Emel Şanoğlu, the new member of Good People of Vitruta, answered the questions we directed to her.
Welcome Emel. Let us introduce you to those who follow Good People of Vitruta. Who is Emel Şanoğlu?
I am a landscape architect. I worked as a design coordinator in a project office for 12 years. Then, I updated my life with plants to bring a green touch to the lives of others and founded Verda Botanik in 2020. In fact, Verda Botanik was established as part of a charity campaign. I lost my mother to lung cancer, and during her illness I saw closely the needs of people with this disease. "Will I be of any use to this process?" Thinking like this, I started a campaign by selling green plants in bags and using the profits to buy devices for lung patients. In a short time, the plants in the pouch turned into baskets, from baskets into pots, and from pots into botanical gardens in very large spaces. I really love my job, I enjoy it very much, and I work with people who enjoy it as much as I do.
On the one hand, we know that there will be an adventure abroad soon?
Yes. Since I love my job very much, I want to constantly improve myself, and that's why in the coming months, I'm going to get an education in Italy that I've been dreaming of for a long time; Actually, I'm going to do an internship. First, I will go to Vanucci Piante in the Pistoia region, and then to Piante Faro in Sicily. I can't wait to apply what I learned there to my own work when I return.
Actually, we all want to be interested in plants, know them and position them beautifully in our homes. What do you suggest us?
If you want to create a green area in a place, you need to immediately stop, record and take a photo of a frame you see in the movies or TV series you watch. Because the pleasant positioning of those plants and flowers at that moment is a detail that you should definitely keep in your memory. In this way, you can actually see where and how the plants are positioned and their proportions. For example, sometimes I see huge plants in tiny pots and I feel very sad. There is obviously a lack of proportion information there. In this sense, I think visiting exhibitions and greenhouses adds a lot to a person.
By the way, looking after plants is also a separate virtue.
Definitely. Sometimes I see an abandoned potted plant next to the trash cans. However, if they prune it and put it in moist soil, it will grow again and become beautiful. In general, I think we do not know much about pruning in Turkey. That's why, unfortunately, many plants go to waste in our country. During the pandemic period, many plants were purchased while at home; There was a really great demand. But gradually, as life returned to normal, I started to see that our customers were encountering problems with those plants, they were worried, "Oh no, what will I do?", and when they returned from vacation, they saw a half-dried plant and panicked. This actually shows that we are deficient in taking care of plants and that we are also weak in the responsibility of owning plants. When you own a plant, you need to know that it will grow. A plant you bought will grow, maybe you will need to shrink it, you will need to prune it, you will need to change its pot and soil; In fact, it is a serious responsibility.
Is there a book you can recommend to us on this subject?
Plantopedia: The Definitive Guide to Houseplants is a book I can directly recommend. If you really want to get accurate information, you need to consult the place you purchased it from or a reliable source like this book. Apart from the book, I think UrbanJungleBlog is a very good Instagram account to get inspiration and learn.
Plants also have a special place in Vitruta stores. We wanted to ask how they look to the eyes of a landscape architect like you. :)
Of course, I love the plants in Vitruta stores. Just as a place that is correctly positioned and filled with correctly selected plants always gives pleasure; I also really like the green environment that the plants in Vitruta stores provide. Of course, although this is implemented quite consciously by Vitruta, it is not valid everywhere. While walking around shopping malls, sometimes I see plants that are so incompatible with the darkness that it really hurts. This does not mean that plants are not placed in shopping mall stores, of course plants that do not require light are placed, but in this regard, the aesthetic appearance of the plant is taken into consideration rather than the life of the plant. And of course, there are artificial plants that are bought and placed to look like plants aesthetically, but I won't go into that subject at all; Something I can never accept!
After a conversation full of plants, can we learn your 5 favorite Vitruta brands? :)
Fine People Community
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showers
Nike
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