Plants and their impact on Feng Shui

 
Article by Singapore Feng Shui Master Edwaard Liu

In rain forests, water vapour rises due to the evapotranspiration forming low level clouds. In Feng Shui theory and observation, where ever there is water, “Qi” or energies gather. Trees or even a small plant gather energies. In the jungle or forested area, it is full of lives; it supports big ecosystem of living things as compare to dried sun baked land or deserts.  Trees and plants support life. Healthy plants are “Yang” energy, while dead and dried plants are” Yin” energy. 

Most of the time, trees that are found on the earth meridian 龙脉 or near energy spots grow bigger than the surrounding trees because they tap into the good Feng Shui energies from the ground. If you see a plot of land with plants and trees dying or drying up, it may be due to the change in energy for that plot of land. Therefore you must be careful when the house that you are going to purchase has dead plants and trees surrounding it.

Always make sure that the plants inside or outside your premise are healthy.  Remove dead or withered leaves. For good energy in the house, refrain from displaying logs, branches or twigs; because these are “Yin” energy and it is not suitable to be around people that are “Yang” energy. If a house is too big and have very few occupants, the house is relatively “Yin” or stagnant in energy, consider displaying some healthy plants to make the house more “Yang”.

Here are some popular Feng Shui plants that people like, they come with auspicious names too, golden prosperity (金吉), money making tree (发财树)，gold and money tree (金钱树)

Live healthy  plants has the ability to attract and gather energy, so select carefully where you place them in the environment, they are like energy magnets. If you put a lot of plants in the kitchen, energy will be attracted to and linger in the kitchen which is not good. If you put too many plants in the toilet they may be attracted and gather in the toilet.  Bedrooms are not a good place to display plants because plants give out carbon dioxide at night, when we sleep we do not want to breath in the carbon dioxide.  It is also not advisable to go hiking in the jungle or forest before the sun comes out.

The best place to display plants will be outside your door, or living room. Living in high rise apartment or flats, the earth energy (地气) becomes weaker the higher you go up. I have written about this in the article about things to consider before buying your HDB. Plants have the ability to attract and retain energy that gets carried up by humans from the lifts. Therefore it is good to put plants beside main door to your homes, so that the energies gather at the entrance.

Some Singapore HDB flats or apartments have long corridors. How your neighbor take care of their plants at the corridor will have an impact on what energy you bring into your home if you have to pass by their unit first. If their plants have dried up or withered, you will bring in “Yin” energy into your premise too. If they have very healthy and vibrant plants, most of the energy will gather outside their premise. Fret not; all you need to do is to display some healthy plants near your door, as mentioned earlier, healthy plants are Yang energy, there will be good energy just before you enter, if their plants are healthy, it will bring a continuous chain of energy into your premise.

When displaying plants within a premise, there are several considerations and factors, because plants attracts energy, where you place them have an impact on how energy circulate within your premise, which ever place you place them, energy will be attracted to flow where the biggest plant is located first, you need to have some Feng Shui knowledge to determine the optimal place to display your plants; preferably at the first corner you see when you open your door. Pets do circulate energy within a premise too, read more here.

There some other Feng Shui consideration to be aware of, for example in Flying star Feng Shui, harmony between different elements are very important. Some sectors in the house are in conflict with wood element. Wood attacks earth in the cycle of destruction for elements, if you put the plants in illness sector that are Earth elements (stars 2 and 5) it may result in sickness for the occupants. If you display plants in a wealth sector that is Earth element (star 8) it will have negative impact on financial matters. Worse things can happen if the plants have wilted.  This are just some examples there are more things to consider in relation to the other stars. 

Some factors not Feng Shui related, includes whether the plant is toxic or poisonous. If you have pets or young children, you do not want them to chew on poisonous plants. Not all plants are equal, in the perspective of Feng Shui, cactus are not suitable for home and office, sharp pointy things carries bad energy , therefore cactus with prickly  spike are not good, they create “poison arrows”. The spikes are the cactus’s defense and offence for predator.  Where does cactus grow best? Desert, a place very tough for life, for these reasons, avoid cactus no matter how cute they are, admire them in plant nurseries or public gardens. Plants with lots of thorns or share pointy hard leaves are also not suitable for home.

Creepy crawly plants are also not suitable indoor plants for Feng Shui. Good Feng Shui plant should have stems that are upright, so that they are able to lift the energy up. Creeper plants do the opposite, they are usually hanged up high and the stems and leaves draw energies down. Creeper plants are not suitable to grow on the walls of building, it creates “Yin” energy, people staying in buildings or house with creepers growing on the wall or roof tends to feel more depress. They are attractive to look at, but don’t stay houses like that.

Trees or plants should not block light coming in from the doors or windows, if insufficient light comes into the premises, the houses has more “Yin” energy, it is not good for health or mental health of the occupants. Dead trees near a premise need to be removed as it carries “Yin” energy. There should not be a tall straight tree directly in front of your main door, it will draw energy away from your entrance.

Some people like to plant fruit trees near their landed property; it is not advisable to plant too many fruit trees if the plot of land is not big enough. In order for the trees to bear fruits, the trees need to take up a lot of energy from the ground, in addition to the nutrients. It will affect the quality of the Feng Shui if the land around it making it more “Yin”. Perhaps that is why there are many stories of ghosts lingering around fruit trees, but that is not the topic today.  

Plants or trees draw energies from the ground through its roots, therefore it is a bad to have a plant or tree growing out from a burial mount, it will affect the descendants of the dead person; grasses are however alright. You can read more about what you should not do to the body of dead people in this link.

If you are a property agent, if you are trying to sell a house, one or two pot of plants outside the door and at the living room corner, it will instantly changes the energy of the premise, making it more attractive to the buyer as energies are attracted and drawn into the premise.

Now that you have read this article, have you ever wonder why Singapore is a garden city, having a dedicated team of people making sure that the country is full of healthy vibrant trees and plants?

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Find out more about what we can do for your premise’s Feng Shui.