In this frosty time, when the cold winter outside has turned our beautiful courtyards into boring landscapes in black and white and when the cold just gives us an additional reason to dream of the pleasant hours in the garden, now everything looks green along with a few colorful flowers look even more attractive. In this cold season, a cup of fragrant coffee among tropical plants is really refreshing and can immediately chase away our cloudy thoughts. It is not known exactly who first came up with the idea of creating a cozy home for the colorful flowers from the most distant parts of the world. But this person created a new milestone in the history of gardening. A winter garden offers almost unlimited possibilities for growing exotic plants and finds endless horizons before the imagination and enthusiasm of flower lovers. Today we will give you some care tips for themPlants in the winter gardenas well as various examples of how you can design a winter garden.
The functions of a winter garden are different from those of the greenhouse, where one strives to maintain optimal conditions for plant growth. The winter garden is essentially a part of the house and residents and flowers should feel most comfortable there.
Plants in the winter garden – like at home
One of the most important advantages of theWintergartensis the microclimate in the room; it offers plants natural conditions for their growth. So, in a winter garden you can grow an extremely large number of plant species, including exotic and capricious ones, which would actually be too problematic in an ordinary room during the cold season. In fact, the choice of vegetation types is almost unlimited. However, it is better to select the plants or at least arrange them according to their climatic and environmental needs. Traditional inhabitants of winter gardens are tropical and subtropical desert plants. The tropical plant species prefer humid and warm climates, and some of them grow very well at dusk.
Subtropical plant species, on the other hand, require strong light and they grow well when the temperature is regularly reduced to 5 degrees. Desert plants need a lot of heat and light and very little moisture. If theWinter gardenIf it is large enough, you can create some areas for the systems in each climate zone. However, if your winter garden is quite small, it is better that you simply choose your favorite plants and create the most favorable conditions for them.
Plants in the winter garden – ensure the necessary light
One of the most valuable features of the winter garden is a good luminous flux. As a rule, such a room has a much larger surface area with windows than normal rooms have. If you could possibly choose where your winter garden should face, never choose north. This is an unfavorable direction for the successful growth of your businessPlants in the winter gardenwould restrict.
Light is an important factor for the well-being of peoplePlants in the winter garden. Therefore, solar control glass is not suitable for this room. Even if you personally don't like the strong sunlight, do not try to hang blinds, especially in winter, because without enough sunlight your favorite plants may lose their decorative appearance and some may even die. You will probably also be using the winter garden in summer, so the blinds and shades can be very useful for your plants indoors during the warm days when the sun is strong outside and the temperature behind the glass is constantly rising. Another way to avoid overheating in the room is to ensure good ventilation. As a rule, you have to plan for enough area with opening windows; they should take up at least 1/6 of the total glass area. And of course, don't forget to open them in hot weather!
Even in a bright winter garden there are darkened areas. You can place the shade-loving plants there. The needs of each type of plant are different and you need to inquire about them as soon as possible after purchasing your plant or flower. But if we can generalize, we would be referring to a well-known rule, namely that the denser and darker green the leaves of the plant, the easier it is to grow in shady places.
The winter garden is cozy for people and comfortable for plants
Two other factors without which the winter garden would lose its importance are temperature and humidity. Determining the appropriate values depends on the type of plants you want to grow. In general, it is believed that the average temperature in the winter garden should be around 20-25 ° and the relative humidity – 60-70%. This means a healthy environment for plants and pleasant surroundings for people.
It is recommended that the individualPlants in the winter gardenPlanted in separate pots and cared for. This allows us to monitor their individual soil and irrigation needs. Another big advantage is the container with flowers, so you can easily move them and with little effort you can create a completely new design.
The layout of the winter garden should be carefully thought out and based on the space possibilities. Large pots of plants can remain on the ground, but the impact of the smaller inhabitants will certainly be lost if they are not placed on flower stands or shelves. The climbing plants hanging on the walls and ceiling not only save space, but they also give you the feeling of a real tropical paradise.
Beautiful and practical
You can decorate your winter garden with various decorative elements, those that we use in the garden, but in an appropriate mini format. Figures, fountains, mini ponds, a small rock garden, lighting and thermometers – all of this fits in quite well with the interior. In the winter garden you can have some of your own favorites like fish or turtles in an aquarium or place a cage with parrots in a corner. There are really numerous possibilities for designing this recreational area. For example, you can use wicker furniture to turn the winter garden into the most comfortable resting place for you. A wooden table with a few chairs would also fit perfectly in this interior, or such a plastic garden set, it has the advantage of being cheap and easy to maintain.
The best version for a winter garden is definitely a sufficiently large room specially built for this purpose, the walls of which usually consist of windows and which are provided with sufficient heating, humidity and air circulation. Unfortunately, not all flower lovers can afford something like this. From this discrepancy between strong desire and weak financial capabilities, some interesting, spectacular and easily accessible versions of the winter garden were created, which can be done in almost any home.
On the balcony
In most apartments, the glazed balcony is used as a winter garden. Typically this isn't a large space, but with good will it can accommodate a lot of flowers. Window sills, shelves and hanging pots help you put your favorites together. This way you really create a little green paradise within your urban apartment. In most cases, the balconies are too narrow and you cannot place a comfortable chair or small table there. Unfortunately, you won't have the pleasure of enjoying your own creation. That is why many people decide to remove the barrier between the balcony and the interior. We can neither affirm nor deny this; it is entirely individual and depends on various factors. First you have to consider whether you are not endangering the building structure. Such a decision would violate the microclimate and have a negative impact on humidity. But from another point of view, you will not need separate heating for your mini winter garden and of course you will have the opportunity to spend more time among your favorite flowers and plants.
When there is not enough space
To create a cozy home for your winter flowers, you can actually do it in any room that is bright enough and as long as it has the necessaryHeating and humidityoffers. The living room, kitchen and bedroom are best suited for this. But if you want to have some irresistible exotic plants at home, you can convert a large aquarium into a small tropical garden with a little effort. There you could also create a small unusual piece of desert landscape to house your cactus collection. No matter what you decide exactly, we just hope that our ideas helped you and gave you some good tips? Is it true, yes?
