Most gardeners can’t contain their love for plants, so it spills from their gardens right into their living rooms…and bathrooms and bedrooms and anywhere else a plant can grow. Indoor container gardening is a natural extension of an outdoor gardening passion. From sunrooms filled with tropical trees to kitchen cabinets draped in philodendron vines, homes are great for accommodating all kinds of potted plants.
Indoor containers allow you to grow non-native species like cactus and succulent plants inside the climate-controlled environment of your home.
Photo Credit: ©2000 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Hiding stereo speakers is just one practical role a potted plant can play in your living or family room.
Photo Credit: ©2000 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Hardy bonsai trees are popular miniatures, requiring little water and room for roots.
Photo Credit: ©2000 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Bring your passion for beauty, texture and color indoors with interesting potted combinations.
Photo Credit: ©2000 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Gardening indoors offers almost as many possibilities as inground planting – just on a smaller scale and with a few different considerations. Although the space in a container is limited, you’ll be surprised at how many spots you can adorn with potted plants (as long as the lighting is right). And indoor container plants give you something back – clean air. While busily producing oxygen, your plants use photosynthesis to absorb carbon dioxide, poisonous carbon monoxide and other airborne toxins.
There are all kinds of uses for indoor plants. Trailing plants work great in those high-up empty nooks that long for something green and full of life, and sunny kitchen windowsills are perfect for little herb gardens. But don’t forget to think on a larger scale.
Consider using large container plants to direct traffic indoors, identifying the path you want guests to take as they walk through your home. A palm or other tree can subtly block off private areas like the master bedroom or home office for when you’re entertaining. Carefully chosen plants can also shield unattractive household vents and registers from view – just make sure those particular plants can handle the air flow – or hide stereo speakers without hindering their fidelity.
You can also use houseplants to blur the lines between indoors and outside and visually expand spaces. Just set your plants along large picture windows or frame a sliding glass door leading to the back yard. Such areas are perfect for sun-loving species that thrive on the solar gain from the glass. Of course, you can also use indoor container plants to create more intimate spaces. Homes with open floor designs can benefit from clustered plants set around dining spaces or couch areas to section off rooms and make them feel cozier.
When it comes to choosing plants, of course, you have to select varieties that do well with the lower light conditions found inside. (Plants with high light requirements will suffer greatly otherwise.) There are lots of plants to choose from – including many beautiful tropicals that just won’t survive outside in most parts of the country.
One indoor gardening trend is to use miniature and dwarf varieties of plants and flowers. While the same plants would typically get lost in a large, open garden outside, the smaller forms are perfectly suited to indoor container gardening. Many flowering miniature varieties bloom in tight clusters, creating unusual bouquets of cutting flowers and adding interest and variety to an arrangement of larger plantings.
On a more practical note, the smaller root systems and reduced nutritional needs of miniatures and dwarf varieties make them better suited than their full-size brethren to the confines of a container. They’re also easier to prune, given their diminutive stature at full maturity. In fact, the growing popularity of container gardening has accelerated the development of miniature and dwarf plants, with a wide range of choices in almost every category and species.
What used to be called “houseplants” have come a long way since the days when the term conjured up a low-maintenance ficus in a corner of the living room, a philodendron along an staircase or an African violet in the kitchen window. Today’s more sophisticated indoor container gardens offer as much in function as they do in ornamental value. So don’t be afraid to bring your garden style inside your home. After all, it’s too hard to contain all that enthusiasm!
