Greenify- ing My Home

Illustrated by Jacqueline Davis Moranti

I have always wanted a garden, but having an actual garden, outdoors sort of intimidated me of starting one from scratch. Luckily there's lots of research out there for the budding green thumb and other options such as houseplants! I have settled with creating an urban jungle in my home, happily! Plants in the privacy of  my home help me build my confidence and technique, but where do you start? Which plants will survive in my care? After thorough research, I figured out what would work in my home.

Lighting plays a huge role in how well your plants will do. In my home, I have bright direct morning light but afternoon light is very indirect because of where the windows are. Low light plants are best in my situation and very beginner friendly.

Snake Plants
One of my favorite plants, is a snake plant. Hardy foliage with a unique print, this plant also lets you know when it needs to be watered. Over watering is never a problem.

Pothos

Absolutely love this plant species, it's soooooo beginner friendly. Literally one of the hardest plants to kill, very forgiving in terms of forgetting a watering or two. Love the trailing aspect of this plant, helps me turn a blank wall into something more interesting. I love this plant so much I have multiples. Tolerant to low lighting.

Even though I know my home's lighting situation is quite low, It hasn't stopped me from getting the bright indirect light plants! That's what LED plant lights are for!

Monstera

One of my favorite houseplants, so much so, that I have multiples of this one! It grows insanely quick, easy to propagate, it's also an air purifier. I love how big the leaves get and the "hole-y" design just makes me gawk every time.

Rubber Tree Plant

Low maintenance, gorgeous foliage, grows tall and is known in Chinese culture as a good luck charm. This plant needs bright indirect light for about 6 hours of the day, I keep this one under plant light.

Succulents + Cacti

These are probably the hardest plant to kill, they need water very sparingly and do well with a dry type of peat soil. They're not very pet friendly, or people friendly but they look amazing on any windowsill. 

Greenifying your home doesn't have to be hard, as long as you understand your home's lighting situation and the plant requirements. Then it's just a matter of figuring out where to place them. I can't wait to make my home my urban jungle! Dear readers, do you have a green thumb?