Minimalistic home designs are new in. But if don’t want your house to appear too utilitarian, you will want to add some greens to lighten up space. On top of beautifying your home, you will have a natural air purifier in your space.
But before you do that, you will want to know that not all plants are the same. If you have a pet you will want to know what plants are suitable for your pet, and which plants are pet-friendly and can beautify your home at the same time.
On top of that, if you are a believer of Feng Shui, you will also want to know which plants are appropriate for your home, and where you should place them for the most desired effect. Listed below here are some of the most commonly used house plants chosen for Feng Shui, that will beautify your house at the same time.
Feng Shui in Plants
Before we get started, let us understand how plants play a part in Feng Shui. Generally speaking, plants represent the wood element of nature. The wood element of nature signifies vitality, growth and action, and due to their green-ness, some also associate them with healing. So let us see what plants could possibly bring ill luck to a household.
Bad Feng Shui Plants
Let’s get started with the plants that worst affects feng shui first. There are generally speaking no bad plants – unless the plant is dead.
Dead Plants
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If the plant is dead, you would do best to remove it, compost it, or just get rid of it immediately. From a feng shui point of view a dead plant represents death, and invites ill fortune into the house. But from a more logical standpoint, the dead plant will not only start to rot and attract bugs, in the worst-case scenario you may end up with a termite infestation.
Thorny Plants
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If your plant is not dead or dying, there is technically no such thing as a bad feng shui plant – it just depends on the placement of the plant. Thorny plants are one of the types of plants you should be mindful of its placement. Placing or planting a thorny plant in front of your home will bring in arguments and anger from all the thorny feelings.
Examples of thorny plants include lemon trees, bougainvilleas, and rose bushes. While the flowering plants may be incredibly beautiful when they mature and are covered in flowers year-round, it may not bode well for the household.
Instead of planting something thorny in the front of your house, try to go for flowering bushes that come without thorns instead. Not only will you have an aesthetic view every morning, you will also save yourself from all the scratches and pricks from the thorns every time you have to trim the bushes.
Good Feng Shui Plants
Jade Plant
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Jade plants are pretty little plants that look like succulents. They are believed to bring you different forms of luck depending on where you place them in your home, and are usually placed in the southeast to attract wealth and prosperity into a home.
If you however plan to strengthen the family bond, health, and harmony, you should place your Jade plant in the east. And placing it in the west is purported to increase the creativity of the household, as well as bring good luck to children living in the house.
However, whichever direction you choose to place this plant or whichever part of the house, your Jade plant is guaranteed to bring you a bit of happiness when you look at it with its adorably thick and juicy looking leaves.
Lucky Bamboo Plant
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The Lucky Bamboo Plant is one of the most common decorative plants you will see in every Chinese household during Chinese New Year – and for good reason. The Lucky Bamboo Plant is said to bring joy, luck, wealth, health, and peace to every household.
The numbers of stalks in the placement however bring different meanings, as does the arrangement. A 2-stalk Lucky Bamboo Plant represents love and marriage, while 3 stalks represent happiness. Five stalks attract health, while 8 stalks are believed to bring financial abundance. Nine stalks are the most the plant should have, which represents good fortune.
The components of the plant and its pot will also need to be precise, in order to represent all the five elements: earth, wood, fire, water, and metal. Wood is represented by the plant itself, while fire is represented by a red ribbon tied around the plant.
The pot should be made out of glass to represent metal – if yours is made from ceramic you will want to attach a metal component to it such as a Chinese coin for luck. Earth is naturally represented by the soil or rocks in the pot your Lucky Bamboo Plant grows in, while the water element comes into play when you water your Lucky Bamboo Plant.
To improve family relationships you will want to place your Lucky Bamboo Plant in the eastern section of your home. If increasing the wealth of your household is your desire, then place the plant in the southeast section of your home.
Money Tree
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If you have ever wished that money grew on trees, then the Money Tree will be the closest you will get to your dream. The Money Tree is an indoor plant which as its name infers, is believed to bring financial wealth and abundance to its household. This tree can typically be found in Chinatown, and most often you will see coins tied to its branches as a reference that money is growing on the tree.
To get the most out of this plant’s inferred abilities, you will want to place it in the money area of your home, which is the southeast part of your house. These plants thrive best with indirect sunlight.
If placed under direct sunlight, you can expect the leaves to get “sunburnt” which will indirectly affect the overall health of the plant. So make sure you find a nice shaded corner in the southeast part of your home if you plan on getting a Money Tree.
The Myriad of Other Feng Shui Plants
The above are some of the most commonly found indoor plants used for Feng Shui. They are typically chosen not just for the belief that they bring luck, health, joy, and prosperity, but also because they are easy to care for and are aesthetically pleasing.
There are of course many other plants that are considered to bring good fortune to a household but are harder to care for. Some examples would include the Peace Lily which is believed to bring good luck and harmony, as well as the Moth Orchid which is believed to be auspicious and bring good luck. Both of these plants are beautiful, but require much more care than evergreens.
So choose your plants wisely and tend to them well in order to reap most of the aesthetic and spiritual benefits from them!
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(Written by Diane Foo Eu Lynn, 22nd September 2020)