Some plants cost a fortune, but it is quite easy to make new plants from those you already got. In case you do not have more room, you can always give a plant to a friend as a gift.

Indoor plants create a peaceful atmosphere and should be something all men care more about. A Norwegian Instagrammer puts the indoor plants in perspective. Plants create happiness.

By Lars Lund

l@rslund.dk

Do you like green plants? Then you are no troublemaker. Plant people are peaceful. They do not like conflicts nor drama, but instead they prefer peace and quiet while taking care of their plants. This is what the Norwegian Instagrammer Anders Røyneberg says.

For a while we will forget all about neighbour disputes, the height of the hedge, weeds in the garden and so on. Instead, we are in an apartment building in Oslo, Norway, where the psychiatric nurse Anders lives. He knows a lot about how to have a peaceful mind. The answer is simply indoor plants without a doubt. It is scientifically proved, that plants bring calmness to people, and to get dirt under one’s fingernails actually creates peace and harmony in what usually is a stressful life.

Anders Røyneberg has found inner peace by having indoor plants. He does it so well that his Instagram profile @arctigardener has almost reached 100.000 followers from around the world. It is in particularly a lot of women from troubled regions in the Middle East, who follows him on Instagram. He has asked an Iranian woman, who follows him, why he as a Nordic man can speak to women like herself. Her answer is simple: “I get so happy when I see a man care that much for plants. There is something peaceful and beautiful about it.”

And she is absolutely right. In many areas in the world, it is men who are the root of power struggles and wars, whereas plants on the other hand are peaceful.

Anders Røyneberg continues: “We have removed ourselves from the nature for a long time, but now we are beginning to come back to it and to get the nature into our homes. Finally, we have discovered that we feel better when nature is close.” He calls it the power of chlorophyll. It is the power that makes us healthy, strong and calm.

To share his enthusiasm Ander Røyneberg has recently published a book with the title: ‘Green Home’ (Danish title: Plantelykke) and is about creating green oases in our homes.

It really is a beautiful book. It is written in a humorous language with aesthetically pleasing photos and is full of great advice and inspiration for décor regarding plants. Anders has more than 100 green plants in his small apartment. He has everything from banana plants, citrus, olives, ferns, succulents to cacti. Some of his friends think he has a problem and that it has gotten out of control. To this his answer is always that the hobby could be something worse than this. His interest in plants is rooted in his childhood. He grew up on a farm in harmony with nature, and when he as an adult moved to Oslo, he suddenly missed all that. He became restless. Slowly he recreated the nature by getting all sorts of plants and soon his worries and restlessness disappeared.

Choice of plants
In his book Anders talks about how there are plants for anyone. The ‘plant serial killer’ is one of the categories he has divided people into. These people have many plant lives on their conscience. They just need the snake plant (Sansevieria trifasciata). The category is similar to a jetsetter, who is busy working, traveling and partying, and who only need a fishbone cactus (Epiphyllum anguliger). The foodie is one who prefer edible plants. Here herbs in pots are an excellent choice. The other categories are the pursuer, the health freak, the caring people and more. The most important thing is probably to choose the right plants, that can survive the three ‘death months’ November, December and January. In these months the days are short and they do not have much natural light. Many plants often die during these months, therefore, it is important to choose robust plants no matter which type you are. Luckily, there are a lot of robust plants according to Anders.

Decorate your home with plants
As much as we care about nature, we also care about styling and decorating our homes. The Nordic style is characterized by being open, bright, simple and plants are often used to soften up the rooms. Green elements, in a room that might seem plain, creates depths and contrast. Just like pillows, textiles and curtains are natural elements to decorate your home with, so have plants become a natural element.

For instance, plants can be used as partitions. If the home has a kitchen, dining area and living room all in one then you can make the different zones visible by using plants as partitions.

Green plants can also be used to make your home more private and prevent others from looking in. Especially in apartments it is an efficient way to shield off.

The trick is to place plants in groups of three. For instance, put a big plant in the back, a medium sized next to it and a small one at the front. The group can also contain more than three plants, but remember to make it an uneven number.

Hanging plants catches the eye and so does a very large plant. Among the larger plants, Anders Røyneberg, recommends the fiddle-leaf fig, monstera deliciosa or the very large strelitzia, which resembles a banana tree.

If you want it to look like you have twice as many plants, you should get some mirrors. In a small apartment mirrors have an amazing effect. Besides that mirrors make the room look bigger, they also reflect the light inside the apartment. Mirrors in different shapes add dynamic to the room.

Anders Røyneberg’s book contains so much more and is full of ideas for everyone’s taste. In the book you can also read about which rooms you should put the different kinds of plants. The best inspiration book for plant people to date.