Six ways to use plants indoors

Use a tall, elegant plant, like a bamboo palm, to make a statement, especially in a dull corner. Bamboo palms are natural humidifiers and thrive in bright, indirect light near a window.

If your kitchen isn’t bright enough to grow herbs, add greenery with a Peace lily (Spathiphyllum) which only needs low light but loves a warm, humid room like the kitchen. It filters unpleasant odours and produces clean oxygen. Water once a week.

Let your family enjoy a good night’s sleep by furnishing every bedroom with a green plant. Asplenium (bird’s nest fern) absorbs carbon dioxide and other harmful gases. It also humidifies a room. Place it in a warm area that receives good light. Keep the soil moist with half a cup of water a week. Working from home and want to brighten up your home office?

Calathea have bold, brightly-patterned leaves, usually with a burgundy or purple under-leaf. Put together a collection of plants with different leaf patterns for a striking display. They do best in warm rooms with medium light.

Water less in winter, keep plants out of cold draughts and away from windows (as the temperature falls overnight). Increase watering in spring and summer, keeping the soil continuously moist.

Decorate the mantlepiece (now that the fireplace is in use in winter). Use compact growing plants like peperomia (which have interesting rumpled leaves), Calathea (bright patterns) or even pots of mini-daffodils (narcissi). Mix up with other objects to add visual intrigue to a boring space. Add interest to shelves or bookcases with feature plants like bromeliads balanced with other items to fill the gaps.

Bromeliad is the new star of air-purifying plants. It cleans volatile organic compounds that become vapour or noxious gases. Plants like a warm, draught-free room with bright, indirect light. Keep the plant’s central tank filled with water, and flush it out regularly.

Did you know? Plants grouped together stay healthier and dry out less often than those kept apart. Recycle a wooden ladder as a novel plant stand in a corner, group several small pots on a tray filled with gravel, or just place five different plants together.