Where Should I Put My Plants?

This question is one I am asked almost daily from my customers. Where do I place my plants? I'm sure at some point, we have all bought a plant which we liked the look of, and then watched it slowly die in the corner of the room in a beautiful pot which cost a fortune. I definitely have in the past. Once, or maybe twice... potentially ten times. But placing your plants in your house is much easier when you have a bit of a guide to help you, plus it will save you a lot of headaches, heartaches and not to mention money in the long run.

A lot of the plants that we have in our homes across the UK, are grown naturally in tropical climates where temperatures are between 18 and 25 degrees celsius. This makes them perfect for being in our homes. Having said this, there are some places in our homes where your plants may get a bit chilly. We often think of a windowsill as the perfect spot for a lot of plants but if you have your window open slightly when the weather is cooler outside, that beautiful Alocasia that you just purchased is going to be miserable. Each house is going to be different so make sure you do a little bit of planning. When you buy a plant check to see that you can offer the correct temperature in your home. The requirements should be on a label if you are at a Garden Centre, or If you buy from us, the details will be in the product description.

Temperature is just one factor you need to be aware of when it comes to placing your plants. Light is especially important. You may have heard the terms bright indirect light, bright light and low light. These terms can be a little tricky to understand, but are really important to adhere too. Some plants can suffer burns from too harsh light and some plants will simply wither away if they don't receive enough light. The diagram below, is great for showing you the locations.

As you can see from the diagram, the closer the plant is to the window, the brighter and harsher the light. The further away from the window, the light is much less. Please note that all plants do need some level of light and just because they are surviving in one area, doesn't mean they are thriving.

Some people like to have just one or two plants in a room so this diagram can be great for working out where these need to be placed. If like me, you live in your own mini jungle, this diagram can be a vital tool when it comes to balancing your room.

I have always been a big fan of trying to create a jungle theme. In my spare room I keep quite a lot of plants, and a lot of them don't require bright sun. Its typical that this room gets really bright light all day! The way I overcome this is by following natures lead. I put all my tall and thick, sun loving plants closer to the window, and then nestle in amongst them the plants which require less light. The taller, thicker plants, break up the light before it reaches the more delicate ones. This allows me to have a huge range of different plants and foliage.

My living room unfortunately doesn't get as much light as I would like. All my plants are huddled round the back door and window. This is not normally an issue in the Summer, but during the Winter months I do ensure that these plants get some time under the grow lights which are a god send! If you have been wondering whether to try some grow lights, trust me, you won't regret it!

The last thing I want to touch on is humidity. Due to their tropical nature, a lot of the plants we buy require fairly high humidity. This might not be something that you struggle with in the Summer but I am sure you may have noticed that in the winter some plants don't look their best. This is typically the time we switch on the heating which can have a really drying effect. This can be noticed by dry tips on leaves and in some cases, wilting.

A lot of people tend to mist their plants with a spray bottle. I am sure there are some people who this has worked for but I would normally argue against it. In their natural environment the leaves would get wet from the rain etc, but they would dry quickly and the wind would help get rid of the water. In your home, the leaves may stay wet for a longer period of time which can result in fungal infections. I have heard of some people having good results from spraying some water onto the radiators to get some moisture in the air. I can believe this would be beneficial. Another great way to add humidity is to run a humidifier. Nowadays you can pick these up for fairly cheap on somewhere like Amazon. Running one of these for a couple of hours a day can be very beneficial and will make your plants feel at home.

I hope this has helped shed some light (no pun intended) on where best to place your plants around your home. By all means, send us a message if you require help with a certain plant and we will do our best to get back in touch as soon as possible.

We aim to add to our blog weekly so make sure you subscribe to the website for more tips and ideas!

Thanks for reading!