LIV ING WITH PLAN T S
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124
BASICS
Watering, repotting and other essential info explained
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Contents FEATURES 06 Why live with plants? Bring the outdoors into your home
LIVING ROOM 12 Make plants a part of the furniture in your living space
KITCHEN 38 Why your kitchen is the perfect place for your plants
30 Summer Rayne Oakes
14 The magic of terrariums
40 Good enough to eat!
Meet the Brooklyn-based houseplant advocate and author
The fertile history of the terrarium – and a guide to creating your own
Green ideas for the kitchen, including a delicious lettuce wreath
52 Hilton Carter
24 Floor fillers
45 Upcycled stands
‘Wow factor’ tips from the US-based plant stylist extraordinaire
Creative ways to display your favourite floor-standing species
Storage shelves for pots are transformed into houseplant holders
78 The power of green
27 Wall-to-wall heaven
46 Sitting pretty
Incorporate the colour in your home
Paper your living space with a nature-inspired design
A hand-picked selection of stylish pots to show off your best plants
28 Field notes
48 Field notes
The best advice for keeping plants in your living room
Great tips and tried-and-tested techniques for kitchen plants
98 Botanica Studios Alice Dobie shares her experiences of running a houseplant business
115 Plant inspiration Green Instagrammers to follow
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C ON T E N T S
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86 50
PLANT GUIDE
88 BEDROOM 60 Choosing plants to create a healthy and restful room 62 Monstera and me
Your pull-out guide to easy-care plants for your home
BATHROOM 86 The best plants to help you relax and revive as you soak in the tub
SMALL SPACES 104 Small spaces offer big opportunities when it comes to keeping plants
The influence of one super-sized plant
88 The art of kokedama
106 Hidden corners
65 Hanging about
An introduction to these intriguing Japanese hanging plants
Ideas for displaying plants, from rails and ladders to pegs and mirrors…
92 Hang out
109 Inspiring workspace
Creative ideas by Camille Soulayrol
Add a boho vibe to your bathroom with these cute suspended holders
Keep motivated with a plant or three on – or above – your desk
70 Off the wall
95 Look up high
110 Playful pots
Smart vertical displays for your plants
Make the most of limited space by showing off plants up high
Fun and creative pots for displaying your plants when space is tight
A project by Hilton Carter
96 Field notes
112 Field notes
76 Field notes
A trio of great ideas to keep plants fresh and thriving in the bathroom
Top advice for getting the best out of small spaces
Keep the bedroom uncluttered
66 Decorating with foliage
72 Make a plant hammock
Know-how from the experts
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F I E L D NO T E S
FOR YOUR LIVING ROOM ONE AT A TIME
It’s tempting to gather armfuls of greenery when you visit a houseplant store and end up with a shopping basket resembling a miniature jungle. Slow down, take your time, choose each plant with care and start with just one. Your experience will grow along with your new friend and you’ll be ready to invite more into your home before you know it. We spend much of our time in our living rooms, so it makes sense to start your green plan here – it’s hard to forget to care for a plant you see all the time. ADJUSTMENT PERIOD
Darryl Cheng of the House Plant Journal blog reminds us to consider the adjustment a plant has to make not only from its natural habitat to living in a pot, but also from being in a garden centre then onwards to our homes. He says we shouldn’t be dismayed by the yellowing of older leaves – just prune gently and help your plant adjust. Make it a morning ritual as the kettle boils to check in and see how your plant is doing and if it would like a drink too. Darryl’s book, The New Plant Parent, is out now (Abrams Image, £17.99). INSPIRATION FROM OTHERS
Photography: Katarzyna Bialasiewicz / GettyImages
Plant stylist Hilton Carter explains his desire for his guests to go ‘wow!’ when they walk into his home (page 52). While you’re developing your own wow factor, indulge in a virtual visit to the stunning plant-filled homes on Instagram. Try our recommendations on page 115 – and take a look at #plantshelfie for a fabulous green fix. There’s an amazing plant community out there!
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LIV ING WITH PLAN T S
Good enough to eat! You don’t need a garden in order to grow your own edible greens. In fact, with our ingenious wreath you don’t even need a plant pot! Words: Jenny Dixon Photography: Jesse Wild
spring flowers to wonderfully striking succulents. But what if there was a way to go one step further and create a wreath that isn’t just living but actually growing, and even providing your lunch… It was while we were considering the best way to greenify your kitchen that we hit on the idea of an edible wreath. For a simple version beginners can enjoy, we created this cut-andcome-again lettuce wreath. Surely the talking point for any stylish kitchen! A small amount of compost in a wrapper of moss provides enough space for a display of your favourite salad leaves. Grab a punnet of living lettuce from the supermarket or sow your own seeds to get started. Your wreath can be hung up or will sit happily on a plate in the centre of your kitchen table – a novel way to get everyone eating their greens.
ou could hardly fail to notice the popularity of making Christmas wreaths – last winter just about every florist and craft shop advertised these creative classes. But wreaths aren’t just for the festive season – they’re a novel way to bring more greenery into your home at any time. If you think beyond holly, every season offers something to inspire these traditional displays. Perhaps the biggest revelation is that wreaths don’t have to be made from cut sprigs. They can also hold living plants that will reward you for a while, only asking for a weekly bathe in the sink or a spritz of water to keep them performing. For ideas we’d recommend Natalie Burnheisel Robinson’s Living Wreaths, an inspiring book showing how to create a basic structure that will hold everything from
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“Wreaths don’t have to be made from cut sprigs. They can hold living plants that will reward you for a while”
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KITCHEN
A lettuce wreath is a fun way to grow your own while enhancing your kitchen dĂŠcor.
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Think about the shape of your plants and the spaces they’ll inhabit. Tall, narrow plants are ideal for hallways.
Photography: John Davis
I DE A S A N D I N S PI R AT ION
“I see incorporating plants as one of the key requirements when designing an interior space” Words & photography: Hilton Carter
ersonal style is how we all show off our individuality to the world. The same approach should apply when introducing greenery into your home. What will make your spaces different from those of your friends and family? How do you create that ‘wow’ factor? Bringing greenery into your home shouldn’t be as simple as going to a nursery, grabbing the first plant you see and then dropping it next to a window. However, the sad thing is that many believe this to be the case. For me, I see incorporating plants as one of the key requirements when designing an interior space, just as much as a couch or coffee table would be. Let’s break this down: the staples for a new home are a bed, a couch, a refrigerator and a plant, and not necessarily in that order. I might be a bit biased here, but it’s really that simple. The thing is, how do you go about purchasing the right couch for your home? Well, when you’re couch shopping, you make decisions based on so many variables: the size of the space you have, the colour, the texture, how comfortable it is and so on. These are also all the things you should consider when purchasing a plant.
P
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LIV ING WITH PLAN T S
The art of making kokedama Connect as you create with these hanging plants in the Japanese tradition. Coraleigh Parker shows you how to make a fern kokedama that will positively thrive in your bathroom… Words: Coraleigh Parker Photography: Larnie Nicolson
reduce the amount of watering needed. The moss is like a dense sponge; it holds the water and releases it slowly back to the roots.
hat is kokedama? A variant of bonsai, it’s the Japanese art of creating potless plants using a unique soil mixture, moss and string. It takes its name from ‘koke’, meaning moss and ‘tama’, meaning ‘ball’. As a hobby, the art of making kokedama is as rewarding as it gets. The act of putting our hands in direct contact with natural materials literally grounds us. The wrapping process is very meditative, the action requires bilateral co-ordination – that is, using both hands simultaneously and independently. And because both hands are required to wrap, it’s very difficult to think about anything else. You become completely present in the moment. Kokedama are perfect for complementing a space because they’re so versatile. They can be made in any size, shape or colour to suit the setting. When contemplating what to create it’s easy to become overwhelmed or overexcited by the potential choices in front of you, but remember to start small and build up your confidence. When learning it’s best to start with a size that fits easily into your hands. The best way to start is to simply wrap the roots and soil in a thick layer of sphagnum moss. This provides a container to hold in the moisture and
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MEET THE KINGS OF FOLIAGE
Where better to start than with royalty? Ferns are the kings of foliage. They don’t even bother with flowers or seeds. They focus 100 per cent on being the lushest and most spectacular display of green in town. Ferns love humidity. You’ll see that most of the soil recipes include coir. This is a very dense water-retaining material made from groundup coconut husks. It holds its water and releases it slowly as humidity without being a soggy mess. Most ferns are also going to want a really thick layer of moss. Due to their high humidity requirement they’re a great candidate for live moss coverings. Moss needs heaps of humidity, ferns need heaps of humidity – boom, you have the perfect marriage! Ferns are naturally ground dwellers, lounging on the forest floor and basking in the soft diffused light filtering down through the vast canopy above. Most ferns won’t tolerate total shade and will be okay in quite bright light as long as it isn’t hot direct sun. They can be hung slightly further back into rooms and will tolerate bathroom light because of the increased humidity on offer.
“Kokedama are perfect as they’re so versatile – they can be made in any size, shape or colour to suit the setting”
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BAT H R O OM
Wrap ferns in coir and moss for a perfect kokedama that will add a verdant and vibrant energy to your favourite rooms.
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