Tips and Tricks for Creating Plant Arrangements

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If you self-identify as a “plant lady” or “plant person,” you have probably let your mind wander the last time you passed the neighborhood nursery. You might have been daydreaming about bringing home a trunk full of plants and all the possible arrangements and combinations you can think of for creating plant arrangements.

Maybe you’re envisioning a welcoming philodendron in your entryway, accentuated with a smaller fern to add some visual contrast. There’s also the option to combine a colorful rex begonia with a greener, stoic bamboo plant for an indoor arrangement in your office space to help break up the monotony of the workday. If you’ve got a large kitchen or bay window that faces south, there’s the option to pair some smaller cactus plants and a succulent arrangement around a larger jade plant because each of those plants would love to soak up the indirect sunlight.

There are a few things to keep in mind when creating plant arrangements that affect how well the plants fit together, especially with indoor plant arrangements, both in terms of their upkeep as well as how they correlate in your room or living space. When creating plant arrangements, make sure to consider the needs of the plants first, then the looks – after all, there’s no sense in worrying about how the arrangements fit or look if the plants don’t receive what they need to survive and thrive in their living conditions.

Below are some pointers to help create a healthy, vibrant indoor plant arrangement.

Lighting Needs for Creating Plant Arrangements.

The first thing to consider is where your arrangement will be located; this consideration matters in a couple of ways. First, what is the lighting like in that space? Is it lower lighting like in a bathroom, or does it receive an abundance of natural light throughout the day? While all plants need light, if the location you’re hoping to build the arrangements in is lower light, you’ll want to look for plants like the ZZ plant that do not have as intense lighting requirements; on the flip side, if you put a snake plant next to a large window, it might receive too much light for it to do well.

Creating Plant Arrangements: Placement

The next question to consider with creating plant arrangements is how the arrangement will be placed. Will the plants be hanging, placed on an elevated surface, or positioned on the floor? Depending on which room you are making the arrangement for, it could make sense to hang your plants near a window for maximum lighting and effect or position them in a corner to help accentuate the room design.

Each room will have unique limitations on placement that you will need to consider; it may not make sense to place tall plants in a small space or small plants in a larger room with no elevated surfaces to help them stand out. If the plants demand more sunlight, placing them on the floor away from windows may not be desirable. When considering what plants to use for your arrangement, keep the placement in mind.

Watering Needs and Schedule for Plant Arrangements

Another crucial element to consider when creating plant arrangements is your plant’s water needs. Are the plants you’re considering all have similar watering needs or are you thinking of plopping an ivy plant between a couple of succulents?

If the plants all have different watering needs, keeping them on a regular watering schedule will be challenging, but it can also be unhealthy if the plants share a larger pot. It can lead to under-watering and too dry plants or over-watering plants with a lower water need, causing root rot.

Speaking of the container, what kind of container(s) do you anticipate working with – do the plants you are considering all work with a particular type of pot where they can match? Are you hoping to plant them all in a larger container together? Or does each plant have a unique potting need, requiring the placement of separate containers or pots for each one?

Overall Composition and Display when Creating Plant Arrangements

Now that we’ve gone over the different needs to consider when creating a plant arrangement think about what color grouping you desire. Should they all be similar shades, or do you want a lot of contrast of color in the collection? How about the leaves? Do you want to mingle some fern around a plant with large, waxy leaves? Do you envision variegated leaves surrounded by solid green ivy?

There’s also the need to consider the room layout and decor. Do the color groupings you imagine compliment the colors within the living space? The arrangement should fit within the room’s dimensions – if you are considering a large room or main living space, using more plants, or incorporating a larger plant is a good idea. Smaller plants and arrangements work well in limited placements or where the room itself is smaller, such as a bedroom.

Creating Plant Arrangements – The Wrap-up

Creating an indoor plant arrangement doesn’t have to be difficult, but there are vital elements to consider when envisioning your end goal. Knowing where the plants will go, what kind of lighting, and what design factors will need to be evaluated. More importantly, when creating plant arrangements for your home or living space, please make sure the plants you choose are compatible in terms of their lighting needs, as well as water needs. Once you’ve got those pinpoints ironed out, you can rest assured that the design and visual spread will be impeccable. Go back to the nursery, find those plants you were daydreaming about, and begin creating your indoor arrangement. Enjoy!

FAQ






If you’re thinking of creating your arrangement around one large plant as a centerpiece, you can incorporate smaller plants around the base. This works exceptionally well if the larger plant has pointed leaves, such as a larger yucca plant, as this can visually create an umbrella-like effect over the smaller plants. There is the idea of finding other larger plants to accompany it and using them as a room divider or a gap where you might not have any furniture to help fill in the room.

A bedroom is where the type of plant, and placement of the arrangement, can drastically alter the room’s ambiance. Spider plants are common for bedrooms, as they are adaptable and easy to maintain. Adding a lavender plant will infuse a relaxing scent, including both in a bedroom, arrangement will brighten the room and purify the air. Depending on the living space, hanging plants in the bedroom may be preferred; this can open options for you to hang an arrangement to fill in the corner of the room by a window and use plants that do well with ample sunlight.

This is where you can get creative and use shelves, windowsills, tables, bookshelves, or other items to stagger the height of the plants to create a bleached effect. Doing so will help add depth to your display, making feeding and moving them more manageable, as this setup maximizes the space available. You can place any smaller plants in the front for added effect and then put larger or taller plants in the back.

Using artificial plants is an option if you’re worried about a pet ingesting your plants. Even with artificial plants, you would need to monitor for unwanted ingestion. Anyone who has had a puppy eats a sock can attest to the vet bill attached to a situation where your pet eats something it shouldn’t.

One of the safest options is to hang the plants and move them well out of reach of your children and pets. For added safety, and for those of us whose cats are acrobats that seem to be able to get into anything, you can also incorporate non-toxic plants and hang them in your arrangement.

If you’ve had poor luck with keeping plants alive in the past, there are a few options at your disposal if you want to create an indoor arrangement but may not be able to keep up on feeding and watering them.

You can use imitation plants, which can be bought at stores or online, and arrange them much like you would a real plant. If you’re hoping for a single pot display, you can create hand-made arrangements using artificial plants and flowers – the supplies to make these are commonly available at craft stores. If you’re not feeling the idea of artificial plants, consider using succulents around a larger aloe plant, or start by using plants that are a bit harder to damage, such as your run-of-the-mill ivy plants.


Published at Mon, 28 Mar 2022 08:53:44 -0700

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