So you’ve built a greenhouse, and now you need to fill it. Let your creativity shine and find vintage pieces to upcycle, decorate, and fill your greenhouse interiors. You want to love it just as much as your plants, so have fun with colours and knickknacks, add a space for you to relax, and select plants that will not only thrive in the environment, but also make it look pretty.
We’ve got lots of inspiration for you, from treasures to look out for at garage sales to plants you must have.
1. Upcycled shelving
Turn your old wooden stepladder that wobbles too much into a shelving system for unused pots. It has beautiful symmetry and its weathered appearance adds character.
2. Somewhere to relax
A built-in bench seat on the outside wall of your shed is the perfect place to take a gardening break. For an instant vertical garden, attach climbing screens to support posts with hinges on the outside and locking latches on the inside, then hang pots of mistletoe cactus (rhipsalis sp.) from the wire.
3. Plants and knickknacks
A Swiss cheese plant (Monstera deliciosa) and a Boston fern (Nephrolepsis exaltata) are decorative, especially when placed alongside other pieces that add depth, storage, and character to small corners.
4. Hanging plants
You can hang plants on both sides of the climbing screens, those that want shade on the inside and sun-lovers on the outside.
5. Basin garden
Don’t throw out old hand basins when renovating your bathroom. It comes with an ideal-sized drainage hole, plus a sink makes a snug home for succulents.
6. Smell sensation
Take in the wonderful aromas of true cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum). It’s versatility in colour will add dimension and beauty when paired with darker plants.
7. Evergreens
Coral bells (Heuchera sp.) are a great option to include in your greenhouse with their frilly, vein-like leaves.
8. Tropicals
Dumb canes (Dieffenbachia sp.) are a tropical flowering plant which means they love highly humid conditions and grow in both light and shade. Perfect for the greenhouse!
9. Evergreens
You can get Chinese evergreen (Aglaonema sp.) in green, yellow, red or mixes of colours.
How do you plan the interior of a greenhouse?
To plan the interior of a greenhouse, first, you must decide if you want to follow the ‘universal layout’, or if you want to make it unique to you. There are no rules, it’s personal preference and depends on the size and shape of your greenhouse. Typically, there’s one row of benches along each of the longer walls, followed by a third row of plants in the centre if there’s enough space. A greenhouse bench is just a table where you place all your gorgeous plants.
How to organise a greenhouse?
There are a variety of ways to organise inside a greenhouse. Zoning is important, we find it’s best to have a separate section for vegetables and flowers. Have clever shelving, for example, the ladder shelving we have is a statement piece which adds character to the greenhouse while also offering spots for knickknacks and extra decorative plants. Having a potting bench will be helpful to work at, storage for hand tools and hooks to hang plants. The goal is to make it look beautiful, while also being practical to move around and work in.
