Which plants do scientists say should be in your bedrooms?

Throughout your lifetime, you spend a long time in your bedroom, therefore all your décor should be carefully picked out, from your bed sheets to your plants. Data by NASA and the American College has found which houseplants are best suited to join you in your room of rest.

Why should you enhance your bedroom with houseplants?

It’s important to understand the ways in which you can improve your bespoke bedroom’s feng shui — and indeed the rest of your home — with some simple houseplants.

When speaking to The Telegraph, interior landscaper and gold-medal winner at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Ian Drummond, stated that the average houseplant can be very practical. He explains: “Many people now live in cities with no outside space. We all have this longing to have some green around us, and houseplants are the perfect solution.”

Houseplants can also work as a cheap air freshener for your home thanks to their pleasant aromas. Studies have shown that houseplants have been found to help with concentration, promote better sleep and reduce anxiety among people who live around them on a day-to-day basis too. The Plantsman, when reporting on a 2016 piece which was published in the RHS’s journal, underlined: “As placing indoor plants in rooms is one of the simplest changes that can be made to enhance the environment, it stands out as a practical and affordable support for health.”

Which plants to add

So, there’s clearly plenty benefits for adding houseplants to your home, but which are best suited? Here’s a list of four of the plants that NASA and the American College are recommending you place around your bedrooms to make it a healthier and more relaxing environment:

1. Areca Palm

If you haven’t heard of the Areca Palm plant, don’t panic. You may know it by one of its various other names: Chrysalidocarpus Lutescens, Dypsis Lutescens, the Bamboo Palm, the Golden Cane Palm and the Yellow Butterfly Palm.

While its name may be in dispute, one thing that isn’t is the fact it made the list of NASA’s top 10 air purifying plants. What’s more, the plant has been said to be great for those who often have colds or sinus problems due to it regularly releasing moisture into the air.

Aesthetically, the Areca Palm plant offers a tropical vibe to your room because of its long and graceful feather-shaped fronds.

When you place this plants in your bedroom, you should seek out an area that provides bright but indirect light — you’ll know if it is being exposed to direct sunlight as the leaves will begin to turn a yellowish-green hue.

2. Aloe Vera

The Aloe Vera plant — AKA Aloe Barbadensis — has been grown for medicinal purposes for thousands of years. This is because the cool and clear gel from an Aloe Vera leaf can be applied to burns, cuts, rashes and areas of sunburn to provide instant relief and speed up the healing process.

And it’s not just your health it can help with. It has been deemed by NASA as one of the best plants for air purification. This is because they release oxygen on a regular basis during the night, not to mention fighting against both benzene — an ingredient of detergents — and formaldehyde — found in varnishes — to ensure a room’s air remains pure.

You are recommended to keep Aloe Vera plants inside as, since they are made up of a lot of water, they are susceptible to frost. It’s preferred that they are kept in a space that gets plenty of sun throughout the day. Furthermore, plant them in a spacious pot that contains soil which has been well drained beforehand.

3. Chinese Evergreen

Like its predecessors on this list, the Chinese Evergreen is also known by another name — Aglaonema. One of the most appealing aspects of this plant is how easy it is to look after. It’s one of the easiest to maintain because it can grow even in areas of low light — no need to worry about placing it in a dark bedroom then.

From a health point of view, the Chinese Evergreen plant works to remove more and more toxins from a room as the time passes and its exposure to the space grows.

As well as keeping it away from bright sunlight (which can actually scorch its leaves), the plant should be watered regularly with cool water and fed with plant food once every three to four weeks.

4. Boston Fern

The Boston Fern plant — or Nephrolepis Exaltata — can add some beauty to your bedroom thanks to its graceful green and drooping fronds which create a ruffled effect.

It ranked in an impressive ninth place on NASA’s list of the best air-purifying plants due to its ability to remove formaldehyde from rooms.

One thing to bear in mind when it comes to placing Boston Fern around your bedroom is how sensitive it is to chemicals. Smoke which come from coal fires and wood burners can also be toxic to the plant, which means that they should be placed away from any spaces susceptible to draughts.

Due to its drooping appearance, a Boston Fern is suited to hanging baskets, as well as across the edge of either a bookcase or shelf.