Danish research confirms plants are good for the office

15 June 2012

A new study from Denmark confirms impact of plants and flowers on work environment.

PhD student and innovation consultant at AgroTech, Jane Dyrhauge Thomsen considered how plants affect the psychosocial work environment at two Danish offices.

Jane commented “Plants and flowers have special symbolic value, which means that they can be used to show social support in the daily work at the office – both among the employees, and between the management and employees.

“Work environment research has shown that social support is important to employee job satisfaction, and it also helps to prevent health problems such as depression, stress and cardiovascular disease.

“So, to put it another way, the good news is that plants promote employees' general health and wellbeing.”

The findings also showed that employees’ support for one another i.e. looking after one another’s plants or making gifts to each other of flowers or plants, promoted the work place as a positive supportive community.

Additional information
The concept of interior landscapes for offices dates from the sixties, when plants were introduced to large offices to improve the work environment and promote employee satisfaction.

The PhD project "Plants for a Better Life" was supported by Danske Prydplanter, the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Copenhagen, and the Research School of Horticultural Sciences, and was produced in collaboration between the University of Copenhagen and Roskilde University. With thanks to www.floradania.dk