Zoom making you tired? Turn your desk into a secret garden.

If Zoom is wearing you out, you probably need some real plants behind your screen.

Peering through Zoom

We’re all familiar with the generic wallpapers Zoom provides to brighten up the virtual meeting room. But the next time you’re peering at the shimmering outlines of your colleagues against the swaying palm trees of a Caribbean island, think about how great it would be to have your own secret garden right there on your desk. I tried it this week, and it’s gorgeous!

First, I tidied up my desk and made a clear space behind my laptop, then walked around the flat collecting houseplants which looked like they could use a change of scene. I chose five and grouped them into a mini green wall behind my screen. Nobody but me can see them but that’s fine, because their only purpose is to lighten my Zoom life. Now I can soothe my Zoom exhaustion by reaching out to touch their leaves, check whether the soil is dry or just breathe in the aromatics of living greenery.

I’m enjoying having my own private landscape right there on my desk. I started off with leafy plants but I’m planning to swap some out for one or two flowering varieties. Maybe a pure white cyclamen next to an orange kalanchoe. I’ve already discovered that placing them behind my screen means that I actually look at them much more often then when they’re sitting on a shelf in the lounge. Give it a try!

My secret garden desk

Current plants as featured in image: Spider Plant ~ Chlorophytumcomosum ~ Phlebodiumaureum ~ Maranatha Eiger Grass ~ Dracaena ~ ZZplant ~ Zamioculcaszamiifolia ~ Areca Lutescens