Best indoor plants: Our favourite house plants and indoor foliage for your home
Whatever the season, a well-chosen house plant will immediately brighten up your living space
House plants are all the rage right now, and for good reason. The best indoor plants aren’t just a savvy home design choice, they’re also a small slice of nature that can potentially benefit your wellbeing. Hanging plants can make amazing room dividers, succulents are extremely hard to kill, and a well-placed plant can immediately brighten up a previously drab area or rented home. No matter what size room, light distribution or space you’re dealing with, there’s a perfect house plant for you.
All this said, it’s true that fake plants and flowers sales are also rising, as they suit those with smaller living spaces and less natural light, or even busy people who don’t have time to take care of real plants as well as they would like. Put simply, high-quality fake alternatives take the pressure off, allowing everyone to experiment with their decor.
We’ve collected some of the best indoor plants, best fake plants and plant accessories to add to your indoor garden. Below you’ll find our guide to buying the perfect indoor house plant for you, no matter if you’re a newbie or a seasoned plant-haver. If you already know what sort of thing you’re after, our exclusive roundup of the best indoor plants and best house plant accessories is just a scroll away.
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How to choose the best indoor plant for you
What are some of the benefits of plants I can look out for?
The first thing we think about when indoor plants come to mind is how they look – but they’re far from useless accessories. For example, house plants can improve your wellbeing, provide you with a new hobby and generally improve your living space. They’re also said to reduce the amount of dust in the air, as well as increasing humidity levels. Fake plants obviously don’t have all of these benefits, but they’ll still improve a room’s appearance.
Won’t people be able to tell a fake plant from a real one?
There’s no question that fake plants have developed a bad reputation, purely on the basis of the limp, obvious examples of decades past. Although things have improved considerably, and fake house plants are now a lot more common than you might think, it’s still true that the more you spend, the better your pretend plant will look. Budget options are only really viable when you’re going to be looking at the results from a distance.
The best house plants to buy in 2021
1. The Little Botanical Green Plant Gang: Best indoor house plant set for beginners
Price: £60 | Buy now from John Lewis
Online company The Little Botanical sells a variety of houseplants, from succulents and cacti to ‘living walls’. This cute trio of plants includes a Monstera, a Calathea, and a Miranda succulent, as well as some stylish ceramic pots to put them in – perfect to kickstart your budding plant collection (pun not intended).
The Monstera and the Calathea need watering once a week, while the succulent needs watering every three to four weeks, so they’re ideal for a beginner looking for some reasonably low maintenance houseplants to care for.
If you’re a fan of the Green Plant Gang, check out some of The Little Botanical’s other sets, such as the Jungle Plant Gang and the Succulent Plant Gang.
2. Terracotta Herbs Kit: Best tasting indoor plant set
Price: £35 | Buy now from Not on the High Street
While we won’t condone tasting your other indoor plants (they can be toxic), these ones will both add greenery to your home and come in handy in the kitchen. This sustainable set contains the seeds for 6 different herbs; basil, parsley, coriander, oregano, chives and peppermint, which can cost a lot to buy fresh regularly from the supermarket. Everything you need to grow them from home is included, as well as three terracotta planters that have great drainage and look lovely on your windowsill. It’s hassle free and eco-friendly, so why not give it a try?
3. Evergreen Indoor Plant Set: Best indoor evergreen plants
Price: £14 | Buy now from Amazon
If you’re a total beginner and struggling to choose the best plants for your environment, then why not get a selection of medium-sized greenery like these, which are sold as a random set of ‘Scandi-themed’ foliage? All of the house plants in the range are designed to be kept indoors and are easy to look after. So, it’s the perfect starter kit for the aspiring plant parent.
4. The Little Botanical Extra Large Lemon & Lime Dracaena Plant & Basket: Best big plant for beginners
Price: £150 | Buy now from John Lewis
If you’ve already started collecting houseplants and you’re looking for something bigger, then this is the best plant to go for. Oftentimes the bigger the plant, the more difficult it is to care for, but this elegant Dracaena with its long trunk and variegated leaves is pretty easy to keep alive. If you water it every ten days once the soil is dry, pop it in a spot away from direct sunlight, and give it an occasional misting, this plant will thrive. While it is on the pricier side, this is a fool-proof plant to invest in if you’ve got an empty corner to fill with foliage.
5. Ginseng Bonsai: Best indoor bonsai
Price: £38 | Buy now from Bloom and Wild
Despite their small and unassuming size, Bonsais can be deceptively tricky to look after. To make things a little easier, Bloom and Wild sends them out with a handy care guide, designed to make cultivating your own Bonsai tree a more manageable pursuit.
If well looked after, Bonsais can live for an extraordinarily long time (with some reaching up to 800 years old), so the extra effort is well worth investing the time in. The Bonsai itself sits at roughly 15cm tall, in a ceramic pot that measures 15 x 13cm, so you shouldn’t have any trouble finding the perfect place to display this little beauty.
6. Aloe Vera Plant: Best affordable aloe vera plant
Price: £13 | Buy now from Amazon
The Aloe Vera plant is the rockstar of the succulent world. It’s evergreen, super easy to grow, and has health benefits you don’t have to pay extra for at the pharmacy. Most of us have heard about the soothing power of the gel contained within the plant’s leaves – which is particularly good for sunburn – and where better to access this than from the source itself? Pop one on your desk and reap the rewards.
7. Ikea FEJKA Artificial Potted Monstera: Best artificial indoor plant
Price: £40 | Buy now from Ikea
Monsteras (popularly known as Swiss Cheese Plants) are very in-vogue at the moment, so if you’re desperate to hop on the trend and get one for your home, without taking on the commitment of looking after a real living houseplant, then this potted Monstera from Ikea is a nice artificial alternative.
The leaves on a Monstera have a natural waxy texture to them so, compared to some other artificial plants, you needn’t worry too much about it looking fake: In fact, many positive customer reviews have reported back on its realistic quality.
Ikea’s FEJKA range is vast and includes succulents, orchids and hanging plants. So, if you decide to build a collection of artificial houseplants, there are plenty to choose from.
The best indoor planters and accessories
1. Bloomingvillie bubble plant pot: A elegant ceramic plant pot
Price: £22 | Buy now from Amazon
Available in a number of chic pastel colours, this bubble-shaped planter is sure to be a stand-out addition to your current collection. It’s an incredibly robust pot, with the added benefit of small non-slip feet on the bottom. So not only will your plants be protected from any adventurous pets, but surfaces will be free from dinks and scrapes too.
At 15cm wide with an inside diameter of 14.5cm, this pot is big enough to accommodate a range of succulents and smaller plants, without taking up too much space in your home. The only downside we found was that there were no drainage holes at the bottom, so this is best suited to plants that need little water.
2. Baoyouni 5-Layer Plant Stand
Price: £45 | Buy now from Amazon
An ingenious solution for anyone with space problems, this five-layer stand instantly creates a makeshift garden in your house. The stainless-steel tension-rod design stays put as you add your various pots and foliage, and it’s rust-proof so you don’t have to remove your plants for watering. Five trays and one hanger are included with the pole, but you can be as creative as you like. String some ivy around it, as seen on the product image, or mix and match fake and real plants.
3. La Jolíe Muse Plant Pot: Best modern plant pot set
Price: £30 | Buy now from Amazon
When only super slick and modern will do, these white, gold and slate grey plant pots by La Jolie are a must-have. They’re a fantastic price for what you get; for similar designs elsewhere, you can expect to pay up to double the price.
The round pot measures 16.5cm in diameter and 15cm in height, while the octagonal planter is 13.5cm x 12.8cm. Both come with drainage holes, making them perfect for a range of foliage including succulents, herbs, spider plants and more. If you want something stylish, modern and practical without the big price tag, these are ideal.
4. Mkouo Macrame Plant Hangers: Best hanging planters
Price: £15 | Buy now from Amazon
Another space-saver, and a quick and easy way to make any room appear more homely and green, these hanging planters can be attached to a ceiling or ledge to instantly brighten up your space. To make the most of them, you can choose plants that will attractively hang down as they grow, such as ivy or an asparagus fern, and place them in front of large windows or above a workspace.
