Bringing Your Garden Inside - 8 Creative Ideas
By Oscar Collins
Author bio: Oscar Collins is the editor-in-chief at Modded, where he writes about the outdoors.
Greenery has become an increasingly popular aspect of interior design. Aside from bringing more life and color into your home, plants can have many physical and mental health benefits. Here are eight creative garden ideas to help you revive your living space and become a healthier homeowner.
Introduce Air-Purifying Houseplants
Air-purifying houseplants should be the focal points of your indoor garden setup. Plants are nature’s air filters, taking in carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen to make their ecosystems more hospitable. The modern home contains volatile organic compounds (VOCs), dust, allergens and other air pollutants. Your houseplants will fight against them. These plant species are particularly effective at air purification:
- Snake plants
- Spider plants
- Peace lily
- Aloe vera
- Bamboo palm
- Gerbera daisy
- Chrysanthemum
These plants are also great indoors because they’re low-maintenance and can tolerate various climates. They can stand alone or become part of a larger cluster of houseplants. Either way, they will look fantastic and improve your home’s living conditions.
Get Your Vitamins
Plants are rich in vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin C. This essential nutrient nourishes your skin, strengthens your bones, and helps you fight colds and the flu. Deficiencies are increasingly common these days because many people don’t eat enough greens or get enough sunlight. That’s why you should incorporate these vitamin C-rich plants into your home:
- Kale
- Spinach
- Cilantro
- Parsley
- Green chard
- Green sorrel
These plants are safe to eat and are the perfect accessories for areas like your kitchen table and windowsills. You can pick the leaves and add them to various dinner recipes.
Start a Garage Vegetable Garden
The garage is one of the best places to start a full-scale vegetable garden. It has a warm and damp climate for most of the year, so your plants will have no issue getting moisture. You can also adjust how much sunlight the veggies get by opening or closing the door.
Additionally, since the garage is somewhat isolated from the rest of the house, you can keep your plants safe from children and pets. Ensure you implement organic matter into the soil and carefully choose your produce. Durable root vegetables like potatoes, carrots, beets and radishes are the best options for indoor vegetable gardens.
Spruce up Your Walls
A vertical garden will quickly take up empty space and bring bare walls to life. The powerful effect of plants on a home’s interior design has earned them the nickname “living walls.'' Fast-growing species like English ivy, Virginia creepers and climbing hydrangeas are the most common plants to use.
Living walls are standard features of a popular trend called biophilic design. This design style focuses on bringing homes closer to nature with greenery, light and natural building materials. The concept of biophilia has been around since the 1980s and has rapidly increased in popularity as homeowners become more environmentally conscious.
Make Use of Your Ceiling
Sticking with the vertical theme, you can also make use of your blank ceiling by hanging up some ornamental plants. Hanging plants like the Boston fern, heartleaf philodendron and string of hearts are tasteful and easy to maintain. The simplest way is to drill plant hooks into the ceiling joists or drywall, but if you don’t want to drill any holes, you have plenty of other options:
- Use magnetic plant hooks, which can support between 20 and 100 pounds depending on the product.
- Hang up tension rods, which extend from wall to wall.
- Attach adhesive hooks to smooth surfaces.
- Use suction cup hooks to hang your lightweight plants.
- Attach a bar clamp or C-clamp to exposed ceiling beams.
To minimize the weight, make sure you choose a finer-textured soil with lots of silt or sand. You should also lean towards lightweight plastic planters just to be safe. They might not look as pretty as natural ceramic, but they will lighten the load on your hooks and keep your hanging plants safe.
Build a Fun Terrarium
A terrarium is another well-known feature of biophilic design. It mainly serves as an eye-catching centerpiece for the living room coffee table, but you can build one wherever you want. Creativity is all that matters. Develop a solid base with succulents, ferns, cacti and other low-maintenance plants that don’t require much water.
Once you cluster the plants together, surround them with rocks, shells, sand and small items of personal significance. The terrarium can be as big or small as you want. The largest ones reach up to 70 gallons, while the smallest can fit in the palm of your hand.
Spread Microgreens Around the House
Microgreens might not take up much space but make up for their size by providing tons of valuable nutrients. Research has found that microgreens are up to 40% more nutrient-dense than their fully grown counterparts. All you need to do is harvest seeds from your favorite plants and grow them in small containers.
The best species for microgreens tend to belong to the broccoli family. The most popular choices are broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, radish and mizuna.
Grow Your Own Mushrooms
Try growing your own mushrooms if you want to add variety to your indoor garden. Mushrooms are technically fungi, but they will fit right in with the other edible plants mentioned above. They’re also incredibly low-maintenance and will thrive in an indoor environment. Start with well-known varieties like portabella, lion’s mane and pink oysters, and see which species matches your home’s design.
Also read: Things You Need to Know when Growing Mushrooms at Home.
Discover Your Indoor Green Thumb
Outdoor gardening might not be your main area of expertise, but these seven ideas will help you quickly discover your indoor green thumb. They will make your house look more colorful and lively than ever before and will also help you develop a healthier lifestyle.
