct a clients' or employees' eye away from an unsightly electrical wiring in your office work place just because of the shear beautiful botanical mass of this stand.

Three, conversely using a group of plants and contemporary design containers can direct your people toward your logo , seating area or some other more desirable section of your office.

Plantscape Designs Inc. uses these design techniques in our Boston, Ma offices.

Corporate Plant Designs in Boston, MA by PDI Plants

Corporate interior plant designs should have a distinct minilmalistic look.

The use of river rock is an alternative to wood chips or mosses.

The contrast of differing leaf sizes and shapes, makes for a more distinctive botanical design.

This front lobby of one of our Lexington office buildings, welcomes both employees and clients with a fresh look.

Loriope ,grass like indoor plants, softens the smooth black hard river rock. The 3 foot wide florurishing cardinal philodendron add botanical mass to the triangular planters. Finally ,the lemon tinted neon 6" pothos adds a contrasting third color to the planter arrangement.

The same old same old will not be found in these corporate planters.

PDI currently services Lexington and Bedford , MA office buildings.