How to Choose the Right Plants for Your Space

Choosing the right plant for your home

Plants can have a huge impact on the look and feel you create in your home. It’s easy to head down to your local nursery, spend a fortune on plants and your home will look great… for a while anyway. The real trick is keeping your plants looking healthy and lush long term.

The first and most important thing to consider is how much light a plant will receive in the spot you’ve chosen for it. If you pick a plant that will thrive, or at least cope, with the amount of light it’s going to get, you’re setting yourself up for indoor plant success!

A good starting point is always the staff at your local nursery - They’re generally a great source of knowledge and advice, so definitely talk to them. It’s also a good idea to head straight to the section of the nursery where the plants are kept under shade. These plants are likely to have been grown in shade and will acclimatise better to the limited light indoors. Also, as a general rule, anything requiring full sun isn’t going to do well in the home. Unless it’s going into a particularly bright window exposed to the afternoon sun, forget it.

To help you choose the right plants for your home we’ve chatted with the team and come up with a list of our 3 favourite plants, for 3 different settings; bright, moderate and low light – we hope it helps!

BRIGHT LIGHT - You’re spoilt for choice! Lots of plants will do well in this spot. Here’s 3 of our favourites:

Fiddle Leaf Fig (Ficus lyrata)
Beautiful dark green foliage and very little maintenance. We particularly like lyratas as they require little water and seem to almost never fall victim to common indoor plant pests like mealy bug and scale. Water sparingly and give their leaves a wipe down to keep the dust off and they’ll love you for it!

Bamboo Palm (Chamaedorea seifrizii)
Compact light green fronds with bamboo like stems. We love the tropical vibes of a bamboo palm which are great for a spot in your home needing a tall slender plant. They can be a little thirsty and susceptible to bugs like spider mite, but when well cared for can be long lasting green addition to your home. 

Philodendron Congo & Rojo Congo (Philodendron tatei)
Large heart-shaped leaves in a deep green or burgundy.  We love the large foliage of the congo and the contrast the burgundy colour of the rojo congo provides amongst other greenery. Another hardy option however with sprawling rather than upright growth.
If you like this look, the philodendron ‘birkin’ is also worth considering. It may be a little less hardy but has beautiful green and white variegation and is another good option for a bright spot. 

MODERATE LIGHT – We are a bit more limited for choice here, but still have plenty of options that will do well. Give one of these 3 a try:

Snake plant or Mother in Law’s tongue (Sansevieria trifasciata)
An old-time favourite which has made a comeback. We particularly like the green variegation of the trifasciata variety, and as long as they’re not overwatered can do really well in moderate light. Perfect for a spot where you want the foliage to stay compact and not splay either side of the pot.

Rubber plant (Ficus elastcia)
The glossy foliage of the ‘burgundy’ variety are our favourite of the rubber plants. They can tolerate moderate light and similar to the fiddle leaf fig, require little water and very rarely suffer from common indoor plants pests. A regular wipe down of the leaves with a moist sponge or cloth will keep these looking great.

Kentia palm (Howea forsteriana)
Arching dark green fronds native to Lord Howe Island. Similar to the bamboo palm, the Kentia has a real tropical aesthetic however can better cope with moderate light. They can be susceptible to scale but if kept at bay and watered correctly are a great indoor plant.
 

LOW LIGHT – This is a bit trickier. No plant will thrive in low light but there’s still a few options that can cope. Here’s our top 3:

Zanzibar Gem (Zamioculcas zamiifolia)
Deep green almond shaped leaves. The Zanzibar Gem’s rhizome root system rarely needs watering, they never seem to be affected by bugs and seem to continue to produce new growth even in very low light. These plants really do seem to thrive on neglect!
A new variety, the Zanzibar ‘Zenzii’ is becoming more common in nurseries and might be even better! With all the qualities of the Zanzibar Gem however remaining more compact avoiding the ‘leggy’ growth the Gem can produce in low light.

Chinese evergreen (Aglaonema)
Countless varieties with impressive, variegated foliage. The varieties we’ve had most luck with have been those with red / green variegation including the ‘lady valentine’, ‘widuri’ and ‘wishes’ varieties. They cope well with low light, requiring minimal water and once again are rarely affected by pests. Will get leggy over time but a great option to bring some colour into your home. 

Peace lily (Spathiphyllum)
Another old-time favourite and for good reason. Peace lily’s might be the only indoor plant that can produce an impressive flower and are happy enough in low light. They are thirsty plants however will let you know when they need a drink as their foliage will start to wilt, and they have an amazing ability to bounce back within a few hours of watering.

Choosing suitable plants is the first and most important step for healthy, lush greenery in your home. With that done, now you just need to care for them! Here’s are our 6 top tips for indoor plant care. 

Thanks for reading!