Creating an Indoor Garden for the Winter

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The winter season can be long and arduous, particularly for those residing in less temperate areas (think: the Northeastern and Midwestern United states, for instance). Still, just because the ground outside is covered in snow and the air temperature is so low that nothing would grow in such harsh conditions doesn’t mean that there isn’t potential for a winter garden on your property. You’ll just have to look indoors instead of outdoors for the actual garden space.

Start by identifying a room inside your home that would be particularly suited for creating that garden atmosphere. A small room with plenty of large windows would do best, and any room with walls painted in warm, bright colors is a big plus. Windows are essential if you intend to keep live plants in the house, as even potted plants need sunlight to grow and thrive. Arrange plants of a low-maintenance variety around the area beside the windows, mainly to avoid having to water the plants multiple times a day, and for abundant sunlight intake for the plants themselves. You can use different boxes or other surfaces to place the plants at different heights around the window, so you can create a more eccentric look instead of just stacking the plant pots in a group adjacent to the window.

If you have ceiling windows or very tall windows, or a source of plentiful artificial light on the ceiling, you can even try including hanging plants in this winter garden room. Hanging plants are ideal in many ways because they are visually appealing, and raise the focus of the room away from the floor where most of the potted plants are located. Try also using silk flowers in vases or other wonderfully bizarre arrangements to fill in unusual spaces in the room that would otherwise be empty. Silk flowers also make for excellent filler in the case that your indoor garden doesn’t get enough sunlight to support a large number of plants.

Really, your winter garden space is creatively up to you. Logistically, just remember what the plants need most (sunlight, water, etc.) and what you enjoy in a garden space (colorful arrangements, different plant life, etc.), and you should be able to prepare an indoor garden that makes you happy all the while allowing your plants to thrive.