Happy Earth Month everyone! I hope everyone is remembering to be environmentally friendly and using sustainable practices. Because it is Earth Month, I thought it would be fun to start a window garden. A window garden is something that is so easy for everyone to have regardless of where they live. Having a little garden in my dorm has made my room seem more alive and welcoming. It also provides a lot of greenery and peace to my everyday living environment.
The first step in creating a window garden is researching plants that can live indoors and are easy to care for. I recommend orchids, devil’s ivy, cacti, string of pearls, or an arrowhead plant. All these plants are very low maintenance and easy to care for. They are also very good for beginner plant parents. While starting a window garden and researching what plants to get, it’s important to keep in mind how often you have to water them, how much sunlight each plant requires, and how sensitive each plant is. To make the gardening process easier, be sure to choose plants that have similar living conditions.
The next step is getting all the right supplies needed to start your garden. What you’ll need is a window box or planter, soil, gardening gloves, a hand shovel, and a watering can or spray bottle. All of these supplies can be found at Lowe’s, Home Depot, or and small gardening store.
To set up the garden itself, the first step is finding the right place to put your window garden. Depending on what plants you have, you may need to place it in direct or indirect sunlight. Once you have the right place, you need to put soil in the planter. One tip for preventing water from building up and causing root rot, you can put rocks in the bottom of the planter so the water has a place to go. After you put soil in the planter, transfer the plants into the planter. Make sure that the plants have enough between them so they have enough room to grow!
Setting up the window garden is the easy part. But, the most important thing is being able to keep the plants alive and allowing them to grow. The best way to know how to care for your plants is to ask someone who works where ever you’re getting your plants. If no one is available, simply google how to care for each your plant you get. One way to help is to write down the basic care needs of each plant on a piece of paper and set it in front of the window garden so it never gets lost. Window gardens are a great way to liven up a room and can also provide peaceful energy. Hopefully everyone gets to celebrate Earth Month by adopting a plant or two and embracing being a plant parent.