My mother used to plant jasmine at the gate because it was a welcoming plant. She also planted roses and carnations below our windows because they had an intense fragrance, and pansies at the flower beds across from the balcony because they were so lovely to watch. Every plant made sense. Our garden was an unforgettable little heaven on earth.
Having a big garden is no longer an option for me as I now live an apartment, but I can still enjoy the beauty and serenity that comes with greenery. There are so many ways you could create unique indoor garden ideas.
Space is usually the main concern, but an indoor garden doesn’t need to be more than a few pots on a window sill, or a corner in your living room. You can have a lush terrace, a greenhouse, or a courtyard if your house allows it.
Light is a major concern for indoor gardens. Look for a spot with good sunlight and preferably fresh air. But what if you want to place your plants elsewhere? That’s not a problem, there’s special simulated light for indoor plants. You just have to decide if your plant needs longer or shorter exposure time under these lights.
The soil used for indoor gardens is different from the regular garden soil, you can buy ready-made mixtures, or make your own compost at home. There’s also the option of using soilless gardening, or hydroponics, but it needs a bit of setup and has a learning curve.
Keeping your indoor environment plant-friendly is very important. This simply means adjusting the temperature and humidity suitable for the variety of species you have. This can be played by ear, by keeping the house mellow and putting a little tray of water next to your plants, or you can install a temperature controller and a real humidifier.
What would I plant in my indoor garden? I’m guessing that’s what you’re asking yourself now!
The answer is anything you like. It just has to mean something to you. So you can have shade plants, fragrant flowers, pretty flowers, herbs, or fruits and vegetables. The choice is totally yours!
And here are some indoor garden ideas.
Table of Contents
Our Favorite Indoor Garden Ideas
A modern garden
There isn’t much light in this room, so shade plants and fluorescent light are a good solution. The plants here aren’t overtaking the space, but their presence is brightening up the house, and contrasting nicely with the stone, wood, and glass surfaces.
A mini garden
Mini gardens are very pleasing to the eye. They are easy to take care of, and still count as indoor plants! The design of mini-gardens can be anything you dream of, and it’s all about the little plants and the containers you put them in. So get creative and see what you’ll come up with.
A porch garden
Here you have a bit of light and some space. A combination of potted plants and little trees would be great.
A cactus garden
Cactus is not just a plant, it’s a mood! The whole cactus garden should be designed to recreate a desert. Adding gravel and stones gives the cactus indoor garden a lively and realistic setting.
Caring for your indoor cactus garden is not so hard, it’s an easy going plant that doesn’t make huge demands on your time.
A kitchen garden
You can grow this garden from the kitchen materials, like lemon seeds, pepper seeds, lentils, beans, or you can buy seeds and plant them in these little pots. When they’re ready, you can move them to a bigger spot in your house, or out into the garden.
A balcony garden
Balconies are always the favorite spot in the house to have a little garden. Fragrant and pretty flowers work best here. You can plant the varieties that would only thrive in the bright light.
A picturesque garden
A fountain, a statue, and a little garden growing around it. This is almost too pretty! If you can add that kind of beauty to your house, by all means, do!
A Skylight garden
This garden makes very good use of the abundant light and spaciousness of the loft. It’s as close as you can get to a real garden.
A floating garden
Some plants can be submerged in water, and if you have a corner in your house that can be converted into a little pool, you can have this unique indoor garden.
An indoor vegetable garden
This setup is great. It has good lighting, and a good suspension system to help your vegetables grow. The skylights look so much better with a plant next to them.
Eco-friendly gardens
An indoor garden can be grown in practically anything. You can reuse your plastic trays and plant your favorite herbs at the same time!
The little sprouts might need to be moved into bigger pots later on, or if you have that option, you might want to move them outside in the main garden.
A vertical garden
This vertical garden is like a tapestry, but the way it looks isn’t everything, think about the fragrance, oxygen, and the cheerful ambiance it creates.
It’s planted next to a bathtub to make use of the humidity naturally available in bathrooms. This is actually one of my favorite indoor garden ideas!
The hanging pots garden
Potted plants don’t have to take up floor space. You can make use of any available space around you.
A Centerpiece garden
The open floor design could feel a bit empty unless you tie it all up with a strong design element. Here, the indoor garden does the tying up. The small trees in the ground floor have echoes on the rails of the successive floors.
The splash of green color everywhere gives a sense of freshness and vibrancy that makes the energy of the place so lively and positive. The skylights keep the garden lush, and the overall effect bright and cheerful.
Courtyard garden
This design is a classic making a comeback, we now see it even in very modern houses. That’s because an in-house courtyard provides a lovely breather, an aesthetically pleasing space, and when an indoor garden is planted, it completely transforms the house with its beauty and serenity.
A winter garden
This design is a bit unorthodox, and we hope to see it more often. The greenery and blooming flowers take away the frost the moment you step in the house.
This is an integrated environment, but you can take some of the elements and use them in a smaller space.
A Decorative garden
An indoor garden is often used as a part of the decoration. The wooden wall mounted pots are very original and will transform your wall and room instantly. You would need shade plants for this arrangement, and it would be great if you could plant something fragrant.
A botanical living room
This is an exceptional and very original indoor garden. It integrates with the wall, partition, side shelves, and spreads naturally around the corners. The color of the cushions also mirrors the green of the plants.
The smart choices are further clear in the types of plants used, they’re all very friendly and do not need high maintenance. Lovely living room!
A potted plant wall
When floor spaces are a bit tight, go for the walls! A backlighting system helps a lot, so hang your plants in front of a big window, or install a lighting system. Either way, your plants will brighten up your house.
The windowsill garden
A windowsill lends itself naturally to plants. The light, the air, and the ledge will help you set up and keep a good indoor garden all the year around.
Another benefit to them is that they look great from the street or other buildings too, not just from your house. It’s not just more beauty inside your house, but more beauty in your surroundings as well!
The succulent ornamental plants garden
This type of plant is so easy to care for and it looks absolutely gorgeous. It blooms a little less frequently than most plants, so it’s always a happy event when its flowers come out!
A mini succulent cactus garden
Cactus indoor gardens are easy to maintain and lovely to design. There are also so many types to choose from. The container you use for your little garden will also contribute a lot to the mood you’re creating.
The miniature terrarium garden
We mentioned before that you could fit your indoor garden into the smallest space, and this one demonstrates exactly what we meant by that!
Creativity abounds here. The good news is, it wouldn’t cost you that much, it’s pretty much reusing old stuff. You just help a plant grow, and it makes this formerly empty spot much more interesting and vibrant.
A pipeline garden
Indoor gardens can grow on any support. Here we see it growing on an old pipeline. You don’t have to pay an arm and a leg for a good garden.
A Sprouts garden
Seedlings grow in amazing colors, growing a herb or a kitchen garden isn’t just useful, it’s actually very pretty and decorative.
What you need is a few seeds, a damp medium for the seeds to grow on, and any old container you can reuse as a pot, and voila! Your colorful little garden!
The artistic composition garden
This simple arrangement looks much more sophisticated than it actually is. Take another look, it’s easy to construct, but with a wow effect.
The plants surrounding this water structure are all shade plants that will benefit a lot from the humid biome.
This will only take a small space in a corner of your house, it’s best if the floor is granite, vinyl, or any other material that wouldn’t suffer from the occasional drop of water.
An herb garden
Herbs are considered part of the kitchen garden, and most of them are resilient and easy to grow and maintain. It’s nice to be able to just pick a sage or rosemary branch and just toss in your roast, or maybe mix some mint with your cold lemonade.
They smell absolutely lovely too. You can have all this with a few pots placed on a table or a window sill.
To Wrap it All Up
Indoor gardens are amazing additions to our homes. The seasons leave their marks on some of the plants, while others don’t seem to mind these changes at all.
There are plants that love the shade, and others that can’t survive without bright light. Some have fragrance, others have color, and all of them will brighten up your apartment.
Gardening is a sweet pastime and a very entertaining hobby. The more you read and experiment, the more success you will have with your plants.
And you don’t need a huge backyard to plant and prune, indoor gardens will let you do all that, even the tiny miniature ones!
