Vanda Orchids:PDI uses these in our live monthly flowering office interiors gardens, Woburn, MA

1. This genus is one of the five most horticulturally important orchid genera, because it has some of the most magnificent flowers to be found in the entire orchid family[citation needed]. This has contributed much to the work of hybridists producing flowers for the cut flower market. Vanda coerulea is one of the few botanical orchids which can produces varieties with blue flowers (actually a very bluish purple), a property much appreciated for producing interspecific and intergeneric hybrids.

2. The color blue is rare among orchids, and only Thelymitra crinita, a terrestrial species from Australia produce flowers that are truly "blue" among the orchids, the other being Aganisia cyanea, a lowland species from Northern South America that is difficult in cultivation, but has metallic blue flowers. Both of these species, much like Vandas, also have a bluish purple tint towards the inner petals of the flowers. Occasionally, PDI applies Vandas in our indoor office locations.

3. The plants do not possess pseudobulbs but do possess leathery, drought resistant leaves, and some varieties terete leaf forms. Almost all of the species in this genus are very large epiphytes that are found in disturbed areas in habitat and prefer very high light levels, and the plants have large root systems. Some of these species have a monopodial vine-like growth habit, and the plants can quickly become quite massive.

4. These plants prefer consistent conditions day to day in cultivation to avoid dropping their bottom leaves. The epiphytic species are best accommodated in large wooden baskets bare root, which allows for the large aerial root systems. Disturbing or damaging the roots of large, mature Vandaceous orchid plants, and in particularly, Vanda and Aerides species can result in the plants failing to flower and going into decline for a season or more. These plants do not tolerate disturbance or damage of their root systems in cultivation when they become mature. The terete leaved terrestrial species are very easy to cultivate and care for in sunny interior office plantscapes.

When grown bare root, the epiphytic species require daily watering and weekly feeding and are very heavy feeders in cultivation. We at Plantscape Designs Inc.  make certain that these orchids are in high light interior office situations with plenty of watering during the work week.

Why prune your Boston MA office plants?

When pruning young trees the emphasis should be producing strong structures, in your Boston, MA. interiorscapes.

Proper pruning cuts are made at a node, the point at which one branch or twig attaches to another. In the spring of the year growth begins at buds, and twigs grow until a new node is formed. The length of a branch between nodes is called an internode.

The most common office plant that needs pruning is your Ficus trees, Benjamina, Nitida etc..

1. Make a small wedge shaped cut on the underside of the branch just on the branch side of the stem collar. This will break the bark at that point and prevent a tear from running along the bark and stem tissue.

2. Somewhat farther along the branch, starting at the top of the branch, cut all the way through the branch leaving a stub end.

3. Finally, make a third cut parallel to and just on the branch side of the of the stem collar to reduce the length of the stub as much as possible.

The most common types of pruning are:

1. Crown Thinning

Crown thinning, primarily for hardwoods, is the selective removal of branches to increase light penetration and air movement throughout the crown of a tree. The intent is to maintain or develop a tree's structure and form.

To avoid unnecessary stress and prevent excessive production of epicormic sprouts, no more than one-quarter of the living crown should be removed at a time. If it is necessary to remove more, it should be done over successive years.

This procedure is especially applied to your indoor office Ficus trees.

Branches with strong U-shaped angles of attachment should be retained . Branches with narrow, V-shaped angles of attachment often form included bark and should be removed .

Included bark forms when two branches grow at sharply acute angles to one another, producing a wedge of inward-rolled bark between them.

Lateral branches should be no more than one-half to three-quarters of the diameter of the stem at the point of attachment.

Avoid producing "lion's tails," tufts of branches and foliage at the ends of branches, caused by removing all inner lateral branches and foliage. Lion's tails can result in sunscalding, abundant epicormic sprouts, and weak branch structure and breakage. Branches that rub or cross another branch should be removed as illustrated above photo in one of our interior indoor office locations.

Conifers that have branches in whorls and pyramidal crowns rarely need crown thinning except to restore a dominant leader. Occasionally, the leader of a tree may be damaged and multiple branches may become codominant. Select the strongest leader and remove competing branches to prevent the development of codominant stems again as seen in our above photo.

Plantscape Designs Inc. yearly or if needed seasonally prunes many of our larger Boston MA  office plants.

PDIPLANTS Construction of a Teardrop Container Garden, Woburn, MA

Plantscape Designs Inc. assembly of Balfor Arelia plant into a Teardrop fiberglass contemporary container Woburn, MA indoor office interiorscape.