At Very Sad Lab in Georgetown, two artists help plant owners turn into plant healers

WASHINGTON (FOX 5 DC) -- Having healthy houseplants is easier said than done. Not all of us are born with a "green thumb" - and to those of us with a less than perfect track record of keeping plants alive, gardening can seem like a pretty intimidating art.

Very Sad Lab in Georgetown is described as a safe space for serial houseplant killers.

It's an idea that Valerie Wiseman brought to life last year as part of a show at Montgomery College in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Wiseman met Naoko Wowsugi through Transformer -- a D.C.-based non-profit that supports emerging visual artists.

At Very Sad Lab, Wiseman and Wowsugi's sole mission is to take in ailing houseplants for short or long-term stays where they both examine, diagnose and create treatment plans for each plant's forever home.

Their methods at Very Sad Lab include the use of music, including a gong. Most importantly, they say, plants - like all living things, need consistency.

"I think the sound waves and the study of sound waves and the plants and how they grow and I think they just elevate the plant," said Wowsugi.

"A plant generally wants to be watered once a week give or take so I say it's a way to consider it but they want the consistency they want a routine in the morning they want to wake up in the morning have the sunlight, they want to have their water in the evening," said Wiseman.

Click here for more information on Very Sad Lab