18th November 2021

Indoor gardening has never been more fashionable! More of us are bringing our gardens indoors, filling our homes with an array of beautiful plants and I am definitely one of them!

I must admit, I am not a natural gardener, so there has been a number of years of trial and error, being nicknamed the Green Reaper by my husband.

Here is a few ways I made my home a green paradise!

Research!

The biggest piece of advice I can give is to research! I spent hours researching which plants would work well in my house and what is easy to keep alive! I then made my first cautious trip to the garden centre and after speaking with a member of staff came out more excited and confident that I was about to embark on the new Eden project!!

Sexy Ceramics

Nothing finishes a plant off than a beautiful pot! I spent a bit of time picking which room each plant was going to go in then went on a ceramic hunt. I have purchased a number of pots from Etsy and other local business as I am a big fan of shopping small business. I have also brought a few larger pots for when my young plants outgrow their current pots.

TLC

Plants don’t tend to need too much attention, but this does depend on what it is. I keep all of my plants tags so that I can always refer back to them when it comes to feeding, light and location. My sister-in-law has the most beautiful windowsill, and her advice is to feed them once a month. I tend to water once or twice per week, giving more attention to the ones close to radiators! I keep an eye on the soil and the leaves and if I feel they are suffering, will move them or look into why they are not doing too well. I am amazed that I have a basil plant, that I grew from seed, still going today! It’s a miracle and is giving my salads and pasta sauces a lot of love still!

My favourite plants

Finally, a few of my favourites! My Spider plant is one that I love to check on every day! It came to me from a colleague who had a number of babies and needed to rehome them. She takes pride of place in my bathroom and is a firm favourite. I now have offspring in the dining room, kitchen and cloakroom and they are thriving. I feel like a proud mum. I also have a rubber plant that was a cutting from my grandmother’s plant. Sadly, she passed away in 2005 but a little bit of her lives on in my home. And when the leaves fall off I add them to the soil and they root so I have a few more little ones growing around the base.

If you need some inspiration, Pinterest is incredible and will give you loads of ideas on how to display your plants and what to buy, and if all else fails GO FAKE!!! I have a mix of both real and fake and, I can’t kill them so even better!

Stephanie Eiken

(Photo by Rosie Duffy).