ARRANGING HOUSEPLANTS

Styling and creating elegant houseplant arrangements isn’t difficult once you understand the basic tenets of garden design. And one of the first elements to look at—and an easy way to take your indoor garden from hodgepodge to composed—is grouping: that is, how to group your plants in a space not for likeness, but for aesthetics.

• Observe the rule of three. Group plants in odd quantities for a more striking, asymmetrical look. Even numbers of plants can feel rigid and severe. (That’s why restaurants tend to serve appetizers in threes.)
• Mix and match heights. Group plants of different heights. Each one will then stand out from the others. You can even choose one that is considerably taller than the others for more visual impact—just so long as the other two are also different heights from one another.
• Identify one shared element. Group plants based on one common characteristic: density, leaf shape, dominant color, variegation, or even pottery. The similarities will make the grouping look like they belong together, while their differences have a multiplier effect on the arrangement’s apparent complexity.

SELECTING HOUSEPLANTS

Choosing the right houseplants for your indoor garden is likewise a seemingly daunting task that can be made simple if you follow one basic guideline: your lighting conditions. Here we’ve compiled a basic guide to help you:

Good plants for rooms with lots of light

• Jade Plant (Crassula argentea) - full sun
• Aloe Vera (Aloe barbadensis) - full sun to partial shade
• Snake Plant (Dracaena trifasciata) - this plant can do it all
• Croton (Codiaeum variegatum) - dappled light
• String of Pearls (Senecio rowleyanus) - bright indirect light

Good plants for rooms with low light

• ZZ Plant (Zamioculcas zamiifolia) - likes bright indirect light, but can grow in a variety of light conditions (may get leggy in prolonged shade)
• Snake Plant (Dracaena trifasciata) - as we’ve said: this plant can do it all
• Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum) - partial sun to shade