Planterra Blog

What Is My Indoor Tree Worth?

Chauncey Gardner
|
December 23, 2025

A Guide to Indoor Tree Appraisal for Building Owners, Designers and Renovation Teams When you purchase or begin renovating a building with existing indoor trees—especially large, mature specimens—you inherit more than just plants. These trees may be architectural features, legacy assets, or liabilities depending on their condition and the scope of your project. Before making decisions about removal, redesign, or replacement, it’s essential to understand the indoor tree appraisal process and what these long-standing trees may actually be worth.

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Office atrium with Ficus trees from the 1980s

Can You Grow a Pine Tree Indoors?

Shane Pliska
|
December 12, 2025

We frequently receive calls from clients asking for plants that don’t look tropical but instead reflect a northern aesthetic. The request is understandable—designers often want interior landscapes that connect to the local environment: “We want pine trees, not palm trees.”

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Tropical Plant Procurement: How Planterra Sources Rare, Specimen, and Contract-Grown Foliage

Chauncey Gardner
|
November 19, 2025

Tropical plant procurement is a specialized process that ensures the availability of acclimated ornamental foliage for houseplants and commercial interior plantscape installations. These plants are selected and hybridized for qualities that allow them to thrive indoors — from resilience in low light to unique textures and colors that enhance design.

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Commercial Plant Rental vs. Buying Plants

Chauncey Gardner
|
September 10, 2025

When designing a workspace, hotel, or retail environment, plants are one of the most impactful and cost-effective design elements you can add. They bring life, warmth, and a sense of hospitality into any space. But one important question always comes up: should you invest in commercial plant rental or buy plants outright? Both options have their advantages. Understanding the real costs, benefits, and long-term value of each can help your business make the smarter choice.

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Corporate Christmas Tree Decorating Trends

Chauncey Gardner
|
September 2, 2025

When it comes to holiday décor in the workplace, the corporate Christmas tree remains a centerpiece for many offices, lobbies, and hospitality spaces. It sets the tone for the season, welcomes guests and employees alike, and brings warmth into a professional environment. But just like interior design and fashion, holiday decorating follows trends—and staying current ensures that your corporate holiday display feels fresh, inviting, and on brand.

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Best Interior Landscape Companies: How They Keep Offices Thriving

Chauncey Gardner
|
August 29, 2025

In today’s workplace, plants are more than decoration. They are essential elements of healthy, engaging, and productive environments. Studies consistently show that greenery reduces stress, improves air quality, and enhances the overall employee experience. But to achieve these benefits, businesses rely on the expertise of interior landscape companies. These professionals know how to design, install, and maintain plant programs that thrive in commercial settings, balancing beauty, sustainability, and practicality.

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Plants as Neuroaesthetics in Retail Spaces: Why Greenery Sells

August 15, 2025

Walk into a thoughtfully designed retail brand store today and you may notice something new—lush greenery spilling from shelves, potted trees anchoring display tables, and cascading vines framing merchandise. From flagship fashion retailers to home décor chains, plants—both live and faux—are now essential design features in national retail brand spaces. This shift isn’t a passing trend—it’s a calculated design strategy rooted in neuroaesthetics.

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Behind the Scenes: How Planterra Perfects Custom Drop-Shipped Holiday Décor for National Brands

August 12, 2025

For over a decade, Planterra has been the trusted partner for corporations seeking custom holiday décor and drop-shipped holiday decorations that maintain a consistent brand image across hundreds of locations nationwide.

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Plantscaping vs. Interior Landscaping: What’s the Difference in Indoor Plant Design?

Chauncey Gardner
|
August 5, 2025

Interior landscaping is the practice of designing, installing, and maintaining greenery and biophilic elements inside buildings. Professionals in the trade commonly refer to this service as interior plantscaping or interiorscaping.

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Discover “Living Light” with Shane Pliska at AIA25

June 2, 2025

Hosted at Green Plants for Green Buildings’ Booth #282 and sponsored by SST Lighting, the presentation explores how lighting isn’t just for ambiance—it’s essential for plant health and a cornerstone of sustainable, human-centered design.

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Discover “Living Light” with Shane Pliska at AIA25

Planterra Founder Larry Pliska Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

January 30, 2025

Larry Pliska, the founder of West Bloomfield based Planterra, was inducted into the International Plantscape Hall of Fame at the Tropical Plant Industry Expo in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Each year, this prestigious lifetime achievement award is given to a single interior plantscape professional who has made a lasting impact on the industry.

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ficus

Planterra at 50

Kyle Taylor
|
April 19, 2024

On Monday, April 22, Earth Day, Planterra will release “Planterra at 50,” a mini documentary celebrating the company’s 50th anniversary.

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What is interior landscaping?

Shane Pliska
|
February 5, 2021

Interior landscaping is the practice of designing, installing, and maintaining greenery and biophilic elements inside buildings. Professionals in the trade commonly refer to this service as interior plantscaping or interiorscaping.

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Office of the Future: The Nature of the Post-Pandemic Workplace

January 26, 2021

Planterra joined forces with colleagues in the interior landscape industry in authoring The Nature of the Post-Pandemic Workplace, a white paper that offers designers and employers insight on the future of office and workplace environments.

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Big palms trees arrive at the Franklin Park Zoo

November 12, 2020

Six massive twenty foot plus Washingtonia Palms arrive at Boston’s Franklin Park Zoo, courtesy of the Pliska Family, the owners of Planterra. “We are thrilled to have found such a perfect home for these specimen palms” says Shane Pliska, President of Planterra.

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Giant elephant ears, gardenias, patio palms delivered to your door

Shane Pliska
|
April 24, 2020

We are offering drop off delivery in Michigan; serving the Oakland County, Detroit and Ann Arbor areas.  We can also provide planters and installation services.  Look at the Planterra Patio Plant Program and contact us to book your order.

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Planterra Takes Highest Honor at 2019 International Plantscape Awards

July 30, 2019

Planterra’s installation of the healing garden at the Parkview Cancer Healing Garden in Fort Wayne, Indiana earned the Diamond Award from AmericanHort’s International Plantscape Awards. The Diamond is the highest honor given to any plantscaping firm in North America.

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Dreamy Rooftop Garden in 3 Steps with a Planterra Pro

July 29, 2019

Rooftop gardens are steadily gaining popularity as city dwellers seek out ways to reconnect with nature. Planterra Plantscapes Creative Director Sarah Stalker considers them some of her favorite spaces to design.

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Plantscaping Nationwide: Planterra partners with local contractors

July 26, 2019

Noted as the market leader for interior landscaping in Detroit, Planterra has quietly built a portfolio of national accounts throughout the United States and Canada by partnering with local contractors.  In this Q&A with Shane Pliska, president of Planterra, we learn more about how this works and why Planterra is a solution for corporations and institutions with a national footprint.

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The Best Plants for Offices with Florescent Lighting

June 5, 2019

Not all offices have big windows that allow for a plethora of natural sunlight.  This doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy all the benefits office plants bring. Indoor plants are not only beautiful, but they are known to improve air quality, reduce stress, increase productivity and just make you all around happier. Work with an interior plantscaping expert to reap all the rewards of office plant design.

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New White Paper on Lighting for Interior Landscaping

May 31, 2019

New research suggests that live plants are the canaries of our modern workplace. "By ensuring the proper amount of natural light indoors to support plant life, it's possible to support a healthy and productive environment for people, too," said Shane Pliska, president of Planterra.

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Mother’s Day #LoveFromDetroit

May 10, 2019

This Mother’s Day, all Shinola storefronts are adorned with greenwalls of live plants and azaleas by Detroit based designer, Sarah Stalker, creative director of Planterra. The display of spring freshness is the perfect backdrop to feature the fine timepieces and handbags at Shinola. The results are beautiful, so we asked Sarah to tell us more about the design and implementation.

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The live plant backdrop highlights the genuine Shinola products at this store.

Tropical Plant Procurement | Planterra’s Expertise in Rare & Specimen Foliage

Chauncey Gardner
|
April 1, 2019

Learn how Planterra leads in tropical plant procurement — from contract growing to rare and specimen plant sourcing — ensuring distinctive foliage for commercial interiors, atriums, and conservatories.

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how to source tropical plants

Finding plant inspiration at the Detroit Zoo

Nicole Tafoya
|
March 4, 2019

When the Detroit Zoo opened in its current Royal Oak location in 1928, it was the first zoo in the country to have animal exhibits without bars. Two of its most interactive exhibits to this day are the butterfly garden and free-flight aviary. Housed separately in one building, visitors will find hundreds of butterflies and 20 different species of birds, respectively.

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Detroit Zoo

How to Keep Plants Pest-free Indoors

March 3, 2019

When working with live plants, inside or out, management of pests is paramount to success. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a long-term effective and environmentally sensitive practice to maintain healthy live plants.It is supported by the Environmental Protection Agency.

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plantscaper

What are the best irrigation methods for interior plants?

February 20, 2019

Interior landscapes require a customized approach when it comes to irrigation. One that will keep plants healthy and be thriving indoors. At Planterra, our experts use the most effective technology and methods of maintaining plantscapes indoors. When we ensure more efficient water usage, those practices can help control labor costs, too.

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subirrigation

What is that Palm-like Plant?

February 7, 2019

The palm is an interior design classic, versatile and widely utilized to adorn spaces ranging from plush stately parlors to slick corporate office lobbies. This botanical family of plants are known for their fronds, trunks and stems. There are many plants that resemble palms—some of them even have the term “palm” in their name, but they may not be palms at all.

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palms in reagan oval office

How do plants influence hotel star and diamond rating?

February 3, 2019

Working closely with the hospitality industry our team at Planterra understand how to customize the experience using plantscaping. Whether the location is a luxury hotel, retail business or casino, indoor plants and flowers can positively impact the experience. We frequently design and install plants for hotels that meet the hospitality standards for live plants.

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hospitality

What is the Best Topdressing for Interior Plants?

January 20, 2019

Walk into any office or public building and you might not immediately notice the topdressing chosen for surrounding plants. A lot of planning goes into details like topdressing, the staging material that covers the soil surface of any potted plant.

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topdressing

Ways to Brand Your Office with Plants

January 14, 2019

Showcasing a strong visual identity not only differentiates you from your competitors but it’s what makes your brand memorable. Office plants give businesses a cohesive and professional look and also add a wow factor!

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Living Wall

How can plants improve air quality?

January 3, 2019

Plants can benefit your health – and it isn’t just possible when they are rooted outside. Bringing plants indoors can actually improve the quality and health of the air that surrounds us. They carry both practical and aesthetic benefits when planning an indoor plantscape.

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Why you should buy holiday décor for your office building in January

December 29, 2018

Like all who decorate for the holiday season, business and building owners often wait until well into the year to consider their holiday displays. It may not be obvious that the global holiday décor supply chain follows an annual import calendar. It starts in January for the holiday to come.

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Christmas

Ficus Myths Debunked

December 27, 2018

Some people love the trees and others dislike them, especially those that haven’t been sufficiently maintained over the years. In our Q&A we ask Larry Pliska, Planterra’s founder, about the issues, concerns and myths surrounding ficus trees.

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ficus

How to Choose the Best Office Plants for Workplace Feng Shui

Shane Pliska
|
December 10, 2018

These masters studied hundreds of homes to see if there was a formula that, with proper placement, created either success and harmony or distress and struggle for the homeowners and their families. Using methods taught by the great masters, Feng Shui can be used in a business environment and have the same positive outcome as when it is used in a home.

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feng shui

10 Reasons Why You Need Plants in Your Office

November 26, 2018

Most offices tend to lack any connection to nature—they are usually varying shades of beige and grey and don’t appear inviting. Simply adding plants to your office space can bring major benefits to your employees. The same is true if you’re working from a home office. Incorporating biophilic design is a sure way to enhance your work and overall health. Here are 10 reasons why you need plants in your office.

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