Here is how to get started:
Be creative with your planters. Tons of common household items, from old buckets, glasses or unusual coffee mugs, can be turned into containers for your plants.
For the best air cleansing results, plan on two to three full-sized
plants for each 100 to 150-square-foot room.
Purchasing enough plants so that you have one in each sleeping area or in any other area where a significant amount of time is spent would be the ideal thing to do.
Choose your plants based on your level of experience as well as the amount of time you can afford to dedicate to the maintenance of your plants:
Beginners or low maintenance plants are - pothos (green leafy), spider plant (hanging), snake plant (tall, compact foliage), and cattleya orchid (pretty, exotic-looking plant).
Moderate care - dragon trees, sword fern, jade plant (small treelike plants).
Almost-qualifies-as-pets plants - bonsai (manicured little trees), orchids (exotic-looking plants).
You can always go to the
gardening section of your store and ask one of the experts to help you out. Most importantly, read the labels. Plants are not all the same, the temperature, water and the light it needs vary widely. So be honest with yourself and don't buy a plant that needs to have its moisture level checked daily if you don't have the time or are a fair-weather friend to living things.
You've done your shopping, gone home and unpacked your trunk and your living room is now confused and thinks it is a tropical jungle. Don't feel bad, it is natural for a first time plant owner to go a little overboard.
For something a little different how about a living wall? It is a vertical arrangement of plants that naturally remove toxins and contaminants from the air we breathe and they hang on your walls. Living walls can be complete ecosystems. They can also be a simple configuartion of plants that thrive in and help decontaminate our environments. Many living walls are indoors but they can also be on the exterior walls of buildings.
