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The idea for this post sprouted about a year ago, while I was enjoying a roasted paprika soup in a family-owned cafe in one of the most charming cities of the Netherlands, Delft.
The cafe, Wildgroei, is painted in deep shades of green with wood accents. And no matter what table you choose to sit at, you’re surrounded by plants and botanical illustrations. If the word ‘cozy’ had a picture in the dictionary, then it would certainly be a picture of this houseplant-filled cafe.
Throughout my ten-year long plant-keeping journey, I’ve made it a point to notice the plants in my environment. And after my lunch at Wildgroei, I started to pay more attention to houseplants in cafes.
Well-maintained plants cheer up any room they’re in and create a cozy atmosphere. From an evolutionary standpoint, green helps us relax and feel at peace. And with the availability of houseplants, it’s also an affordable way to decorate a commercial space.
Here are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to choosing houseplants for your cafe, coffee shop, or place of business.
1. Consider your environment.
Before you buy any houseplants, spend a few weeks figuring out where the light falls in your cafe. Then choose plants that match these light conditions. If you’re going to place houseplants in large windows, they need to be light-loving plants such as string of pearls, jasmine, jade, aloe vera, and croton.
There are plants that you can place in the back of the shop, such as Sansevierias, Tradescantias and ZZ Plants, because they can survive in low-light conditions.
How is the flow of traffic in your cafe?
If enough people brush against the leaves of a plant multiple times a day, that is sure to damage it. Keep fragile plants out of the way, or keep them out of your business for good.
2. Pay attention to plant toxicity.
Sure, your customers are there to eat your delicious eclairs, not munch on your houseplants. But accidents happen, especially when you get kids and dogs involved, so it’s best to remain cautious and not give anyone any reason to sue you. (Yes, I may be writing from the point of view of someone living in an overly litigious society such as the United States. But it’s generally good practice not to poison your customers, don’t you think?)
You can check on the ASPCA website for a list of plants that are poisonous to cats and dogs.
If you decide to incorporate some of these plants into your decor, make sure they stay in hard-to-reach places: hanging from the ceiling, trailing along the walls, mounted behind the counter (here are a few beautiful designs), or on top of shelves and cabinets.
3. Cafe shop plants come in three categories: centerpieces, side pieces, fillers.
Center pieces
A centerpiece is a small plant arrangement that you place on your tables, counters, standing tables, or anywhere else your customers might place their cups of coffee. You should keep these arrangements small and compact, especially if your place is cozy.
Go for succulents or edible plants (such as mint, rosemary, oregano, basil).
If your plants will be moved from indoors to outdoors and back frequently, then you need to account for this factor too.
Move a Pilea peperomioides from warm to cold to warm again, and you’re sure to lose it in a month. Again, succulents will handle this temperature variation rather undamaged.
Side pieces
Side pieces are your showstoppers.
Opt for a few larger plants to fill awkward corners or draw attention away from unsightly sockets.
Here, I would recommend going for small trees with a big visual impact, such as citrus trees, pineapple plants, fig trees and hibiscus. These kinds of plants are safe around children and add a dash of color when they’re in bloom or when they bear fruit. And no room-freshener can compete with the amazing scent of a lemon tree in bloom.
Filler plants
Your filler plants are there for the Instagram effect. They look nice, lush and inviting. Again, go for houseplants that are easy to maintain and non-toxic. You can get playful with arrangements and personalize your accessories to match your decor, whether it’s modern, industrial, or vintage.
4. Do not keep dead houseplants around.
Take the houseplant trio below that was staring me right in the face in an otherwise very fancy gastro-brewery. This is one of my absolutely biggest pet peeves when it comes to eateries: if your cafe is strewn with dead and crispy houseplants, then I’ll stay away from it. And it seems I’m not the only one to care about such a detail.
Even Eater Magazine picked up on how unsightly dead plants are in restaurants. A customer might think, ‘If you don’t care enough to keep your plants alive and watered, what other details are you missing in your business? Is the cutlery cleaned properly? How about the tables? Do the staff remember to wash their hands?’
5. Train your staff to take care of your coffee shop houseplants.
Someone needs to remember to water the plants. Either designate someone to take care of them, or create a houseplant rota. You can’t expect everyone to be a houseplant expert, and you can’t expect your employees or colleagues to care as much as you do. So before you assign this task, ask around if anyone is already knowledgeable about the topic.
Watering is the most obvious routine to keep in mind, but you should also make sure you remove dead leaves, dust the larger plants (a wet rag should be enough) and rotate the plants if they’re getting too leggy.
What plants should I choose for my cafe or coffee shop?
Here are a few ideas to get you started. Ultimately, you’re the one who knows what type of environment you have in terms of temperature, light, humidity and air flow, so trying to find the best houseplant for your cafe will be a game or trial-and-error. But the success is so sweet!
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1. Strings of succulents
Budget option: String of pearls (Senecio Rowleyanus)
High-end option: String of dolphins (Senecio peregrinus)
Display ideas: trailing down a back wall or in front of a shop window. They are fragile plants, so avoid leaving them on cafe tables or anywhere with a lot of foot-traffic.
What they like: Being close to warm, sunny windows with lots of direct light. Succulents are very sensitive to overwatering, and damp soil can cause root rot. Let the soil dry out completely before you water it.
Where to find them: Here’s a collection of different strings of succulents for sale.
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2. Sedum-type succulents
Budget option: Sedum jelly bean (Sedum rubrotinctum ‘Aurora’)
High-end option: Sedum Burro’s Tail (Dasyphyllum Major)
Display ideas: This type of succulents is compact, so it works perfectly as a centerpiece or in a succulent bowl.
What they like: Bright indirect light, early morning sun, warmer temperatures and medium to low watering. Allow the soil to dry between watering sessions. It can handle being moved from indoors to outdoors and back quite easily.
Where to find them: Buy sedum-type succulents from these shops.
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3. Monstera plants
Budget option: Monstera deliciosa
High-end option: Monstera adansonii
Display ideas: Monstera deliciosa is one leafy showstopper, so you should display it by itself in a corner where its leaves have enough room to unfurl and shine. Monstera adansonii has smaller leaves than the Monstera deliciosa, so you can incorporate it into a plant corner or display it as a hanging plant.
What they like: Monstera tolerates low light, but if you want faster growth, you should place it in indirect bright light. Keep the soil moderately moist and place it in a spot that has a higher level of humidity (maybe somewhere closer to the kitchen or the espresso machine). Don’t let the plant sit in water or in soggy soil.
Where to find them: Different types of monstera for sale in the United States.
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4. Zamioculcas zamiifolia plants
Budget option: regular ZZ plant
High-end option: ZZ Zenzi (Mini Zamioculcas)
Display ideas: Place it in a plant corner or by itself on a shelf. The ZZ plant is quite hardy, so you can place it somewhere darker, and it will still survive.
What they like: ZZ plants like moderate indirect light, but it will tolerate low light as well. You should only water it when the soil is dry to the touch, and let the water drain out of the pot after you do.
Where to find them: Here’s where to buy Zamioculcas Zamiifolia plants (including the black ZZ plant and the Zenzi Zamioculcas)
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5. Bromeliads
Budget option: Bromeliad Miranda
High-end option: Bromeliad Aechmea Pink
Display ideas: Give it a throne of its own! Ok, I may be kidding. But don’t you think it deserves the throne treatment? Bromeliads are non-toxic, so you can place them lower to the ground, in an easy-to-reach place. And while you’re at it, have you thought of creating an Instagram plant corner in your coffee shop?
What they like: They do best in bright indirect light. Just like air plants, bromeliads take in nutrients and water through their foliage, so they do well in a humid environment. (Yes, I see there might be some competition for the spot next to the espresso machine.)
Where to buy them from: Check out this collection of bromeliads for sale in the United States.
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6. Hoya plants
Budget option: Hoya carnosa compacta
High-end option: Variegated Hoya Hindu rope
Display options: I predict hoyas will be the next “must-have houseplant” now that the Pilea mania seems to have died down. You can recognize hoyas by the clusters of wax-like, star-shaped flowers. Each flower has a star shaped set of petals (the corolla) and an inner star-shaped flower (the corona). Hoyas look beautiful as trailing plants, so you can hang it or place it on a high shelf.
What they like: Keep hoyas in bright indirect light, but away from intense heat or direct sun. Hoyas keep a lot of moisture in their leaves, so treat them as you would a succulent, and let them dry between watering sessions.
Where to find them: Check out this collection of hoya plants for sale from different US vendors.
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7. Echeveria succulents
Budget option: Echeveria topsy-turvy
High-end option: Echeveria bittersweet
Display ideas: Echeverias look spectacular in succulent arrangements, but as soon as the plant grows larger, you can use it as centerpiece by itself.
What they like: As any succulent, echeverias prefer bright light and a reduced watering schedule. You can use it both as an indoors and an outdoors display, as long as outside temperatures don’t drop below freezing.
Where to find them: Check out this echeveria succulent collection.
You can buy Echeveria topsy-turvy from Stellar Plant House (ships from California)
And you can buy Echeveria bittersweet from The Next Gardener
I hope I have convinced you that choosing a houseplant for your coffee shop needn’t be a complicated affair. You can always start small – whether that means fewer plants or smaller plants – and add to your cafe houseplant collection as your business grows.
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Cover Photo of Commissary Restaurant in Los Angeles by Kayleigh Harrington on Unsplash
