You know the feeling; you spend the day in the city, with its concrete vistas and you're left feeling stressed and irritable. Conversely, spend a day in the countryside and you feel calm and rejuvenated. So, how do we recapture that feeling of having spent a day in the country when we live and work in metropolis? The answer is indoor gardening.
Indoor gardening can provide you with an aesthetic, natural environment that recalls tranquil days spent in the countryside. Houseplants can fill the empty spaces in our homes, become the focal point of any room and provide us with a variety of health benefits.
With a bit of planning, a few house plants and your creativity, you'll have your very own piece of nature right inside your home!
Planning Your Indoor Garden
Only you can decide how much nature you want to bring indoors and planning your indoor garden is as easy as looking around your home. Do you want plants in every room or perhaps just your main living area? Would you like leafy green plants, flowering plants, trailing vines or perhaps a small tree or two? The choices are endless!
- Study each room of your home and consider:
- The size of each room
- Where houseplants could be displayed in this room
- The amount of natural light that enters this room
Answers to these and other questions will help you determine they types of houseplants you'll want to choose and purchase.
Choosing Your Houseplants
A visit to your local garden center or greenhouse will provide you with a great variety of plants to choose from. Choose your plants carefully and according to where they will be displayed in your home. Remember that most plants need a ready source of natural light to grow and remain healthy.
Each plant will come with a small information stick in the pot. These little placards are invaluable if you're a beginning gardener or if you spot a plant and you've no idea what it is. Read the information on the stick of the plants you're considering. You'll learn:
- The name of the plant
- How much light the plant needs
- How often the plant needs watering
- When to fertilize the plant
Repotting Your Plants
Plant containers are available in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors. Whether you choose plastic or terracotta containers, repotting your plants is an easy process.
- Remove your new plant from its container by turning it upside down and gently pushing the bottom
- Fill the new plant pot with enough soil so that when you pot your new plant, the top of its root ball will be slightly below the lip of the new container
- Place your new plant in the center of the container and continue adding soil around the plant until full
Caring for Your Plants
Caring for the plants in your indoor garden is not difficult. In fact it's as easy as choosing the right location to display your plants, water and fertilizing correctly and the humidity in the air. You'll have very few problems caring for your plants if you first read the information placard and display your plants according to the amount of light they need.
Take care not to over-water your plants. Again, the information placard will guide you in the amount of water each plant requires. A good rule of thumb is to assume that most of your plants will need water about every seven days. Another watering tip is to gently push your finger into the soil and remove it. If the soil sticks to your finger, the plant doesn't need watering.
Remove any dead or dying leaves from your plants when you notice them. This helps your plants look their best at all times and helps maintain their health and growth. Equally as important is wiping dust from the plant leaves and misting with room temperature water once a week.
Displaying Your Plants
Where and how you display your plants is only limited by your imagination. Displaying your plants on windowsills is an obvious and often practical choice. But you can also display plants in ways that enhance your environment and the décor of any room.
Display your plants individually, in groups or scattered around the room. The point is to let your imagination guide you and mostly to have fun.
So there you have it! With a little time and effort, you can bring nature indoors and recall those peaceful days in the country right inside your own home.
