Not just mere ornaments

Graham and green hanging terrariums £38.00 - £65.00 (Ikea)

As summer swiftly approaches, the bright buds and lush greens blossoming in parks and gardens need not be delights solely enjoyed outside. If outdoor space is unavailable, crafty indoor gardening solutions can easily bring nature into our homes.

House plants are not just mere ornaments, they transform rooms into leafy, exotic spaces and breathe energy into interiors; literally in fact, releasing oxygen and adding humidity to dry rooms.

When choosing foliage for your home, location is key. “If you have a shady spot then you want to choose a plant that likes shade,” explains Nick Johnson, Public Glass Houses Manager at Kew Gardens. “Or if you’ve got an especially humid bathroom you want to get something that likes high humidity.”

Plants such as Tillandsia (Air plant) flourish in hot sunny spaces and a sun drenched wall can provide the perfect place to showcase them. Hanging displays using suspended terrariums and wall mounted planters provide an eye-catching indoor feature, but also offer the perfect conditions for Tillandsia.

Woolly pocket living wall planter £29.99 (Ikea)

Growing remotely without the need for soil, Tillandsia’s simplicity compliments the clean glass panes of terrariums, such as Urban Outfitter’s Urban Grow versions, while metallic wall planters, such as those in Anthropologie’s Gem Facet range, contrast elegantly against their pearly green finish.

Staying vertical; living walls are an exotic and unusual way to add vibrant greenery to interiors. Vertical garden planters, such as those sold at Woolly Pocket, filled with lush foliage, cover walls in a living wall paper and can be quickly and easily installed in various shapes and sizes. Finished with a variety of plants they provide a vibrant mishmash of colours, textures and scents, to form a wild and spectacular centrepiece.

Grouping plants together enmasse makes an impactful statement. “Cacti and herbs can easily be grouped together,” says Mr Johnson. “Salvias group well together, so a few different salvias in a larger container make a nice summer display. They’re also scented, giving a really nice fragrance in the evenings”. Rustic, metallic planters offer a plain, yet striking vessel for a mix of plants of differing textures and heights. The industrial finish of Grahame and Green’s Bibury table planter sets off silky, green Succulents beautifully.

Ikea hydroponics (Ikea)

However, “Don’t put a cactus with a water loving plant,” warns Mr Johnson, “as you’ll overwater the cactus or underwater the other”. Water quality is also essential. “It’s always best to use rainwater with your plants. The cleaner the water the better.”

Herbs can be tricky to grow indoors but make delicate, pretty additions to kitchens and window sills. “Herbs are temperate and they prefer high light levels. Growing them indoors behind double glazing can cut out up to 50 per cent of the sun’s light transmission,” says Mr Johnson. Sweet smelling herbs such as rosemary and lavender are fully hardy and will thrive happily in window boxes or out on small balconies. The pastel hues of Habitat’s Leon window boxes make for sleek, subtle displays.

A carefully selected mixture of pots, enhancing their plant’s foliage and form, instantly brighten dull interiors. Robust plants such as Anturiams, Saintpaulias (African violets), Streptocarpus and Phalaenopsis (Moth Orchids), work well indoors as they can better withstand temperature changes, often caused by central heating. Quirky pots such as Anthropologie’s animal-shaped range can set them off beautifully.

For more intrepid gardeners, seeds and seedlings are easily grown in small indoor spaces. Mr Johnson suggests initially rooting soft-leaved plants in a jar of water and then transferring them to a pot filled with propagation mix. To make the process even simpler, Ikea’s new hydroponics range offers a series of compact nursery boxes allowing you to grow a variety of different seeds from basil to pak choi.