There are, of course, infinite variations and
combinations that you can employ in setting up your indoor garden, but
basically there are three main approaches to the arrangement of house
plants:
1) Individual pots which can be set up and moved about at will.
2) A tray or box arrangement (almost always in a window) in which a
number of different plants are grown together.
3) Terrariums (also known as Wardian cases) of which only the smallest
or bottle variety are truly mobile.
For the beginner, obviously the easiest arrangement, individual pots,
is the best. Here, each plant can be given completely separate
attention. The likes and dislikes of the plant can be catered to, and
the chances of success are greatest. The arrangement possibilities are
limitless.
There are any number of holders and shelf arrangements on
the market designed to help you arrange your indoor garden to show off
to the best advantage. Suffice it to say that starting an indoor garden
in the least ambitious way, with individual pots rather than with a
window-box or pan arrangement, is safest, cheapest, and probably in the
long run the most satisfying way to begin.
Remember, you are not restricted to displaying your plants in the same
places you grow them. If, for instance, you have a sunny kitchen window
with a wide shelf - an ideal spot for growing plants, but not much of a
showcase - there is no reason you can't grow them there until they
flower and then bring them into the living room.
If you can return them
to the sunlit window during the day, so much the better. You can set a
pot of trailing ivy on either side of your mantle piece, brighten up
the dining-room sideboard with two or three philodendron plants.
Nothing adds to the charm of a room like plants. A flowering geranium
in the guest room makes your home a much more attractive place to visit.
For the more experienced gardener, a really striking display can be
made with a tray arrangement, in which a number of different plants are
set out together, in individual pots, in one large box or tray. This
type of set-up can consist of anything from a specially built box to go
under a picture window or on a sun porch to a small garden growing in a
baking dish.
By grouping plants in a box or tray, you can really
achieve some interesting effects, and with deft handling and wise
choice of the plants you use, you can make a miniature flower garden
which will bloom all year round. There are problems with this kind of
arrangement, as we have indicated before. Since all the plants are
placed together, they must live under the same physical conditions of
sun, humidity and, to a certain extent, water supply.
These problems
are, of course, not insurmountable since the range of plants that will
live together is broad, but a great deal of care is necessary not only
in the choice of plants selected but in the handling once the garden is
started.
The third planting arrangement mentioned, terrariums or Wardian cases,
is a completely different approach to house-plant culture. Back in the
middle of the nineteenth century an English botanist by the name of
Nathaniel Ward discovered by mistake that many wood plants will grow
and posper with little or no care if kept in a sealed container.
Terrariums growing moss, ferns and lichens can provide a woodland in
miniature for your home, and almost any glass container can be used,
from a fish bowl to a cocktail glass. From the point of view of home
decoration, the difficulty with terrariums is that 1) the plants that
will grow in them are relatively few, and 2) because they are enclosed
they don't add the same kind of color to a room as do potted plants.
It doesn't matter if you have room for just one or two plants - or if
you can grow a veritable flower garden indoors - the pleasures that
come from growing plants are tremendous. And the pleasures are not just
your own - they are shared by everyone who visits your home and sees
them.
Maybe we're prejudiced, but we can't think of a hobby anywhere nearly
as rewarding!
You probably have seen on TV the ads about Aero Garden, here's
one that will probably satisfy all of your needs:
Aero
Garden - Automatic Indoor Fresh Garden Growing System
