Let plants breathe life into your home
They’ll look cheerful all year round and can purify the air too, says Priscilla Pollara
THE term urban jungle — referring to city sprawl — hasn’t always been appealing. But these days it describes the popular trend of sharing your abode with an array of house plants. Whether they’re the trailing, cascading, floor-to- ceiling or minute terrarium types, indoor plants are the durable and healthfriendly must-haves that even the least green-thumbed of us can keep alive.
With recent reports suggesting that the age-old theory of plants purifying the air in the home are in fact true, it makes sense to prepare pots and make room for a new sort of house guest.
The output is minimal, but the rewards are plenty. Not only do they emit oxygen, some plants will also remove toxins, such as formaldehyde and benzene, from the air. ‘ They improve your mood and offer positive benefits that enhance your quality of life,’ says Isabelle Palmer, author of House Plants. ‘For many years, they were seen as a relic of the Seventies, but with interior design trends moving away from a more minimalist focus, the houseplant is now essential.’
A spider plant perched on a bathroom shelf might be considered passe, but house plants do thrive wonderfully in such humid environments — and they require even less input there. Many varieties are brilliantly hardy: cacti have been popular for years for this reason, storing water for months on end.
To begin your own collection, Palmer, who also runs the website thebalconygardener.com, advises starting with succulents, ferns and ivy, which she describes as ‘ more or less indestructible’.
The Urban Jungle Bloggers are an online community who provide yet more inspiration for those keen to start cultivating indoors. Another advantage in building up a personal indoor greenhouse is that it works perfectly for those who have limited or no outdoor space. House plants themselves need not take up much room at all.
The London Garden Trading company offers nifty planters, such as a Copper Brogue Planter (£49.95) or a set of two zinc Dustbin Planters (£17.47), to house your plants in a fashionably discreet way. If you’re pushed for space, neatly tuck a handful of mini succulents into a wallhanging frame (£34.95), transforming an arrangement of plants into attractive artwork. See londongardentrading.com.
Such displays provide added style. But fancy pots or not, there is no doubt that a plant will help warm up a characterless corner with an injection of colour. ‘The living room is an ideal area to place planters, particularly onto fireplace mantels or shelves,’ says Palmer, who divulges that the plants most in fashion are the Swiss cheese plant and the fiddle leaf fig tree. ‘There is nothing more impressive than seeing plants cascading down. This adds a dramatic appeal and can be emphasised with lights.’ Willow Crossley, author of Inspire: The Art Of Living With Nature, and Flourish, believes that making room for greenery in the home is crucial to lifting one’s spirits. She has all areas covered: in the winter, her country home is dotted with hyacinths and narcissi, and moves on to scented pelargoniums and geraniums in the summer. ‘These flowers last for weeks and smell incredible. I adore the process of potting them up, hiding them away in the dark and then waiting for them to emerge.’ But the green-fingered Crossley, who together with her husband Charlie owns the The Swan Inn at Ascott-underWychwood and The Bull Inn in Charlbury in the Cotswolds, for which she does the flowers, doesn’t stop there. ‘My husband is the chef in our family and insists on having as many potted herbs in and outside as he possibly can. But herbs aren’t just for consumption, because they make for fantastic table decorations.’ Cleaning the air, absorbing dust, noise and providing a visual treat for the eyes, house plants are a welcome boost to anyone’s home — and the easiest house guest you will ever have.