Buying a palm is one thing. Finding the right spot for it in your home another. According to ancient Chinese tradition of Feng Shui, succulents can bring good luck, prosperity, and harmony to your house. But you have to place them in a right spot. What does Feng Shui say about a ponytail palm? And is there anything else you should consider when deciding about the placement of the palm? We will try to find the answers on the following lines.
Let me start with a brief introduction. Ponytail palm isn’t common in discussions of Feng Shui experts. This succulent is native to Mexico, and palms in general haven’t been common in China in the ancient times. Many succulents were common, but not palms. Hence we have to go mostly by abstraction here, looking at placement they suggested for other succulents, and at the same time taking into consideration the specifics of ponytail plant. Please keep it on your mind while reading the following lines.
Entrance of the house and living room are ideal for Ponytail Palm placement
According to Feng Shui, succulents emanate good energy. When a visitor enters your house, and see a peaceful harmonic ponytail palm, it helps them to pacify their own thoughts. Maybe they wanted to say something bad to you, or didn’t have the best intentions when entering the house. This may immediately change when a healthy green ponytail palm meets them at the door.
Living room (together with a kitchen) is a place where most family talks happen. Sadly, conflict belongs to each family, and not all discussions are pleasant. Emotions may sometimes boil within us, and we may eventually burst out, saying something we will regret later. Having a ponytail palm or other similar succulent in a living room will often bring more peace and clarity to our thoughts. We may not realize it, but the stoicism with which these plants bear their fate and position impacts us, often without us realizing it consciously. That’s a reason why you should place the ponytail palm in a living room.
Bathroom and kitchen aren’t good for a ponytail palm
In general, Feng Shui experts do not recommend placing succulents in bathrooms, and ponytail palm is no exception to the rule. If nothing else, you should always remember that you can reap the benefits only from healthy succulents. Ponytail palm does not like humidity. And bathroom is often the most humid place in a house. What’s more, most people do not have windows in bathrooms. Palms enjoy sunshine, at least indirect. They won’t get any in bathroom. And though they may survive, they won’t thrive.
Kitchen is a similar story. Typically more humid than the rest of the house, it isn’t ideal for the ponytail palm placement. What’s more, this succulent can grow really big over the years, and in general it is better having small plants in the kitchen.
Colors do also matter in Feng Shui, so do plant combinations
Like many other ancient Chinese traditions, Feng Shui isn’t always simple to comprehend. Positioning a plant in a certain room is one thing, but what about the colors, furniture, and other plants inside? Feng Shui is all about harmony, and balance. If you have styled your living room in some shiny manner, with objects of gay colors, a ponytail palm may simply not fit in.
I do not want to dive into too much details here, since it would make the article excessively long. Just remember that colors of ponytail palm go well with white, brown, green, and even black colors. You can also go by feel. Place your ponytail plant in the room, sit down, and look around you. If you feel that it fits well in its surrounding, and adds more harmony to the color scheme of the place, you are likely good to go.
Size matters, at least in this case, and you should respect the needs of the plant
Most succulents stay relatively small for their entire life. That’s not the case of a ponytail palm. It can grow incredibly big over the years and decades (these palms live easily over 100 years). Considering this, it isn’t perhaps the best idea placing this palm in a small room, where it will eventually take too much place and may even suffer due to lack of room to grow. Of course, you can always move it to another room when it gets bigger. For people living in crowded places, ponytail may not be an ideal succulent. Empty space also plays a big role in Feng Shui. Crowded living spaces are not good for harmony, and a big palm that takes away half of the small room won’t help here.
With everything considered, you should never forget the needs of the plant. That’s because in order to benefit from having a plant at your home or office, the plant should be healthy. Ponytail palm likes sun, at least indirect sun, and lots of it. Hence you should place it close to a window, ideally in a southerly oriented room where it can enjoy a lot of sun. Other than that it isn’t a demanding plant, and will thrive almost in neglect.
Final thoughts
Deciding about the placement of your ponytail palm you have to consider several factors. First and foremost, the needs of the plant–if it struggles or even dies, you can hardly reap any benefits from having it. Secondly, the size and shape of plant–it grows quite big, and you should allow it some room for growth. It also isn’t good if a single plant “eats away” half of the space in the room. When it comes to Feng Shui, you should pay attention to both suggested placement (house entrance, corridor, living room), but also to color and design combinations. Harmony is always the key. I hope this articles helped you to decide about a perfect placement for your ponytail plant, and wish you good luck!
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