Tips and ideas for creating an indoor garden

Whether you'd like to be surrounded by your favourite houseplants or even try growing your own herbs and vegetables, we're sharing some tips and ideas on how to create a beautiful and functional indoor garden.

What are the benefits of creating an indoor garden?

An indoor garden gives you an opportunity to fill your home with nature, and reap the health benefits that many plants can offer. You can also grow your own vegetables, depending on the variety. Having an indoor garden ensures that you have greenery all year-round, so is advantageous even for people with outside space, too!

You can also use your plants to break up a room, or turn a corner of your home into an inviting and serene spot for relaxation.

Image credit: the_oakwood6

Invest in a cabinet greenhouse

A cabinet greenhouse is a compact option, ideal for those with limited interior space. They are also a great choice for keeping plants happy and healthy as they let ample light in, increase the level of humidity (which most plants love), and keep plants and vegetables safely out of reach of pets or young children. Plus they can be transported, should you move home in the future.

It’s easy to convert a cabinet into a mini-greenhouse; all you need to get started is a cabinet with glass panes, plant pots and soil, and of course your plants or seeds. For optimum conditions you may add a grow light or two, a humidifier (or a tray filled with water), and a mini fan, plus a temperature and humidity gauge to ensure the levels are just right. Make sure to water the plants according to any instructions, and keep an eye out for signs of unhealthy leaves or annoying pests.

Houseplants that thrive in warm climates respond well to these conditions, and many vegetables do too – including carrots, peas, chillies, lettuces, and tomatoes.

Grow a living wall

If you can’t go outside, bring the outside in! Turn an uninspiring area of your home into a jungle with a living wall. Made up of leafy plants and succulents, a living wall brings a vertical garden into your home and creates a beautiful focal point.

You can buy them ready assembled but if you'd like to DIY one, purchase a living wall pocket bag and make sure to choose leafy or trailing plants to cover the sparser areas. Or, paint the wall a calming colour and mount a cluster of planters for a similar effect.

Image credit: homesby.st

Make your own window box herb garden

No space, no problem! Growing your own herbs doesn’t have to take up a lot of room. Simply place a box planter on your windowsill, fill with soil, and insert your seeds or fully established herbs, making sure to water when needed. 

Herbs like basil, oregano, mint, chives and rosemary tend to grow well on sunny windowsills. Or, why not try an eggbox herb garden? Just make sure to snip drainage holes in the bottom.

Add variety with trees and flowers

To tree or not to tree, that is the question. (And the answer is always yes when creating an indoor garden.)

Trees draw the focal point up, making a ceiling appear taller, as well as providing a jungle feel to your home. Some of them, like a citrus tree, might even produce fruit once mature if the temperature is warm enough. Some of the best indoor trees to pick for your home are the lady palm (rhapis excelsa), bamboo palm (dypsis lutescens), and banana tree (musa basjoo). Just make sure to choose a pet-friendly variety if you have animals in your home.

Many indoor flower varieties, like the Madagascar jasmine and peace lily, are happy with a pot benefitting from good drainage, a natural light source, and high-quality soil. Use as accent pieces among green foliage or as statement centre pieces. 

Or, if you don’t fancy keeping up with the maintenance of real houseplants and flowers, create a striking artificial arrangement like @prettypinkplane's dining area centrepiece.

Image credit: prettypinkplane

DIY a bar cart herb garden

Why have an outside herb garden when you can have one on a bar cart? A bougie way of displaying plants that will get your guests talking, a herb garden bar cart works best with fully established herb plants (like mint and parsley) rather than seeds, which can struggle to grow indoors unless in a warm environment. 

To pack a punch, opt for a vintage globe cart – which you could find in a second hand shop or online marketplace - and plant your herbs in the hollow centre and care for as you would the window box herb garden.

Makeover your unused areas

Transform the lesser used areas of your home into a thing of beauty by creating a miniature indoor garden. Whether you have a fireplace with a firebox that doesn’t get used or a cupboard under the stairs that could do with a revamp, these unconventional “gardens” can be a cost-effective alternative to the outdoors – just make sure to choose plants that thrive in low levels of light.

Simply attach some preserved moss to the inner walls and flooring with hot glue, using a wooden board as backing, and decorate however you like; you could even put artificial grass on the floor. Then you could add miniature evergreen plants or flowers, and finish off with fairy lights.

Make use of natural light by setting up comfortable seats or a reading nook in a sunny area, and decorate with plants. Or, set up a garden area close to or facing a sunny window, using indoor trees and flowers (see above for tips on growing plants indoors).

Image credit: littlehousearoundthecorner