Interior Plant Design

Sunlight is one of the most important components for the survival of your interior plants. Each plant may have different light needs and it is important to pay attention to this when selecting specific plants for specific areas. For example, a more “low light” plant may work well in a small container nudged on a book shelf; while a more “high light” need plant may need to be placed directly in front of a window or on the window sill.

When designing the placement of your interior plants, it is important to define the direction which your windows face to analyze how much sunlight they will be able to receive. Here is a general summary:

North Facing: this direction provides the lowest light. Place plants up close to the window – small sill plants work great here.

South Facing: this direction provides the most sunlight. Plants can be placed just about anywhere in the room with South facing windows and they should receive adequate lighting.

East Facing: this direction receives a far amount of light, but it doesn’t last long. If windows are East facing, it’s important to still place plants within 10’ of the window.

West Facing: this direction also has short lived sunlight, but it is often a warm sunlight. It’s important to keep an eye on plants here as you may need to pull down the curtain during the middle of the day.

Too Much Sun for Interior Plants?

So what about too much sun? It is possible! It’s important to keep an eye on your plants. If the leaves appear to be burning or overwhelmed by the sunlight, moving them even just a foot away can make a big difference.

No sun? A room with no windows – such an unfortunate thing! If this is your case, you can still have interior plants, just make sure they are “low light” and give them a break by placing them in the sun a week or two per month. Also, you can use plants such as air plants or certain moss green walls that can go without sun! Air plants get much of their nutrients from the air.