indoor plants

Many new gardeners are amazed to discover that pests can seek out and attack plants growing indoors, or even out on a balcony of a high-rise building. One way or another, pests find plants - even when they are inside and away from the natural environment. They may already have been present when you purchased the plant, or hitched a...

Everywhere you turn this season, you're likely to spot a storage basket. But far from the utilitarian plastic tubs of the past, hidden in cupboards and laundries, the new breed are stylish accents you'd be proud to have out on display in your living area - turning function into fashion. Hand-woven from a range of natural materials including seagrass, cattail...

Workspace in need of an upgrade? If you want something pretty that also helps aid office (or work-from-home!) productivity, you can't go past a touch of living greenery. Much like indoor plants help beautify the home, they also make the office a much more pleasant place to be - transforming it from sterile to inspirational. There are known benefits to...

Dracaena is a lush, tall, leafy plant that creates a tropical look indoors, on a balcony or in the garden. There are many species and cultivars that give a range of leaf colours and patterns. Some also have fragrant flowers. Dracaena varieties The most impressive dracaena variety is the dragon tree (Dracaena draco) (pictured above). This large, spreading, multi-branched tree...

As the quarter-acre block becomes less and less of the norm, and small-space living continues to rise, green thumbs are becoming more innovative in finding ways to bring the outdoors in. Living areas, kitchens, bedrooms and even bathrooms are now fair game for creating green oases. One need only watch an episode of The Block to know that gardening is now...

Ahh, the palm. Is there any other plant that inspires such a feeling of relaxation? One glimpse and your mind is half a world away, lazing in a hammock and sipping on a cocktail. And bringing that relaxed holiday feel to your suburban Sydney home needn’t be difficult. No matter the size of your yard or the state of your...

With outdoor garden space at a premium, more and more homeowners are embracing indoor plants and filling their houses with greenery. The key to successfully growing plants indoors is to match the plant to the indoor location, especially in areas with low light.   Low light tactics Low light indoor areas are those parts of the house that are away...

I once had a potted sansevieria, which sat in the kitchen under the brightly lit window. It must have been the right spot, because after growing well for several years, it decided to flower, producing a stem of large white bells with an overwhelming perfume. That plant has long gone but sansevieria (Sansevieria trifasciata), also known as mother-in-law’s tongue and...

Indoor plants are brilliant, beautiful things... until, of course, they start to flop or lose their leaves, and leave you feeling like a terrible plant parent. The truth is, most indoor plants are killed with kindness, rather than neglect. So here are three very simple ways to turn things around and get your indoor plants back to beautiful. Start with the...

A sunny windowsill that enjoys at least four hours of sunlight daily is all you need to have freshly-cut herbs at your fingertips.   Seeds vs seedlings Seeds will give you more bang for your buck, as long as you don’t mind waiting a few months for your herbs to be ready for harvesting. On the other hand, planting seedlings...