The trusted Sansevieria, easy to grow and healthy for your house.
My grandmother used to have the greenest fingers ever and had wonderful lush plants all around the living room. I inherited her ‘sansevieria’ or snake plant after she past away, which amazingly survived my student years in my small bed sit, and I am pleased to say it is still alive – and thriving – now living with my sister. She re-potted it into a larger pot and it has grown much since. The plant must be well over thirty years old now as it appears in many childhood photographs. Strong little fella.
Air purifying plants
Another amazing bit of knowledge? Sansevierias improve indoor air quality. This plant is one of the best for filtering out formaldehyde (ugh!), which is common in cleaning products, toilet paper, tissues and personal care products. Put one in your bathroom — it’ll thrive with low light and steamy humid conditions while helping filter out air pollutants. Who knew. Here are some other low maintenance plants with amazing air cleaning properties:
- Peace Lily (Spathifyllum)
- Rubber plant (Ficus elastica)
- English ivy
- Aloe vera
- Heartleaf philondendron
- Spider plant
Img: My Domaine
Green fingers, me? I don’t really have green fingers, or at least I have never put much time and effort into learning about plants and how to keep them healthy. I think I am probably not alone on this one when I say I am always a little scared to buy a house plant as they usually die. You too? Well, here are some more useful tips and advice from around the net on how to care for house plants, as well as how to make them look uber stylish in your interior.
A lot of these plants have kind of ‘fatty’ leaves, which means they are forgiving when you accidentily forget to water them. If you are short of space, succulents are an example of this type of plant, looking very cute and pretty and small containers or cups lines up on a shelf.
A cute way to upcycle those vintage teacups! Plant a succulent in them. Img: Brit + Co
Terrarium
Another great idea if you are looking for low maintenance house plants is to buy a ‘terrarium’: basically a glass bowl with succulents and other draught tolerant plants, nicely arranged like a kind of ‘mini garden’. We are currently stocking some by The Potting Shed.
Have a look here.
Fiddle Leaf fig
The fiddle leave fig plant or
ficus lyrata keeps popping up in all of my favourite images on Pinterest just now, so I want to share some tips with you on how to care for one at home. I own one and mine has started to show some brown spots and edges, so I am definitely going to try some of the advice
mentioned here. Important tip: clean the leaves, as they get very dusty! Wiping them down with a mixture of water and milk apparently works wonders.
Gorgeous sideboard surrounded by the fiddle leaf fig and other plants. Img Topista
The beautiful fiddle leaf fig tree. Img: Angi Welsch
Who says plants need a window? As long as they get the right amount of light, you can place them anywhere. Img: Blood and Champagne
Plants in the bathroom look great and help purifying the air img: Design*Sponge
Hanging gardens
Love the hanging gardens look that is very trendy right now? You can hang any plant of course, but some are more suitable if you want to have them trailing down from their pot, such as the spider plant or ivy. If you fancy having a go at DIY-ing your own macrame planter,
click here.Boutique Wilderness in Amsterdam img Lili in Wonderland
If all else fails, buy a cactus!
Still too scared to buy a plant with leaves? You could of course go down the artificial route, but not sure if having a plastic plant in your bathroom will have the same air purifying properties as a real one! There’s always the option to buy a cactus. Looking cool, and surviving on very, very little.
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