Chapter 2: P5
Designing A Living Touch of Green for Your Home
You'll find a touch of green in every Trove design, whether in-store or in-home, and there's a good reason. Plants are such an important part of creating a home that feels fresh and balanced and they quite literally bring life to a space! As our favorite local green thumb from Planthropy says, "when you bring a live piece of nature inside, it radiates a healthy energy throughout a room and cultivates joy" and we couldn't agree more! If you're looking to add a little green to your home, but aren't sure where to begin, follow along for Jessie's tips to create an easy to care for arrangement!
Step 1: Choose Your Container
For this arrangement we chose a simple, modern concrete bowl that will work well in any space. A container with a hole for drainage is great, but without will work just fine with careful watering. Whether you choose an upcycled container like a vintage teapot or a shiny new Trove ceramic, you can't go wrong if you love the look!
Step 2: Add Activated Charcoal
Jessie uses activated horticultural charcoal which you can find at any local nursery and adds a layer thick enough to cover the bottom of the container before soil. This step is really helpful when you're working with succulents, cacti and other desert plants because it absorbs any excess moisture in the soil and allows the roots to stay happy!
Step 3: Add Soil and Prep Your Plants!
Jessie recommends using a cactus or succulent soil mix that's light and well draining. Gently loosen the roots at the bottom of each of your plants to free them up before planting. Succulent and cactus roots are particularly fragile so you don't have to do much to get them ready go grow!
Step 4: Start Arranging!
Now it's time for the really fun part- your design! Jessie thinks about texture, height and color when she chooses plants for an arrangement. A good variety of each of these things will help to create interest and movement in your design. Use some larger plants like a striking jade or barrel cactus to add drama and balance it with some succulents in soft pastel shades. Here she chose to group the plants by height to create flow, but you really can't go wrong so get creative and have fun with it!
Step 5: Dust Off Your Greens and Add the Toppings!
Once you have your design how you like it, add a little extra soil and gently firm down around the plants before adding your toppings. Try using a soft paintbrush to dust off any dirt so your plants can shine! Jessie likes to play with different colors of sand and stones for different top dressing looks. This not only acts as a pest deterrent, but helps to keep the soil in place and adds a decorative touch. Leaving some open space gives your arrangement a little breathing room and lends itself to a zen feel.
Step 6: Enjoy Your Arrangement!
Now it's time to find the perfect place in your home for your arrangement! If you're using cacti and succulents like we have here, try a spot with as much sun as possible. These types of desert plants like lots of direct light and other than that are pretty laid back and self sufficient! Jessie recommends using a small spray bottle to water about once a month when the soil is completely dry (these guys don't like too much H2O!) and target the base of the plants to be sure the roots are watered.
Mix it up with a striking black top dressing like the one shown here for a more dramatic look or keep it light and airy with some white sand and pearlescent stones.
From hanging planters to terrariums and ceramic containers of all sizes, we have an awesome collection to complement your plants!
Stop in before you head out to the nursery and snag one of our new plant care coffee table books to learn more about your green additions!
We're so excited to give our green thumbs a little exercise creating these arrangements at next week's sold out Desertscape container workshop! For those of you who aren't joining us for the workshop you can still stop by and enjoy our Third Thursday happy hour event next Thursday, March 15th from 4-7pm! Grab a glass of wine while you shop and get some plant inspiration. You can get some helpful plant advice from Jessie and snag a container to create your own green arrangement at home!
Happy Planting!
TROVE
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