Indoor Garden of Eden: Mastering the Art of Hanging Planters

If you’re yearning to create your own private Babylon indoors, hanging planters are all you need. They can even provide modern, industrial spaces with a touch of old-fashioned tranquility. The British gardening expert Alan Titchmarsh told the Daily Mail that hanging baskets of plants can also give us a “spiritual uplift, which makes us all feel a lot better.”

You may opt for beginning with a lush, trailing ivy or a busy Boston Fern for a corner ceiling in your living room or above a reading chair in your bedroom. Then you might consider hanging a line of ferns over a long table or hallway. Another idea is hanging a series of small planters with herbs like basil, parsley, oregano, thyme and mint for an indoor herb garden in your kitchen or dining area.

Planters provide beauty

Ferns, which are perhaps the most popular hanging planters, are happiest close to a window where they receive lots of light, though they should not get direct sunlight. The bathroom is a great place for house plants thanks to the humidity and warmth they provide. If your bathroom has low-lighting opt for a philodendron or spider plant. Ivy can grow in shadier places as well. If you are lucky to have a bright and sunny bathroom, try some lush tropical plants.

How you hang them, and at what lengths, is up to you. Whether you’re drawn to a 70’s macramé hanging planter with a cord basket or metallic planters for more a more mod look, IKEA has terrific vertical garden and hanging plant ideas to work with. Perhaps the trickiest part about keeping your indoor hanging jungle verdant is knowing how to water them correctly.

Caring for hanging planters

The last thing you want to do is ruin your hardwood floors or white shag rug with constant water and soil spills. In comparison to plants kept near ground level, your hanging plants will also need a little more water since hot air rises and tends to be drier at higher levels. The best option for indoor water drainage systems are a pot within a pot system or an attached tray system. 

The pot within a pot has an easy set-up and allows you to easily take out your hanging plants. The outer basket is completely sealed and has chains or a rope fastened directly to it for hanging. Just place a potted plant inside and you’ve got yourself a hanging garden. Aside from its weight, the major disadvantage here is the difficulty in reaching over the outside of the pot while watering. If you chose to go with a very large, heavy basket, attach it to a pulley system that allows the entire basket to be lowered for watering. If this seems easier said than done, whip out a step-ladder and watering can with a long neck instead.  

A couple of modifications

Then there’s the lighter and more economical attached tray system for hanging plants. Most plant stores will sell you a plastic basket that comes with an attached drip trap, along with wire or rope attached to the basket itself. The drawback with this system is that small drip trays allow for very little room for overwatering. Add a little too much water and you end up with muddy water on your furniture or floors. With these precautions in mind, you’re now ready for your own Garden of Eden, away from the roar of traffic and the haze of exhaust fumes right outside your cozy window.

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