If your objective for planting trees and shrubs indoors is geared more toward creating a healthful environment than an aesthetically pleasing one, you can relax while you enjoy both. Plant your home for health, and the added aesthetics are sure to increase its market value. Plant for aesthetics, and your overall health will take a turn for the better.

Several conclusive scientific studies have recently proven that aesthetically appealing plantings — unusually large trees and shrubs — calm people down, lower their heart rate, make them more attentive, provide an enhanced learning environment, and lead to an increased sense of peace and relaxation.

Other studies have confirmed that planting indoor trees and shrubs for health reduces airborne contaminants, irritants, and bacterial/viral cells —a process known as phytoremediation. Trees and shrubs also absorb volatile organic compounds (VOCs) along with deadly carbon dioxide, which it converts into life-sustaining oxygen that the plants surrender back into their environment through respiration.

What else do trees and shrubs do? Unlike African violets and spider plants, which are great aesthetically, trees and shrubs have long been used to reduce noise from busy roadsides. More recently, research has shown another benefit: interior plants can help reduce background noise in our homes and offices, too.

Our own studies indicate that plants and their leaves absorb, diffract, and reflect background noise, making the environment more comfortable for its occupants.

In one study, Peter Costa, a postgraduate student at South Bank University, London, found that some plants are particularly good at absorbing high sound frequencies. They are most dramatically effective in spaces defined as “acoustically live,” places lined with hard surfaces such as tile, laminates, and hardwood floors.

Plants for beauty, emotional well-being, sound mitigation, and mental and physical health: It’s a win-win situation for everyone.