Anders Røyneberg - Green Home: The joy of living with plants

Contents

People have always been interested in plants, and there are botanical gardens all over the world. The Botanical Garden in Oslo is my favourite.

TO MUM AND DAD, THE NURSE AND THE FARMER WHO TAUGHT ME A LOVE OF PEOPLE AND NATURE

Whats so great about having so many plants?

Thats the question Im often asked on Instagram, where I go under the name @arcticgardener.

It may seem a bit crazy having 100 houseplants in a small apartment I can see that. But I do have a philosophy underlying this green extravagance. Plants are good for me in more ways than one: Im inspired by their beauty, happy that they produce oxygen and purify the air around me and they make me feel calmer. Research shows that plants can improve mental well-being.

Isnt it horribly complicated?

No, it doesnt have to be even though we Norwegians live in the frigid north, and even though all of us (including me!) have a number of plant deaths on our conscience. Over time Ive learned one or two things about caring for plants that Id like to share with you. You dont have to go out and get 100 plants, but surely you can manage one, maybe two or even more?

A few years ago, when I started posting images of my green apartment on Instagram, the response was overwhelming. Why was that? I believe the main reason is that we humans depend on plants for our well-being. Im also aware that a lot of plant people are keen on caring for the planet. Thats why I describe myself as pro-plant and pro-planet theres a connection there.

My hope is that this book will inspire you to become a plant enthusiast. You might be interested in houseplants because theyre beautiful and they can brighten up an interior; perhaps youre more interested in the health benefits or like me, youre interested in both aspects.

Whatever your motivation, I have a number of tips and some advice that I would like to share: what plants you should choose, how to look after them, how they can bring something to an interior and what health benefits youll enjoy. My aim is to help you to like plants even more. So, I hope you have a plant-astic read!

If you like plants, I would like to start by saying congratulations, youre clearly not a troublemaker! Plant people are peaceful people, and just the fact that youre leafing through this book is a good sign. Plant people are not into hassle and strife. Wed rather have peace and quiet where we look after our plants.

A green, global force

Plant people all over the world have something in common: love of, and respect for, plants. Theres a global force at work, and were growing in number people who think that plants arent just decorative, but are a vital part of our lives. The green wave is washing over the globe. You might think I sound nave, and possibly thats true. Im no extremist I eat meat now and again and I take flights but at the same time I have a firm belief that plants, whether theyre growing in the home or in the Amazon, will be one of the most important things that we need to look after in the years to come. With their ability to produce oxygen, plants breathe life itself!

Maybe youve heard about the green shift? People all over the world are craving a closer connection to nature, living more in and with the green world and the growing number of houseplant owners is symbolic of this longing. For a long time, many of us have become increasingly divorced from the natural world, but now were taking it back and into our homes. My hope then is that more and more people will be inspired to turn their living spaces into green oases.

We humans feel better when were living close to nature. I call it the power of chlorophyll, the very reason why we are now seeing more people filling their homes with plants. Houseplants make us healthier, calmer and more balanced. Alternative? No. Scientific? Yes.

Young people want to live greener lives. They respond proactively to news about the risks of plastic in the sea, pesticides on food, polluted air and global warming. Houseplants have played an important role in this awakening: for example, more and more school children are now learning to sow, tend and harvest indoor greens. In a few years, we will have raised a committed army of green soldiers eager to spread the green evangelism, and the thought makes my green heart glad.

#jegelskerplanter [#iloveplants]

and thats why I have 100 of them in my tiny Oslo apartment. Ive got banana plants, citrus plants, olive trees, ferns, tropical plants, succulents and much, much more. Some of my friends think I have a problem, that my passion for plants has gone a bit too far but I tell them there are worse things. I still think Ive got it under control. For some time, Ive been working at giving plants away. Its tough, but Im getting there. Plants are addictive you are hereby warned!

My interest in plants started when I was just a child. I grew up on a farm, surrounded by countryside, with my mum and dad and five sisters were a big family. Im proud of my sisters. Theyre all strong, independent Nordic women who arent afraid of getting stuck in. A lot of people assume that as the only boy in this female environment I must have been spoiled rotten, but I wasnt. Id actually say that it toughened me up. Mum and dad taught us the importance of social equality, that all people are of equal value. We had a good and fair upbringing that was also close to nature, and memories of playing in green meadows still make me feel sentimental.

When I moved to Oslo, it left a void. I loved the life and bustle of the capital and its opportunities, but there was still something missing. Before long I started to fill my home with more and more plants. There was a need to recreate what I had left behind a connection to my own childhood. I could have just moved back, but instead I chose to bring the natural world into my city apartment. I found the greener I made my space, the more my restlessness abated.

Essential for success: go for robust plants that suit the light conditions in your home. Why? Light is important for plants to grow and to flourish.

Lets get straight to the point. My main rule for success is to go for robust plants, and fortunately there are quite a few to choose from. The second most important consideration is, as a general rule, to select plants that can survive what I call the three months of death: November, December and January. In Norway, this is the season when we have very short days and natural light is a scarce commodity, and as a result a lot of houseplants die. Even the UK, which is slightly further south, has only just over seven hours of daylight on the shortest day. So how can you get your plants to survive, and even thrive, all year round?