Artificial Plants for Sound Diffusion

All you'll have to do is dust.

I have to water and trim, But I find the Schefflera Arbicola to be the hardiest indoor plant. I'm really bored with ficus trees, I've seen some bamboo type palms that are vertical and would fit nicely in a tight space. I used to be in the plant business and we grouped our plants in different baskets and shapes of plants, leaves to make a solid grouping. I've also invested in some nice pottery with glazes for solid round shapes

I doubt you'll get much sound diffusion with a plant. I read a noted report that they did with sound meters, that a hedge between you and a busy road doesn't stop the sound, it's just a mental benefit. To stop sound you needed a wall or berm of soil. Maybe some sound traps put up discretely behind the plants would be a better performer.

The stand was a plain gray box from a friend and I had another friend wrap it in a woven material. I"ve had that black pot for years, the wicker used to be stained red but faded over 8 years, I hope the stand material doesn't fade in color.

The plant used to spread out as wide as I could spread my arms, I"ve trimmed it in recently. Hardy as all get out. I remember getting the pot at Ikea at a sale, wish I'd bought the 2 other sizes as well. It sat empty for over a year while I scoped out nurseries for character plants. Someone was helping a friend move and this was a cast off plant that was almost dead, it had about a dozen leaves on it and 8'wide. It had fallen on his garage deck which is why it's wide instead of tall.

I remembered this link. Acoustic Benefit of Plants

No idea how accurate it is but hope it is of some use.

Cheers
Scott

great Scott, interesting info I thought it interesting that a layer of snow makes for best sound absorption, wonder how well that would go over in an office setting?

I think baskets of a woven material hiding the plastic pot would be great diffuser also, and less expensive than ceramic. Tho plastic or silk plants wouldn't be the same as live and probably very light weight. I think it best to look up commercial flower marts in your area as they often have good suppliers of all types of decorative things for flower shops. That way you know the quality you're getting. Some fake plants are really fantastic these days, and throw in a silk orchid too.

The snow thing doesn't surpise me. I can tell if it's snowing outside, just by the quiet. The city disappears, acoustically, when it's snowing.

I think it would be very difficult to assess the acoustic merits of plants, despite claims made on the web.

Plants will make the room feel better emotionally, and look fantastic into the bargain. That will definitely help your perception, because you will feel better as a person.

For actual dollars vs results, go buy some air conditioning duct silencer (usually 50mm thick in big sheets for not too much money) and cover it in a nice material that suits the room (use hot glue to attach).

That really helped at my place. Took the high frequency splash right out of my room.

They look like simple black squares, but any clothing fabric will do, and of course the choice of look is pretty much limitless!

It would make more sense to buy a (suitable) bass trap and use it as a stand for the plant. There are some nice cylindrical ones around (bass traps that is)
Vegetation is notoriously bad at absorption at the frequencies which give the most problems (low to mid). But if you purely need diffusion at high frequencies, there are benefits I suppose.
But I would recommend a nice big row of Leylandii outside, as this will turn a noise problem into a neighbour dispute, so from the acousticians' point of view, it's no longer a problem.
I'm only half-joking

quote:

I doubt you'll get much sound diffusion with a plant. I read a noted report that they did with sound meters, that a hedge between you and a busy road doesn't stop the sound, it's just a mental benefit. To stop sound you needed a wall or berm of soil.

I sometimes work in a large office that has artificial plants between groups of work places. They work quite well att diffusing, that is, spreading the sound around the room. They don't absorb much of the sound.

My interpretation of Waz question is that he wanted diffusion.

JohanR