Why stop at gumboots and sun hats? This month we’re talking all about taking your passion for gardening to the bedroom, living room, office, and everywhere else! Life is a Garden is helping you bring the outdoors- indoors, with a few fabulous ideas, tips and trends, and a whole lot of greenspiration to help you create a gardening sanctuary where ever you go. We’ve also included some perfectly suited plant picks to get you going, which are all indigenous and waiting for you at your local GCA Garden Centre.

A green wall to enthral

Bring the garden inside with you and create a living, green wall of wonder! Vertical gardening is super stylish and brings texture, sophistication, and a sense of thriving abundance into your space. Green walls can consist of multiple indoor plant varieties, which can be grown using panels and hydroponics on free-standing structures or against a wall. Alternatively, you can also use soil containers mounted against a wall, which will soon be covered by your beautiful creepers and climbers.

A living wall in your home is a striking, visual buffet of lushness! In addition, they are great air purifiers and assist in keeping your home cool during summer. Consider creating your green wall in an area with good light and ventilation, such as the living room or bathroom where plants can absorb moisture from the air. Watering your wall may be done using misters, a light spray bottle, or a watering can with a long spout.

Plant picks: String of Beads (Senecio rowleyanus) for hardy and handsome hanging, Large Forest Asparagus (Asparagus falcatus) for a textured climber, and Flowering Ivy (Senecio macroglossus) for a fabulous little creeper.

Escape, decorate, create

Getting away from the hustle and bustle is as easy as pot, plant, tree! Create your own indoor sanctuary by decorating with easily accessible, indigenous, and affordable natural elements. Group pot plants and hanging baskets together for a jungle-inspired corner, use succulents with bold features and textures as grand centrepieces, or drape shelves, racks, and even shower frames with a few curious climbers. Breathe life into a corner of a room by bringing your favourite tree inside with you, or showcasing a friendly variety of ferns.

Put your creativity and decorating skills to the test by mixing things up a little! Try combining these natural elements with a few man-made, familiar favourites: Shards of bark inside glass candle holders, interesting river stones assembled around basins with a few succulents for fun, shells and dried coral arrangements, twisting fairy lights around pine cones and dried flowers such as Proteas. You may find that attention to detail really helps to cultivate the indoor garden experience and drive the overall natural theme of the space. 

Plant picks: Wild Banana tree (Strelitzia nicolai) for a tropical feel, Baboon Grape (Rhoicissus digitate) for a colourful creeper, and Dagger-Leaf (Sansevieria pearsonii) for a striking, textured feature plant.

Nurse Mother Nature 

Bringing the outdoors in has many wonderful health benefits for the body, mind, and certainly the soul! Indoor plants improve air quality by acting as natural air purifiers. Better air means better breathing for our lungs. An increase of good, clean oxygen improves concentration, mental clarity, enhanced energy levels, boosts in happiness, and even helps us sleep better. Incorporating more plants into your workspace increases productivity and helps brighten up those blue Monday’s. 

Caring for leafy lives is an effective way of channelling anxiety and stress into a nurturing outlet. Caring for a bonsai, for example, teaches great patience and inner calmness. Create a soothing and harmonic space that nurtures your soul, connects you with Mother Nature, and reminds you to stop and smell the roses – as they say. The heart always feels better with love, so why not invest in a life of love giving and receiving by inviting nature’s nurses into every space possible!

Plant picks: Spekboom (Portulacaria afra) for an excellent indoor air purifier, Bush Lily (Clivia miniata) for a flowering pot of happiness, and Veld fig (Ficus burtt-davyi) bonsai to help you get your Zen on. With so many creative possibilities and health benefits of indoor gardening, it’s easy to appreciate the simplicity and practicality of bringing the outdoors to your inside spaces. Your local GCA Garden Centres have a variety of indoor plants to choose from that can help you to cultivate a space of green glory where ever you spend your time. Transform your sitting room into a real living room and create a place of grace, even in your office!

Source: Life is a Garden