Jamie Durie’s indoor labour of love
The TV star horticulturist is returning to his roots – bringing plants inside in his latest big project.
Landscape designer Jamie Durie knows a thing or two about plants – after all, he’s shared garden advice on our television screens for the past two decades.
While the 47-year-old works more in furniture and architecture design these days, he’s always happy to chat about his first love – horticulture.
And with many people spending all day in office spaces, Jamie is working on a co-working office space in San Francisco.
“It’s six floors of interior co-working space and the brief for us was to deinstitutionalise the way we look at commercial offices and make it feel like it could be a home office,” he says.
To do that, Jamie is using a lot of tactile and natural materials.
“Because I think that’s what we all want,” Jamie says.
“We don’t want to work in sterile environments that don’t feel comfortable. The more comfortable you can feel in a work environment, the longer you’re going to stay there and I think the more productive you will be as well.”
To create a happier work environment, Jamie encourages having a handful of plants in the office.
The fiddle leaf fig plant – and why it’s great for indoors
“It’s an awesome plant for indoors,” says Jamie.
“The reason why it works so well indoors is because it photosynthesises better than most plants because it’s got leaves like dinner plates.
“When you’re dealing with a leaf of that size, it’s going to soak up more light and produce more energy for the plant in low-light areas like offices.”
- Related story: Why gardening may benefit your mental health
How to care for your fiddle leaf fig plant
- To keep them healthy, water them and wipe the leaves because dust settles on the leaves and that stops them from photosynthesising.
- You also need a really sustainable resource of light, so you really have to rotate the plant by quarter move on a regular basis.
Words by Erin Miller. Fig leaf picture by Sarah Sosiak, Unsplash.
