Gardening : Getting Hang of Using Plants for Decorating

Plants are an integral part of any style home decor. And hanging plants can add a special warmth to any room in your house or apartment. Whether it be one hanging plant in an otherwise lonely corner or several hung across a wide window creating a curtain effect, hanging baskets provide the perfect finishing touch.

Like all indoor plants, the various vining specimens that are used in most hanging baskets have different care requirements. Some need more light than others, some will do very well in a shadier location, some need more water than others.

Over the years, I’ve found the most dependable and the easiest-to-care-for hanging plants to be philodendron, pothos, grape ivy (Cissus), coleus, Boston fern, Wandering Jew, creeping Charlie, Swedish ivy, baby’s tears (the thicker, more succulent Pilea depressa, not the delicate Helxine soleiroli) and spider plant.

Of these examples, any or all would thrive in a bright, airy room such as a sun-porch. Most would do well in a bright kitchen. Philodendron and pothos will amaze you with their ability to adapt to shady corners. Ferns, grape ivy and baby’s tears will flourish in bathrooms or breakfast rooms where there’s indirect light, relatively cool temperatures and lots of humidity.

(If you have a bathroom where you simply must have a plant but there’s not enough light, here’s a tip: Get two identical hanging plants such as two Boston ferns. Hang one in the bathroom and another in a bright room, a porch--or even outdoors in a shady area during high-temperature weather. Once a week, rotate the two plants; that way, the one in the bathroom will always be in the perfect shape!)

Water With Ice Cubes

Care of hanging baskets differs, depending on the specific plant. Ferns and coleus, for instance, need lots of water. (If taking these plants down and hanging them back up is too much of a hassle, you can place a handful of ice cubes on top of the soil a couple of times a week and that will do the trick.)

The philodendrons, pothos and grape ivy will practically take care of themselves--simply water when the leaves begin to curl slightly, indicating to you that they need a drink. In order to keep the breathtaking display of “babies” flourishing on your spider plant, be sure it gets good light (an eastern exposure would be perfect), water only when the soil is dry and feed during the spring and summer. And I’ve found that the best way to force your spider plants to produce those spectacular offsets is to make sure the plant is kept slightly pot-bound.

Creeping Charlie, Swedish ivy and Wandering Jew need good light and should be pruned back from time to time to keep the crowns full and bushy and to avoid straggly vines. But again, by keeping extra hanging plants in shady outdoor areas, you can always have something on the hook. (Installing sturdy hooks for your hanging plants is important. Make sure to use a hook with a toggle bolt in a plaster ceiling, for instance, while plain screw-in hook is fine for most wood.)

Would you like something different in the way of a hanging basket? Try mixing and matching compatible plants, those which require about the same growing conditions with regard to light and water, and planting them together in a wire or mesh basket, commonly called a “bare-root basket.” Putting these baskets together takes a little more time than simply hanging up a pothos in its plastic pot, but the results are worth the extra effort.

Different Plants

To make a bare-root basket, get a wire basket and some sphagnum or decorator moss, available in most nurseries, plant stores, flower shops and garden centers, dampen the moss, then line the basket with it. Add a liner that has been cut from a plastic bag to eliminate leakage, then fill the basket about half-way with commercial potting mix.

Now, choose two or three different types of compatible plants and start creating. You might want simply to put two plants together, side by side. Or, you might want to get a little fancier and plant one variety on top and weave another through the side of the basket.

I recently made a bare-root basket combining a bridal veil plant (Tradescantia multiflora) and a variegated Hedera helix, or “glacier ivy.” I tucked the Tradescatia between the moss layer and the basket, so the plant appears to be the lining, then I hollowed out the crown of the Tradescantia to plant the ivy, creating a hanging basket with an interesting “layered look.”

You can create an almost infinite number of combinations, but I repeat, the plants must be compatible. You mustn’t put water-loving plants like ferns with those that like to be dry, such as cacti and succulents. And you have to be careful not to put shade-loving plants such as coleus with sun-loving Swedish ivy. If you have any doubts as to the compatibility of the plants, be sure and check with your nursery person or consult a good plant book.

Using hanging plant material creatively is a great way to expand your adventure into more sophisticated decorating with plants. And remember--any empty room is an empty canvas. There are no Early American or French Provincial plants. And there’s no such thing as too many plants in a home--as long as you’re willing to make the commitment to care for them.