Spring Green: Create your Plant Sanctuary at Home with Wild & Rust’s lovingly selected range of fresh houseplants. 

For us at Wild & Rust, creating the perfect sanctuary at home is all about creating a space that allows you to simply be in a feel-good space that is comfortable, calming, mood enhancing and of course beautiful to look at! You do not need big budgets to create a mood boosting rest and recreation space at home, all you need is a little vision, a good balance between space and structure and a well edited selection of beautiful space enhancing, mood boosting gorgeous spring green house plants in responsibly sourced ethically made plant pots, baskets and terrariums from the Wild & Rust Plant Shop.

The success and secret to creating a space that is both aesthetically pleasing and mood enhancing i.e. your own personal sanctuary, lies in activating all the senses we experience when in nature. Nothing brings us more joy with its invigorating all-round wellbeing enhancing properties than a gorgeous range of indoor house plants strategically placed throughout the home or workspace to bring the healing powers of nature indoors.

Indoor Plants - Structure & Form:

Plants like Aloe Vera used as an ingredient do not only provide us with healing medicinal remedies, but strategically placed in a specific room can really help to balance the form and structure of a space.

 

 

The Fiddle Leaf Fig Lollipop, a favourite or ours, with its large rounded leaves have made a stellar comeback with its minimalist elegance, adding a softer touch to make any space feel calm and relaxing.

For a bolder statement, the Alocasia, also known as elephant’s ear, has large beautifully patterned leaves and can turn any corner or the home into a showstopper with its majestic presence. We especially love the tiger stripe stem variety and often proudly display one in our Henley-on-Thames Wild & Rust store window – it is a real eye catcher which also purifies the air and tells you when it has had enough to drink. What’s not to love? Take a look at our Alocasia Amazonica 'Polly' available instore now.

Indoor Plants - Cleansing and Purifying: 

For many of us, taking a deep steady breath or practising steady breathing techniques form a large part of our daily exercise routines, or simply taking a moment to be mindful. What better reason to have air purifying and enhancing living breathing plants around you to filter and cleanse the air?

We love the Calathea 'Medallion' collection, a powerful air purifier variety, which has light and dark green patterns on the tops of the leaves and a mysterious deep purple underside with the leaves opening and closing at dawn and dusk. These do well in medium to bright indirect filtered light but note their delicate leaves will scorch in direct sunlight.

The Sansevieria ‘Snake Plant’ is a great one for the bedroom as they are troopers for storing up Oxygen during the day and then releasing it at night. Others include the Ivy and Boston Fern or Nephrolepis which is a perfect plant for popping in the bathroom as it thrives in more humid environments whilst working hard to purify the air.

Indoor Plants - Restore and Revive:

For some well-earned R&R time, the fascinating String of Pearls, although a succulent that thrives in dry air, makes a great choice for an indoor plant. Paired with a beautiful handmade aluminium hanging planter, these little beauties are versatile, requires very little maintenance and can instantly add a low cost, high impact point of focus to revive any room into a restorative and relaxing space to help you recharge.

 

Indoor Plant - Calming: 

Plants that help you relax. Creating a leafy sanctuary in your home can really lift and enhance your mood, come rain or shine. Adding layers and dimension by showing off plants on stools and using macramé hanging planters, baskets, handmade ceramic and cement pots mixed with one off vintage finds instantly creates an interesting and versatile space that awakens the senses and brings a sense of calm. A space to just be. Great choices include: The Rubber Plant (We love!), palms, the Calathea Rattle Snake and the very cute Chinese Money Plant. These are all easy to care for, versatile choices sure to add a touch of Spring green to your space.

 

Indoor Plants – Which plants should you use and choose for your Home Garden.

To create and maintain your sanctuary at home, it is important to consider the spaces, what shapes and sizes will make the most of enhancing your rooms / workspace, consider the robustness and suitability of the plants to thrive indoors in different conditions with varying levels of light.

Based on over 20 years of experience we have pulled together for you a selection of our recommended easy growing indoor houseplants, perfect for gardeners of any skill level – all available to order or buy instore form Wild & Rust.

Our Top 10 are:

1. Calathea: A beautiful tropical plant, the Calathea will lift the look of any room with its spectacular foliage. Keep the soil moist but not overwatered and move away from direct sunlight. Perfect for a little nook that needs brightening with a pop of colour!

 

2. Snake Plant: This vigorous yet chic member of the Sansevieriaspecies thrives in low light and dry air.

 

 

3. Succulents: Most succulents are low-maintenance and easy to care for. All they need is a tiny amount of water and a sunny windowsill. Popular indoor varieties include the Aloe Vera and Mixed Mini Echeveria and keep these in stock all year round!

 

4. String of Hearts: a semi-succulent originating from South Africa is a gorgeous heart shaped patterned leaf hanging plant which thrives in 40-50% humidity, so is well suited to most UK homes.

5. Spider plant: Perfect for hanging from the ceiling, spider plants can handle low light (though a bright window is their ideal location). They produce shoots that are easy to propagate, so you can keep adding more greenery to your home.

6. Dieffenbachia: With their wide, green-and-white-patterned leaves, dieffenbachias are a wonderful option for anyone looking to add some tropical style to a shady room.

7. Rubber tree: This natural air-purifier has the ability to grow up to eight feet tall, but you can prune it if you are looking for a more compact option.

8. Fiddle Leaf Fig: A tall, stylish plant with broad leaves, fiddle-leaf figs thrive indoors in bright light environments.

9. Pineapple Plant: These quirky fruit plants are a great conversation starter, yes - that is how they grow! Although you probably wouldn't want to consume this bitter little fruit. These tropical plants prefer well lit areas but away from direct sunshine.

 

10. Banana Plant: Our Banana Plant adds an instant exotic touch of tropical to your home. Made popular by their bold paddle-shaped leaves, these plants are perfect for beginners and are easy to grow. These little guys will sit happily in a bright sun-filled spot. Although this variety will produce lovely bananas in the wild unfortunately it is unlikely it will bear fruit in your home, sorry! When new growth appears leaves will emerge from the centre and slowly unfurl with great effect. This plant is also great for cleaning the air in your home, what is not to love about this handsome chap?

 

 

Indoor Plants – how to care for them

Most houseplants are relatively easy to care for once you understand their basic requirements and at Wild & Rust, we choose only the highest grading of plants purposely selected to be low maintenance but high reward and enjoyment factor. To support you in maintaining and looking after your indoor houseplants with which you have created your sanctuary, here are W&R Top Tips to consider when caring for your green beauties:

1. Learn to tell when your plant needs a drink: Wilting leaves can be a sign your plant needs water. To eliminate the guesswork, an easy way to check is to simply stick your finger two inches deep into the soil. If it feels dry, then it is most likely time to water. You can also tell if the soil is too dry by lifting the plant container and gauging its weight. The pot will feel heavier after watering and lighter as the soil dries out, and over time you will be able to assess when the plant has enough moisture.

2. Underwatering is better than overwatering: We recommend that a good soak in a bucket of water or even the bath once every few weeks (until the water stops bubbling which indicates the plant has drunk enough). Leave on the side to drain the excess water before popping back into its pot or planter. Maintain with general leaf misting in between to keep humidity levels balanced which is enough for most houseplants with the exception of succulents. They require much less and can even thrive on – dare we say – a little neglect. If you prefer to water in a more conventional way, most houseplants are better off slightly dry than soaking wet. Too much water can cause harmful root rot. When watering, your goal is to make the soil moist but not soggy (with succulents being a notable exception to this rule). We recommend using tepid or warmer water as this absorbs easier. Pour the water slowly onto the soil around the base of the plant until you see it trickling out from the drainage holes in the bottom of the pot. Usually, plants only need to be watered once or twice a week—and even less frequently in the cool winter months.

3. Assess the amount of natural light in your home. Different houseplants require varying levels of direct sunlight or shade. Direct-light plants (usually succulents) need full sun conditions and should be placed near a south-facing window or on a windowsill flooded with direct sunlight. Bright-light plants require moderate light and can thrive in an east- or west-facing window—or potentially in a south-facing window, providing you place the plant several feet away from the glass. Low-light plants need the shadier conditions of a north-facing window. Choose wisely to ensure you plants thrives in different rooms and spaces within your sanctuary.

4. Monitor and adjust your home's temperature. Most houseplants thrive in temperatures between 18 and 24°C during the day, with temperatures at night about 5-10°C cooler. If your house stays warmer at night, you can help your indoor plants by opening a window to ensure they get the cool air they need.

5. Control humidity and ventilation. Many houseplant varieties grow best with a level of humidity in the air that is similar to what they would experience in their natural environment. If the air where you live is dry, lightly mist your plants with a spray bottle, or keep a humidifier nearby. Condensation that stays on leaves too long, though, can be harmful, which is why appropriate airflow is also crucial to maintaining healthy plants. But be careful, plants don’t do well in draughty rooms and with the exception of succulents and cati, they mostly love a little humidity depending on origin.

6. Re-soil and repotting: New plants although ok to initially leave in the container they are bought it, enjoy being repotted at some point and given fresh soil. Choose a planter only 1 to 3 inches larger than its current container. The idea is that your plant is not swimming in soil, which may lead you to overwater. Ensure you allow some space at the bottom of the pot or planter to allow the plant to drain itself of any excess water properly – we here at Wild & Rust place decorative pebbles and pretty little rounded stones which allows the plant to sit slightly higher and the water to drain well to prevent root rot.

Whatever you choose to create your sanctuary at home and however you decide to use plants to create or enhance the space, we hope that you find the same joy and mood boosting benefits the Team at Wild & Rust enjoy in helping you to create beautiful spaces by bringing the outdoors indoors.

May our green beauties continue to thrive and bring us many years of pure joy!

Happy Spring (Greens)!

Bea and the Wild & Rust Team