From tiny terrariums to whole walls of plants, there are fun new ways to show off your green thumb indoors.
Imagine stepping into a bathtub, and instead of bathroom tiles lining the wall next to you, there’s a fresh vertical garden, lush with bright green ferns, lavender, baby’s tears, mint and other fragrant plants.
San Francisco-based design studio Siol created just that a few years ago for one home.
Unusual ways to display indoor plants run the gamut, from built-in shelves and containers in and along walls, countertops or tables, to wall pockets and terrariums.
“Decorating with plants is still one of the easiest ways to make a home feel lived in and relaxed,” says James Augustus Baggett, editor of Country Gardens magazine. “There are so many different ways that people can incorporate plants into a home’s design.”
For that living green bathroom wall, grow lights and a self-circulating drip water system were built into the 10-by-10-foot wall to promote indoor growth, says Siol co-owner and principal Jessica Weigley, 38. Lavender plants added a spa-like dash of aromatic beauty.
Of course, a full green wall is also incredibly pricey — it can cost customers at least $10,000, at about $100 to $200 per square foot, Weigley says, because of its embedded lighting and watering system.
A much cheaper indoor-garden alternative is pockets made of various materials — including ceramic, glass, plastic, wood, metal and even macrame — that can hang directly on a wall and be filled with plants, says Baggett. They can run about $20–$100 each.
Those living in smaller homes can get creative: “Vertical gardening is the hottest trend for not a lot of space,” says Baggett. “Recessed wall niches are also popular.”
Miniature gardens, from terrariums to fairy gardens, have caught on for the space-conscious, he says.
Kokedama, a Japanese plant art that means “moss ball” in English, involves forming a moss-covered ball of soil around the roots of a plant and wrapping it with twine. Suspending these moss balls as hanging plants is also a trend, Baggett says.
Those with a retro aesthetic can display succulents and cacti in vintage tins and decorative pottery. Molded fiberglass bullet planters, popular in the 1950s, have also been making a comeback. The size of an ice bucket, the planter is held aloft on a three-pronged stand.
“Plant stands are handy. You’re raising those plants to eye level,” says Baggett. “That pulls your eye around that room. It’s the same way in an outdoor garden that people use color to pull the eye around the garden.”