Gardening expert shares ‘the trick’ to caring for house plants for National Gardening Week

This Morning: Carol Klein offers advice on gardening in spring

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In time for National Garden Week, the founder of plant subscription box Lazy Flora, Claire Ranson, spoke exclusively with Express.co.uk about caring for house plants. The subscription box offers a variety of outdoor plants, indoor plants and edible plants to individuals who perhaps don’t have access to a garden centre. House plants have surged in popularity over the past year as more people spent time indoors.

But what is the “trick” to caring for a house plant?

Claire told Express.co.uk that it’s simply about trying to recreate a plant’s natural environment.

She said: “The trick with house plants is trying to recreate their natural environment as far much you can.

“So knowing a little bit about the plant that you have in your home and where it comes from and it’s natural habitat can be really useful.

“If you’re trying to grow a snake plant or one of those that is hardy, un-killable and don’t require very much water, you need to think about where they’re coming from and where they’re naturally growing, and replicate those conditions.

“I’m a really big fan of hibiscus and I grow it indoors.

“They grow amazingly in places like Hawaii but also the Mediterranean.

“For each plant that I have, I research where it originally comes from and I try really hard to re-create those conditions.

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“So coming into summer, those plants are absolutely loving that increased light level.”

Claire said the increased temperature and light means they’re also using up a lot more energy and water compared to the winter months.

The gardening expert added: “It’s just really being aware of how the plant looks, how it’s growing, how quickly it’s growing and how you replicate the natural conditions that you would find if it is growing on a mountain side in Hawaii or in a desert.

“That’s the best advice that I can give – learn a little bit about where the plant has come from and what is going to make it really happy so it believes it’s in its natural environment.”

Claire said the reason she started Lazy Flora is because she moved to a property with a balcony and dreamed of filling it with plants.

However, living in an inner city area she said she found this “impossible” because she didn’t know which plants to get and she couldn’t get to a garden centre as she didn’t have a car.

To get around this, she ended up having to take trips on the bus with bags of compost and fragile plants.

Years later, she still couldn’t shake the idea so decided to set up Lazy Flora.

Lazy Flora offers indoor, outdoor and edible plant subscriptions and one-off purchases for keen gardeners who want plants delivered to their door.

Every plant Lazy Flora offers has a plant care guide which describes what conditions your plant will thrive best in.

Even those who have a reputation for killing plants can find out how often their plants need watering, what humidity they prefer and when they flower.

National Gardening Week is taking place from April 26 to May 2.

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