Clean, Green, and Serene
Clean, Green and Serene
Style Your Home With Living Plants
Photo credit: Pinterest
Make a green zone
Use a group of palms or taller potted plants to visually frame, or sequester an area. Similar or identical plants help the eye “read” form, harnessing the principle of repetition.
Less is more
Green plants give the illusion of enlarged space, provided you don’t overcrowd them. Aim for an airy, uncluttered composition. Unify groupings using containers of like color and material. Try gleaming white and cream cache-pots on light floors.
Make a green zone
Plants can ground space in lonely corners.
Upcycle old furniture to feature plant collections.
Stash novelty plants at eye level.
Let hardy trailers cascade from upper shelves.
Put your plants to work
Improve air quality with living plants that purify the air, environmental toxins, even improve sleep.
A recent NASA Clean Air Study recommended the following plants as superior air purifiers. Thankfully, we don’t need to be a rocket scientist to locate them. Most are available from local nurseries.
Photo credit: Pinterest
Best in Low Light
- Peace Lily
- Chinese Evergreen
- Spider Plants
Peace Lily | Photo credit, The Spruce
Most forgiving
Snake Plant Varieties | Photo credit, La Résidence
Snake plants are excellent purifiers. Once they have direct sunlight and dry soil, they will soldier on.
Pothos has heart shaped leaves. Picture an ordinary houseplant in a hanging basket--it's probably pothos. It can survive in virtually no light.
Save The Marriage
Pygmy Pineapple | Photo credit: Bloombox Club
Pineapples are oxygen bombs that reportedly end snoring. They need a warm spot in the room.
Much more elegant than a CPAP device!
Partial shade
Pygmy Date Palm, Phoenix roebelinii | Photo credit, Plant The Future
Try a dwarf Date Palm or Dracena.
Full sunlight
Bamboo palm
Photo credit, Bloomscape
The enormous Bamboo Palm takes up alot of space, but works overtime, removing formaldehyde from gas stoves, plywood, synthetic flooring, and pressed wood furniture. Rubber plants also pot up beautifully and thrive in bright light. Aloe vera also performs well in sunlit rooms.
Indirect light
Philodendron, Heartleaf, pictured far right. | Photo credit, Plant The Future
Philodendron, Areca palms, and ficus enjoy filtered light.
Don’t forget potted orchids that bloom for weeks. Once their blooms fall, bind the plants to trees outside. When moisture releases tannin from the tree trunks, the orchids get the memo that it’s time to bloom again. Gorgeous!
High humidity
Flamingle anthurium. | Photo credit, Plant The Future
The Flamingo Lily and Kimberly Queen Fern love moist conditions and plenty of water. Place them in bathrooms and kitchens.
Plant care hacks
- Think ahead about how much time you want to spend watering, fertilizing, and cleaning up after your plants.
- Plants with large leaves require less maintenance when their fronds drop. Some plants--spiky dracena, billowy ferns--create mounds of particulate matter when their leaves die. Potting soil can also dry up and whirl about, so it’s wise to cultivate a rhythm of care.
- Have a large, feature plant at home? Buy two of the same kind, and rotate them for watering and partial sunlight outdoors on a weekly basis. Or add casters onto your oversized pot to easily wheel it out on weekends for sunbathing.
- Gently dust houseplants from top to bottom with cheesecloth or a damp paper towel. Give your plant a gentle shower with the hose, and drip dry in the shade. Dust or vacuum around the plant’s home regularly to remove dust.
- When you buy a plant, always ask for a fertilizer, and make a note of the feeding schedule. Make it part of your family’s routine, and they’ll learn to care for plants as well.
Photo credits
Above Lonny Magazine
Below Made Terra
Use cuttings
Take a walk and look for interesting plants and flowers. Mass bougainvillea on your table. Don’t be afraid to use one enormous palm frond, or several oversized leaves, to create a green tableau. Work with odd numbers; they make for more pleasing arrangements. Lay ginger, banana, or monstera leaves in the center of the table.
If you’re not familiar with local shrubs, stick to what looks familiar. (90% of all tropical plant material is poisonous. Avoid plants or flowers with a milky white sap; they are usually toxic.)
Before settling freshly cut plant material in the home, gently wash the leaves with a mild soap solution, then rinse well to flush away tiny insects.
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