Urban jungle – surrounded by greenery
You love plants but you don’t have a garden? Then why not transform your home into a green oasis? Which plants are suitable and how do you go about caring for them? Here’s a little spoiler in advance: you can grow useful plants directly in your kitchen and use them to spice up your dishes.
Photo credit:
Jennifer Paro
Turning your living area into a ‘jungle’
The urban jungle trend is all about bringing plenty of greenery into the home. For people who have no garden or balcony, incorporating house plants into their living area is a great way to reap the benefits of ‘gardening’.
And there are many advantages: on the one hand, an urban jungle is a great way of being creative in your home interior as you get to choose your plants and their pots. On the other hand, plants improve the indoor climate by increasing the humidity level and converting carbon and sunlight into oxygen during photosynthesis. Many plants even filter toxic substances from the air.
Since the line between private and professional life is becoming increasingly blurred with many people working from home, it is especially important that you can relax within your own four walls. Whether you opt for big or small plants, green leaves or colourful flowers, bringing nature into your home improves your mental and physical health and your general sense of well-being.
Beautiful and natural – plants in the kitchen
Plants not only create a pleasant atmosphere, they can also be used for cooking:
Herbs such as thyme, rosemary, basil, parsley, mint or oregano take up hardly any room and are generally easy to care for.
As tomatoes don’t like wet and windy environments, they’d be very grateful if you give them a sunny spot in your kitchen and fertilise them regularly.
There are many varieties of lettuce. If, for example, you grow leaf lettuce in a low tub on your windowsill, you can pick the amount you need at any time and cultivate varieties that can’t be found in the supermarket. Our recommendation: Asian mustard greens.
For a summer feeling, you could grow citrus fruit such as lemons, oranges and limes. These also thrive indoors and bring a holiday feel into your kitchen.
It’s easy to grow a new plant from an avocado stone. Simply put it in a glass of water and a few weeks later, once it starts to sprout, plant it in a pot with some flower soil. Over time, it will grow into a beautiful and unusual house plant.
If you have a plentiful harvest, you can also cook, freeze or dry vegetables, fruit and herbs.
It all comes down to the right care
Whether you use plants for cooking or decoration, they always bring life into your home. But just like any other living creature they also need attention and care (some more than others). The main thing is to find the perfect location for your plants right from the off: plants which like sunny spots include cacti, palms or rubber trees, whereas lilies, calatheas and dragon trees prefer semi-shady locations. You should place ferns, snake plants and plants from the ginseng family in shadier spots.
If you want your leafy companions to thrive, you also need to check how often they need watering. As a general rule, dry-loving plants such as cacti don’t need to be watered more than once a month, whereas moisture-loving plants such as ferns need to be watered several times a week.
You can boost your plants’ growth by using the right soil and fertilising them regularly during the appropriate months. It’s a good idea to gently clean the leaves regularly with a damp cloth so that they stay verdantly vibrant. This stops pests from settling on the leaves, prevents plants’ pores from being clogged by dust and restores their green vibrancy. Our verdict: there can never be too much greenery in your kitchen.
