PLANT POWER
Reap the rewards of your green spaces
It’s Garden Day today and we’re inviting all plant parents, whether newbie or aficionado, to celebrate their green spaces. Whether you have exercised your thumb to green status or only recently brought home your first plant baby, all plant parents would agree that growing and nurturing plants is a rewarding activity. Cultivating plants encourages slow living and reminds us of the natural pace of life.
Award-winning interior designer Donald Nxumalo agrees: “There’s an unhurried creativity that comes with gardening. Typically, I’m racing against the clock, but on my balcony I can let the process evolve slowly. This balances and invigorates me. It inspires my design work.”
Growing plants indoors and in close proximity to where you spend most of your time can have incredible benefits on your mental and physical health. Indoor plants are said to improve air quality, boost your mood, creativity and productivity, and have the added bonus of adding beauty and natural aesthetic.
Even with all of the benefits plants provide, many would agree that being a plant parent can sometimes be a challenge — and one of the biggest challenges is knowing how much light your plant needs to flourish and grow.
Plants use the energy in sunlight to turn water and carbon into glucose (plant food), therefore it is crucial to know the light requirements of your house plants.
Different plants have different light tolerances, so before bringing home a new plant you need to consider the type of light your home can provide.
Some plants do well on a shelf close to a window in the living room, others thrive in scorching sun on the windowsill, whereas some would prefer the dappled shade of a low-light bathroom.
To help you select the right plant for the right spot, here is some information about the three types of light tolerance you need to know.
● FULL SUN (direct sunlight)
If you’re looking for plants for a very sunny corner in your home, your mind should rush to the desert-dwellers. In their natural environment, plants like succulents and cacti spend most of their day in sunny, warm conditions and can tolerate prolonged periods of direct sunlight. Be aware, though, that scorching heat can damage some succulents so place them in an area that receives soft morning sun.
Sun lovers: cacti, succulents, ponytail palm and spineless yucca
● LOW LIGHT (shade tolerant)
All plants need light and would starve without access to UV light. Some plants are accustomed to growing in low-light conditions and naturally grow in the lower parts of the forest, where they are overshadowed by the foliage of other plants and have adapted to these lower light conditions. Low-light lovers: pothos ( Devil's Ivy), parlour palm, spider plant, Chinese evergreen, ZZ plant, Bird’s nest fern and Maidenhair ferns
● BRIGHT INDIRECT SUNLIGHT
When in doubt, place your plants in bright, indirect sunlight. Indirect sunlight means your plant won’t be in the blazing sun of north-facing windows that receive intense heat and direct sun rays. Indirect sunlight is an area that is filled with bright light but has no direct sunlight. This could include an east- or west-facing window, or two metres away from a north-facing window.
Bright-light beauties: Delicious monster, Philodendron, Rhipsalis, Hoyas, Peperomias, and most other house plants.
VIRTUAL GARDEN DAY GATHERING
Garden Day SA will host its first Virtual Garden Day Gathering today with a host of events, including a Q&A session with garden guru Tanya Visser, a flower crown-off with comedian Schalk Bezuidenhout and TV and radio presenter Zoë Brown, garden-inspired gourmet with chef Karen Dudley and more via Zoom and Facebook Live.
● Find Garden Day’s programme on Gardenday.co.za/Events.
Tag your posts with @GardenDaySA and #GardenDaySA to share your celebration with friends, family and fellow plant lovers online.