Practical Advice: Pam Hubbard

Nurture a healing indoor garden with Pam Hubbard’s tips.

Photo of Pam Hubbard and pink flowers

Your Inner Gardener
If you’re an active gardener, go for plants that need regular care, like a windowsill herb garden. Otherwise, easy-to-grow, stress-reducing plants such as Chinese evergreen and dracaena corn plant will do.
 

Hale and Hearty
Choose durable plants with healing properties in different sizes and with different textures. I recommend aloe vera, spider plants, snake plants, and heart-leaf philodendrons.
 

Light and Location
Place sun worshippers like aloes on south-facing windowsills, and plants that need less light like begonias on east- and west-facing windowsills. If plants become spindly, they need more light.
 

As you Like It
Create a mini jungle for the overcrowded effect, or space plants out if you prefer order. For small spaces, buy a tiered stand and arrange according to height and light requirements.
 

Water, in Moderation
A cheap moisture meter will help prevent overwatering, which can kill the healthiest houseplants.  —SI

 

Pam Hubbard is a Monroe County, Pa.-based Master Gardener Emerita.