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Spruce Up Your Home: A Guide to Houseplants
Nothing brings the outdoors inside more effectively than a houseplant. But in order for a plant to thrive indoors, you’ll need to match it to your home. “Choosing the best indoor plant for you depends on how much light you have available and whether or not you're inclined to nurture or neglect,“ says Will Creed, a New York-based interior landscaper and founder of Horticultural Help (horticulturalhelp.com). Here, a few plants to consider — and how to care for them — based on what you have to offer.
Low-maintenance plants
- ZZ plant. This is one of the hardiest plants you’ll find. It needs watering only once every two to four weeks — or when it’s dry all the way down at the bottom of the pot. And it thrives in either low or high light, so you can place it almost anywhere you want in your home.
- Jade plant. It survives in medium light, but thrives in high light and only needs watering every couple of weeks, or when the soil is dry deep into the pot.
- Snake plant. This plant needs watering only about once every two weeks (or when the soil is dry at the bottom of the pot), but it does require a lot of direct light. You’ll need to put it on a windowsill or right in front of a window that gets direct sunlight.
- Pothos. It does well in indirect light and needs weekly watering, around the time the top half-inch of the soil dries out (push your finger in the soil to check).
- Chinese evergreen. Like the Pothos, this plant requires little light, but it does require watering weekly, or when the top half-inch of the soil is dry.
High-maintenance plants
- Ficus tree. Sunlight should shine directly on this plant at some point every day — so it must be right in front of an uncovered window, and you should water it at least once a week, or whenever the surface of the soil gets dry.
- Rhapis Palm. This one doesn’t require a lot of direct sunlight, but it does require attention, as it wilts when it gets too dry. You’ll need to water it at least once a week. Like the Ficus, water it once the surface of the soil gets dry.
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