Bring the outdoors indoors during these winter months

PLANTS can help with our mental health, especially during this pandemic. However much we live in bustling cities and high rise flats, we can’t escape the need for green space. It’s hardwired into us and, as this year has shown, we become edgy and depressed without it.

During lockdown we’re keen to escape into the garden or a nearby park and research shows that even looking out of the window onto a green patch is calming.

All this was easy in spring and summer but even a plantaholic like me finds battling winter rain and slithery mud offputting. If only the ducks would put themselves to bed during stormy evenings.

But we still need to connect with nature through the winter months and houseplants do the job as enthusiasts will tell you. I’ll not waste my breath trying to fire up folk who want a plant to be just an ornament.

But if you got the gardening bug this spring or live in a flat why not green up your indoor space?

As evergreens, tropical and sub-tropical plants are perfect for indoor growing. Green sits at the centre of the light spectrum, so is the easiest and therefore most relaxing colour for us.

Like garden plants, indoor ones can be as demanding as you like but if you’re a keen novice wanting to tend and interact with your charges, choose ones that aren’t too difficult.

You’ll find the RHS houseplant finder a great help. It gives detailed growing instructions for plants to suit anywhere in a room, together with lists of stockists.

Start by planning your display, choosing plants that sit well together, don’t just buy random plants to fill a shelf.

You could have a theme: the desert look, homing in on cacti; a lush tropical forest; prairie

Visit askorganic.co. uk. Follow Dave on Twitter @boddave

A peace lily needs light so place it next to a window