Quite often we find ourselves falling in love with plants that we don’t have the room for. Our homes are only so big, and often can’t house the amount of greenery that our hearts desire. If this applies to you, fear not; this guide will tell you how to maximise the space for houseplants in your home.
Similar to outdoor gardening, indoor gardening can be taken to another level if you take advantage of your vertical space, leaving more floor space free for bigger plants. Here are some ways you can do this.
Shelving
A classic way of using wall space is installing some shelves. This method works best with walls that receive plenty of light unless you’re using artificial lighting for your plants. Spacing your shelves at intervals so they’re not directly on top of each other will give your plants plenty of room to grow upwards. A shelving unit, however, can also be perfect for plants that don’t grow too tall. For trailing plants like pothos or tradescantia, you could put a single, long shelf along the top of a well-lit wall and create a cascading jungle, giving the impression of a living feature wall.
Levels
Mixing up your levels is a great way to fit more plants into a room. For example, you could use plant stands or tables of varying heights to stagger your plants through your vertical space. Plant stands in particular are really useful because the part on the floor tends to be smaller than the top, giving you more room to put plants around the base. They’re also useful for getting plants higher up into brighter spots.
Curtain rails
Hanging plants from curtain rails is perfect for fitting in some more sun-loving varieties. This does, of course, depend on how much the curtains are being opened and closed so may be better suited for living rooms than bedrooms. Even if you want curtains mostly closed, you could have one plant in the centre of the curtains as a focal point.
Curtain rails could also be used in places other than windows if you want to specifically hang plants from them. This could open up a load of wall space, especially if layer the rails to create a living wall effect.
Hanging plants from the ceiling
Ceiling space is one of the most overlooked resources for plant lovers. Safely hanging plants from the ceiling is ideal and can come in so many forms. Here are some ideas:
- Install some hooks on their own.
- Suspending a ladder with hooks in it. This way you can attach plants with or without their own hook for hanging.
- Install a hanging shelf from the ceiling.
- Use a sturdy driftwood-esque branch with hooks in it.
