Home truths: Houseplants

Maybe it's our love for all things Scandi that kickstarted the houseplant revival. The Danes and Swedes have always appreciated the power of plants in the home, whereas we lost sight of it in the 80s when too many parched spider plants expired on windowsills. Or perhaps it’s because we now spend between 80–90% of our time indoors, and hanker for a link to nature, however slender.

Whatever the reason, a potted plant does us good both mentally and physically, and is a cheap way of enlivening a room. Try one of these five lovely house plants:

1. ALOE VERA (Barbados aloe): a very undemanding desert plant, above, with sharp spiky leaves and tubular flowers. Can withstand both direct sunlight and damp and humid conditions. 

2. CHINESE MONEY PLANT (Pilea peperomiodes): can be tricky to find but worth the search. Its lily-pad shaped leaves on long stems have a white spot in their centre. 

3. MONEY PLANT (Crassula ovata): a bringer of fortune. It needs little attention but is happiest in direct light.

4. PURPLELEAF FALSE SHAMROCK (Oxalis triangularis subsp. papilionacea): each stem has three butterfly-shaped leaves that fold up at night. Pretty pink flowers in spring.

5. STRING OF BEADS (Senecio rowleyanus): trails prettily from a hanging planter. It looks delicate but is hardy and requires infrequent watering.

Turn to page 118 of April's The Simple Things for more on the wonderful world of houseplants, including planters, displaying your plants, terrariums, airplants and house plant accessories.

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Spring cleansing

Use the seasonal urge to clean as an opportunity to try living with a little less. Here’s why...

• Empty space draws natural light into a room and makes the objects you do have come to life. 
• Big isn’t always better. For example, a more compact fridge means less food waste and a more spacious kitchen. 
• You’ll save time tidying, cleaning and looking for things simply by having less stuff. 
• It’s more wasteful to hold onto things that you don’t use than it is to get rid of them. 
• Throwing things overboard is the best way to stay afloat. 
• If it's your wardrobe that needs simplifying, see our feature on page 114 of March’s The Simple Things.  

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Nest: Fritillaries

Of all the spring-flowering bulbs, the snake’s head fritillary must be the prettiest. Its chequered, bell-shaped flowers are often compared to an Art Nouveau Tiffany lampshade, and you can see why, especially as the yellow stamens resemble filaments.

Seek cut blooms in florists or, if you are especially fortunate, in a damp grassy bit of your very own garden. Cut near the base of the stem and enjoy its delicate, patterned petals and slender leaves – surely the embodiment of fresh spring days. 

Go and see them:

One of the most famous meadows is at Magdalen College, Oxford, where fritillaries have been growing since about 1785.

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Weekend project: Brioche tin candles

On a gloomy January day, why not take a bit of comfort from the relaxing glow of a candle? 

These projects offer bright ideas for refashioning bits you may well already have about into candleholders – then strategically place around the home, for instant cheer. We even tell you how to make – and scent – the candles themselves.

A quick word about wax. These projects use soy, which is made from vegetable oil (paraffin candles use petroleum oil). Soy candles have a longer burn time and less black soot than a paraffin equivalent. Using soy also means you can add essential oils to scent them – try vanilla oil for the hint of freshly baked brioches, or mosquito-repelling citronella oil to conjure balmy summer nights (remember those?). To get even fancier, you can buy colour wax flakes or add dyes. For wicks and wax, try Hobbycraft (hobbycraft.co.uk).

Brioche tin candles

Turn your old tins into something as sweet as the bread itself

Makes three candles
You will need:
3 x 10cm pre-waxed wick assembly
3 small brioche tins or metal jelly moulds, roughly 150ml capacity
Glue dots or glue gun
6 wick-supporting sticks (or wooden cooking skewers cut in half)
750g flaked soy wax – about 225g (or roughly twice the volume of your tin) for each candle
6 small elastic bands
Small pan or metal mixing bowl
Large saucepan
Old spoon
Scissors

1 Fix the wick assembly to the centre of the bottom of your tins by using a glue dot or a dab of hot glue from a glue gun. 
2 Take the supporting sticks or skewers in pairs and bind them together by wrapping a small elastic band around them at either end. Use the skewers to hold the wicks vertically by resting them across the rim of each tin, the wicks pinched firmly between the skewers. 
3 Put the wax in a small pan or bowl and set the bowl in a pan of water on the hob over a medium heat. Add about three drops of fragrance oil (if using) to the wax. When melted, the wax will appear completely clear. Use your spoon to stir the oil into the wax.
4 Pour a small amount of the liquid wax 5 into the bottom of your prepared tins to just cover the metal wick assembly in each one. Leave to harden for about ten minutes. This is to make sure that the wicks stay in place for the main pour in the following step.
5 Return the pan to the hob to ensure the wax is fully melted, then pour it into your tins to within about 6mm of the top edges and leave to cool and harden fully. If the wax dries with a small dip around the wick, top it up with more melted wax and thinly cover the surface of the candle evenly.
6 Using scissors, trim the wicks to about 12mm from the top surface of the wax. Leave your candles for at least 24 hours before lighting.

Adapted from Take a Tin by Jemima Schlee (GMC, available from thegmcgroup.com)

Turn to page 113 of January’s The Simple Things for two more candle projects: gold painted hurricanes and a candle in a jar. 

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Home truths: Things to help you sleep

This month in our series on what really goes on in a home, we curl up under the duvet and have a good night’s sleep

Insomnia is a mean and unhelpful thing. Anyone who has woken up at 4am, eyes wide and mind racing, knows how hard it is to get back to sleep. It can also be hard to get to sleep in the first place. There are, however, things that can ease your passage into the Land of Nod.

• Essential oils: lavender, chamomile and marjoram are known to aid relaxation and help you sleep. Add a few drops to a warm bath before bed or sprinkle some on your pillow.
• Music: small children know the restful power of the lullaby. Adults can do similar by rocking themselves to sleep with soothing tunes or with the sounds of nature. (Try the British Library’s free recordings, including gentle lapping waves, at sounds.bl.uk.)
• A good book: reading (or listening to an audiobook) until you slump into slumber is one of the best ways to get to sleep. May also produce dreams.
• The right curtains: your bedroom needs minimum light for maximum sleep. Lining your curtains with black-out fabric (137cm wide, £7.50 per metre, John Lewis) helps.
• An electric blanket: wrap-around toastiness guaranteed when you slip between the covers on chilly nights.

Turn to page 118 of November’s The Simple Things for more sleep ideas and home truths.

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Weekend project: Woven wall hanging

Weave your way to create unique home accessories

As with macramé, weaving is a skill that’s being hauled out of the 1970s and back into your home. And, also like macramé, it’s a pleasing way of adding homespun cosiness to your space. The techniques are as simple as they were back then, although the colour palette and styling may have shifted. The materials are easy to come by, too. You will need a loom though – follow the instructions below to make your own, or try eBay and Amazon for beginners’ lap looms. 

To make this wall hanging, you will need:

A simple lap loom
Various shades and thicknesses of wool
Doweling
String
Scissors
Wool shuttle or embroidery needle

1 Using the string, tie a knot around the top of the loom. Making sure it’s tight, start to warp up your loom. To do this you will need to feed the string up and down, looping around the notches on either end of the loom. Make sure your tension is tight as this will be the base of your weave.

2 To create tassels for your weave, cut your wool to a length of roughly 20cm. You will need to cut quite a few of these. Taking 3–6 strands of wool (depending on the thickness of your wool), lay the strands over the top of two warp threads. Twist the threads under the warp and pull down. Carry along the length of the loom.

3 To start weaving, take the wool and wrap around the weaving shuttle or an embroidery needle. To weave, take the wool up and over alternative warp threads all the way across the width of the frame. Do the same for the next row, but weave the opposite way – taking the wool under the warp threads it went over in the previous row.

4 To create knotted tassels, follow step two again but, before you thread the wool under the warp, knot all the pieces of wool together.

5 Carry on weaving using different thicknesses of wool to create texture. 6 Once you are happy with your weave it’s time to take it off the loom. To do this, cut the top warp threads but leave the bottom warp threads (under the tassels) as they are. This will just lift off the loom. Tie the top warp threads, and then tie around a piece of doweling all ready to hang. Don’t forget to tie a piece of string so you can hang your weave up on the wall.

Turn to page 110 of November's The Simple Things for another weaving make.

Project by Lucy Davidson. Lucy Davidson runs regular weaving workshops around southern England. Check her blog peasandneedles.co.uk for details and more woven inspiration.

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The Curator: Teapot Island

Welcome to the wonderful world of Teapot Island in Yalding, Kent 

Teapot Island is the first in a new series – The Curator. Turn to page 114 of November's The Simple Things for the full interview. 

Who doesn’t enjoy the quirks of an independent museum? They alone celebrate aspects of life other institutions may choose to pass over. This series asks curators of the UK’s most unusual galleries and collections to share their highlights and take you on a private tour, and perhaps persuade you to visit in person.

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Home truths: Literary cakes

This month in our series on what really goes on in a home, we sift some flour to bake bread and pop a cake in the oven

As well as a look at all the cakes we’ve loved before, a glossary of which tin to use, bread making and bread makers, the five types of icing and a list of baking bloggers, we find eight extra somethings for the shopping list.Turn to page 118 for more, or read on for a look at literary cakes.

Classic bakes that have appeared, tantalisingly, in books:

Madeleines 

In Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust, the narrator eats madeleines and has an olfactory epiphany as he remembers dipping similar cakes in tea with his aunt.

“She sent out for one of those short, plump little cakes called ‘petites madeleines’ which look as though they had been moulded in the fluted scallop of a pilgrim’s shell.”

Ginger Cake

In Five on a Treasure Island by Enid Blyton, ginger cake features in a typical feast:

“Aunt Fanny had made a ginger cake with black treacle. It was dark brown and sticky to eat. The children said it was the nicest they had ever tasted.”

Crumpets

In Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, the narrator thinks longingly of the food they ate at Manderley:

“Those dripping crumpets, I can see them now. Tiny crisp wedges of toast, and piping-hot, flaky scones.”

Key lime pie

In Heartburn by Nora Ephron, a wronged wife throws a key lime pie at her husband:

“The pie I threw at Mark made a terrific mess, but a blueberry pie would have been better since it would have permanently ruined his new blazer.”

Chocolate eclair

In Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, the family’s unlikeable tutor tucks into an éclair:

“Miss Kilman opened her mouth, slightly projected her chin, and swallowed down the last inches of the chocolate éclair.”

Find more cakes in literature at thelittlelibrarycafe.com 

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Nest: The poetry of paint names

This month, Home truths gets to grips with a spot of decorating

As well as how to hang wallpaper successfully, how to choose which brush and which finish, murals, and whether eco paint is worth using, we pick our favourite wallpapers. Turn to page 118 for more, or read on for a look at the poetry of paint names.

For most of us, description of colours stretches from ‘bluish’ and ‘a bit pink’ to ‘sort of off-white’, but to the paint-namers, these are translated to Alpine Frost (Graham & Brown); Wendy House (EarthBorn) and Clunch (Farrow & Ball).

While some of these are spot-on, helpful and often poetic, others are, frankly, baffling.

Try these:
Mizzle – a dullish green (farrow-ball.com);
Tracery – beige and Trumpet – yellow (littlegreene.com);
Smidgen – pale blue and Marbles – pinkish white (earthbornpaints.co.uk);
Wild Swim – murky brown and Buffel Tuft – cream (both paintbyconran.com).

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Home: Easy alfresco dining

This month in our series about what really goes on in a home, Clare Gogerty grabs a plate and invites us to eat out in the garden.  

Eating every possible meal in the garden is one of the most blissful things you can do during the summer months. The simple act of sipping a cup of tea on the doorstep while listening to the birds and feeling a warm breeze on your face can transform this humdrum activity into something special. Pile a tray with toast and coffee and head outdoors for breakfast and suddenly it feels like you’re on holiday. And a glass of rosé and some nuts dished up on the patio or a balcony becomes a celebration.

Meals in the garden are simultaneously liberating and fun. Entertaining family and friends takes on a more chilled dimension when you sit beneath a tree, children and animals run around your feet and the light gradually dims. The only rules about eating alfresco is that there are no rules: the more relaxed and informal the better. 

“Picnics always taste so much nicer than meals we have indoors”
Five Go Off in a Caravan by Enid Blyton

• Put on a buffet: ideal for larger groups of people who can heap up their plates with your delicious food and then settle on rugs to eat it.
• Use brown paper instead of a tablecloth. Then scrunch up and dispose of it when everyone has gone home.
• Keep tableware relaxed. Nobody wants elaborate settings when they are eating in their shorts.
• Invest in a garden parasol to keep sun and rain at bay.
• Platters of cold meat, bowls of salad, chunks of cheese, bread on boards and jugs of drink (alcoholic and non) are probably all that’s required, food-wise.
• Stock up a drinks trolley with glasses, drinks and trappings, then wheel back in when stocks run low. Have lots of ice handy to keep drinks cool. 

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Summer Breeze

Living needs to be easy in the summer months and that means our homes too. Our shopkeeper, Louise Gorrod, has trawled the shelves at The Stuff of Life to bring you her pick of simply crafted products.

‘This pick perfectly captures the informality of living by the sea - from soft washed linens in faded blue, tactile ceramics in washed aqua and cool enamelware in chalky white – they’re the perfect accessories for an easy breezy home this summer’.

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Images from top, left to right: Washed Blue Linen Napkin from LinenMe, £8.99 | Giant Straw Basket from Cachette, £16.00 | Cantine Plates from Home Address, £12,00 | Everyday Large Mug by Emma Lacey, £27.00 | Linen Tablecloth from Home Address, £70.00 | Water cups from Quince Living, £9.00 | Linen Bath Robe by The Linen Works, £120.00 | White Enamel Cutlery from Cachette, from £6.50 | Denim Light Wash Cushion by From Brighton With Love, £50.00.

Gardening: Make your own organic fertiliser

As well as needing protection from insects and diseases, plants need nutrients, too, particularly if they grow in pots or hanging baskets. Making your own organic fertiliser from comfrey is as simple as making sprays – and very satisfying.

Comfrey is easy to grow, though it is best in a container, as it is rather vigorous.

1. Harvest leaves from the base of the comfrey plant and remove stems. 

2. Chop the foliage and pack tightly into a container with a lid, as the solution can smell as the leaves break down. 

3. Use a brick to weigh down the leaves.

4. After a few weeks, top up with fresh leaves and collect the liquid, storing it in a cool, dark place.

5. Dilute the liquid, one part comfrey to 10 parts water.

6. Water with a rose head for a potassium-rich liquid fertiliser to encourage flowers and fruit to set. 

7. Add ash to the water to boost nutrients for greedy plants such as broad and runner beans, courgettes, cucumbers and squash.

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Nest: The Window House

To watch the sunset and see the stars was a couple's simple dream for their home in West Virginia. The finished project is a unique upcycled house.

Turn to page 116 of June's The Simple Things for more about this incredible home and watch the film below to see how it was made.

Film credits:
Filmed by Matt Glass and Jordan Wayne Long
Interviewed by Jordan Wayne Long
Music and editing by Matt Glass

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Kate Turner’s Henkeeping Factsheet

For a taste of the good life and your own freshly-laid eggs on the doorstep, keeping chickents can be great fun and is surprisingly simple, says Kate Turner. 

Kate Turner is an allotment gardener, forager, recipe writer and author, who wrote this month’s henkeeping feature on page 48 of June's The Simple Things. She loves growing organic veg and raising ‘free-range’ children. Read more at about her flock at homegrownkate.com and read on for her tips on keeping hens.

Becoming a henkeeper

1. Choosing a chicken

There are so many fabulous breeds to choose from, all with different looks and personalities to boot. Start by looking through books, poultry magazines or online to get an idea of what you like and then contact a local breeder or poultry society or go to an agricultural show to take a look.

It’s worth considering whether you want hybrid, pure or rare breeds and what size chicken you’re after. Hybrids are cross-bred for high egg production (250-300 a year) and live for around three to five years. Pure breeds are a single breed and usually live longer (six to 12 years). They won’t lay quite as many eggs as hybrids (anything from 50-250 depending on the breed), but they do come in an incredible array of colours, characters, shapes and sizes. Rare breeds are pure breeds whose numbers are low, so keeping rare breeds helps preserve that species, which is great.

It’s also worth considering what size chicken you’re after. Do you have the space for large hens or would you prefer a little bantam flock? A cockerel or ladies only? Start with two to three chickens and go from there. Most hens are very family friendly, easy to care for and a real joy to have in the garden.

2. The coop and run

While we use an ‘open’ coop and a battery-powered electric fence to protect our flock, there are lots of other options to suit all situations and budgets. If you’re tight on space an ‘A’ frame, ark or Eglu might suit – these portable frames incorporate coop and run and can be moved around your garden to make the most of fresh grass, usually housing two to four smaller hens.

You can convert an old shed into a brilliant chicken house, buy a gypsy caravan hen house on wheels or even recycle a metal bed frame and a waterproof canvas sheet! At night, each hen will need around 20cm of perching space in the coop and the more space you can give your chickens to roam during the day, the better. Once your chosen coop is up and running, you’ll need to keep it clean – ‘mucking out’ once a week is usually fine.

3. Food and water

Fresh water should always be available, with or without the addition of apple cider vinegar, and food needs to be offered once or twice a day – the main meal in the morning and a treat in the afternoon works well. We don’t leave food out permanently because it can attract unwanted ‘guests’, plus we enjoy going to the allotment to feed our chickens.

As a rule of thumb, a double-handful of food is about right for each hen, but you’ll get a feel for what suits your flock. You could just feed them organic layers pellets and some mixed grain as a treat, but they will really appreciate kitchen scraps, foraged nuts, berries and weeds. We also make an occasional ‘green mash’ that is packed with nutrients, which they adore. In addition they need a little ‘grit’ for healthy digestion and hard eggshells.

4. Natural remedies

A fresh-air, free-range lifestyle is always the best way to ensure good health, but there are also some really useful natural products for your chickens. Diatomaceous earth is a very fine dust made from tiny fossilised water plants that mites and parasites loathe. Every few months we puff it into the nooks and crannies of their coop, their favourite dust-bathing spots, even into their food. Verm-x is another great herbal product for deterring parasites.

Once a month, we dish out the pellets and they must taste delicious because our hens love them! Daily Hen Health is a fabulous vitamin and mineral-rich addition to their water, containing apple cider vinegar and a mixture of herbs, seaweed and garlic - we just add a little to their water whenever we change it. And finally, plain and simple wood ash – a brilliant addition to dust-bathing spots, especially in the winter months.

5. The moult and hen-pecking

Once a year towards the end of summer your lovely fluffy hen will lose many of her feathers and lay fewer eggs. This is called the moult and is perfectly normal, although it can look quite alarming. Your hen is simply replacing her old feathers in a process that can take six to 12 weeks. Hen-pecking can be equally alarming and is also pretty normal when introducing new chickens to your flock. Expect a bit of argy-bargy as the hens decide who’s the boss and what the ‘pecking-order’ is. Introducing new hens at night can help – put them straight on the perch with the roosting flock and they may wake up none the wiser.

READING & SUPPLIES

There are lots of publications and websites out there offering advice on keeping chickens. These are some of my favourites:

Books

The Illustrated Guide to Chickens by Celia Lewis (a gorgeously illustrated & practical guide to keeping chickens)

Chickens by Suzie Baldwin (a comprehensive book covering everything you need to know)

The Complete Herbal Handbook for Farm & Stable by Juliette de Bairacli Levy (a natural chicken keeping bible)

Collins Pocket Guide: Wild Flowers (a handy pocketbook for identifying wild herbs & weeds)

Specialist magazines

·      Practical Poultry

·      Country Smallholding

·      Fancy Fowl

·      Your Chickens

Websites for coops, fencing, food & herbs, plus UK agricultural shows:

Coops

www.flytesofancy.co.uk

www.omlet.co.uk

www.greenfrogdesigns.co.uk

www.smithssectionalbuildings.co.uk

Food/Herbs/Treatments

www.organicfeed.co.uk

www.hiltonherbs.com

www.verm-x.com

www.diatomretail.co.uk

Fencing

www.countrystoredirect.com

www.rappa.co.uk

Agricultural Shows

www.ukcountyshows.co.uk

General info

www.poultryclub.org (lots of info about pure breeds )

www.rarepoultrysociety.co.uk (protects & promotes rare breeds)

www.rbst.org.uk (Rare breeds survival trust. Lots of info)

www.bhwt.org.uk (British hen welfare trust – rehomes hybrid commercial layers)

www.feathersite.com (US-based and a bit clunky, but loads of infophotos about all breeds)

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How to Instagram flowers

This month in our series on what really goes on inside a home, we fill the house with vases and jugs of cut flowers. Turn to page 114 of the May issue for more of Clare Gogerty's Home Truths: Flowers. 

Stylist and blogger Emily Quinton is a whizz on Instagram and posts flower pictures daily. This is how she does it:

1. Choose flowers carefully – not all photograph well. The more you photograph, the more you get to know them. My favourites are stocks, ranunculus, peonies, anemones, tulips and roses.

2. Photograph in natural light. Flowers do not look good under artificial lights. If shooting outside, early morning and late afternoon/early evening are best. If shooting indoors, move near a window to get the best light.

3. Use different vessels and backgrounds to make the most of one bunch of flowers.

4. Choose lighter coloured flowers. They are easier to capture than dark ones. Dark red roses are my nemesis!

5. When flowers are nearly over, cut off the stems and lay down to make flat pictures. Gather plates, linen and notebooks as props. To make flowers last longer, pop in the fridge or in a cool room. Some flowers don’t last like this but peonies, roses and ranunculus will.

Follow @emilyquinton, on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest 

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Home: Make the most of your shower

This month, in our series on what really goes on in a home, Clare Gogerty considers bathing and the pleasures of keeping clean.

Turn to page 116 of April's The Simple Things for the full feature.

Make the most of your shower

The mere experience of standing beneath a steady stream of falling warm water is pretty joyful and can be enough to revive and soothe. Especially if you sing while you’re about it. But there are a couple of things you can do to make the most of your shower time, so that you emerge ever more squeaky clean and sprightly.

❊ Keep the temperature moderate. It is tempting to crank it up and watch your skin turn rosy, but too-hot water dries out the skin. Somewhere between 95F and 100F is about right.

❊ Hang a bunch of fresh eucalyptus near the shower. It will release essential oils as the bathroom steams up. Eucalyptus is a good cleanser, helps fight bacteria and smells lovely.

❊ Apply conditioner to damp hair and then put on a shower cap. Continue to wash as the conditioner works its miracles. Then rinse it off.

❊ Avoid shower curtains if at all possible, as they have a propensity to get mouldy and cling creepily to your skin. If you can’t avoid one, wash it regularly with a couple of old hand towels and half a cup of white vinegar to prevent mildew. 

For more on bathing traditions, our pick of the best bathroom cabinets, towels 101, a word on flannels, the definitive answer on why your skin wrinkles, plus eight extra somethings for the smallest room, turn to page 116 of April's The Simple Things.

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Home style: The alarm clock and other morning rituals

The alarm clock is hard to love. It’s what startles you from the deepest of sleeps and jangles you into the day. It’s persistent and bossy, and won’t be silenced until you pay it attention. And the most annoying thing of all is that it does all of this for your own benefit, like a finger-wagging head mistress.

In an ideal world, of course, we would be woken naturally by the gentle caress of dawn and the soft rays of sunlight streaming through muslin curtains. But the reality is that it is more usual to be jumpstarted into the new day by the insistent clamour coming from the bedside table. 

Turn to page 108 of March's The Simple Things to read the rest of Clare Gogerty's alarm clock potted history, plus her selection of the three best alarm clock buys.

And while we're moaning about mornings, here are our top picks for making early hours more bearable. 

Linen pyjamas | The Simple Things Shop

Dressing gown | Verry Kerry

Blanket | The Simple Things Shop

Felted wool slippers | Toast 

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Outdoor project: Plan and plant a living wall

Succulents look great huddled together in a living wall, and they’re low maintenance too.

As natives to all sorts of arid areas around the world, succulents have developed fascinating plant shapes, leaf forms and unique colours. This uniqueness gives them an otherworldly appearance that works remarkably well in a living wall. If planted in a moveable system, they can easily be shifted indoors in colder weather so the living wall can be enjoyed all year.

What you need

Plants - these work well in vertical gardens: 
Burro’s Tail (Sedum morganianum) 
Hens-and-chicks (Sempervivum tectorum or Echeveria elegans) 
Jade plant (Crassula ovata) 
Medicine plant (Aloe vera)
Pink vygie (Lampranthus blandus) 
Plush plant (Echiveria pulvinata) 
Senecio (Senecio Spp)
Stonecrop (Sedum acre)

Tools
1 living wall planter (Try Minigarden, £42.99, from Garden Beet, www.gardenbeet.com)
Screwdriver and screws
Tape measure
Spirit level
Cactus or succulent soil mix
Organic fertiliser
Trowel

What you do

1. Use a trowel to fill the planter with soil mix.
2. Measure an appropriate amount of organic fertilizer into the soil; mix well. 
3. Plant the succulents carefully into the soil, being gentle to prevent stem breakage.
4. Water well.
5. Hang the planter on the wall, according the manufacturer’s instructions.

How to care for your vertical garden

Watering: succulents are drought tolerant, but they appreciate generous summer watering. Let the soil dry out between waterings. Overwatered plants can be mushy, discolored, rotted, and limp; leaves will often turn white, completely losing their colour. Under-watered plants will stop growing, turn brown in spots, and then drop their leaves. Consistent, even waterings with time to dry out in between drinks will ensure a healthy plant.
Temperature: these tough plants can thrive at temperatures as low as 5C at night, but prefer day temperatures in the range of 20–30C and average nightly temperatures no lower than 10–12C. This makes them excellent candidates for most balconies or patios during the summer.
Light: bright, even light is best as succulents scorch when in direct sun, and turn leggy when out of it. Many walls, fences, and gates have bright light conditions without direct light, making them an excellent location for succulents.
Drainage: plants in quick-draining soil made for cactus and succulents. If you cannot find this, mix one part potting soil, one part perlite, and one part course builder’s sand in a bucket. 
Feed: fertilise during the summer with an organic fertiliser recommended for cactus or succulents.

Where to buy

Most garden centres sell succulents. Surreal Succulents (www.surrealsucculents.co.uk) has a good selection of echeveria, sedum and crassula, from £3.95 per plant, which can be ordered online. Also try Easy Cactus (www.easycactus.co.uk), which sells various succulents including echeveria and crassula.

Adapted from Grow a Living Wall by Shawna Coronado (Quarto, £16.99)

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Supper on the sofa with The Stuff of Life

Home Truths, our monthly magazine series on what really goes on inside a home, discusses ‘Suppers on the Sofa’ in our January issue. As the long month draws to an end we can think of nothing better than curling up on the sofa, a tray on our lap and our favourite box set at the ready.  

Our shopkeeper, Louise Gorrod, has selected some must-have products from The Stuff of Life for those wishing to treat themselves to an evening supper away from the dining table.

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Images from top, left to right: Navy & White Tray by Home Address, £15.00 | Dipped Bowl by Home Address, £15.00 | Gold Cutlery by Home Address, £30.00 | Dot Linen Napkin by The Linen Works, £13.50 | Solid Birch Stool by Stuff of Dreams, £149.00 | Deco Sofa by Archer + Co, £2,300.00 | Sherbert Blue Blanket by Mourne Textiles, £96.00 | Groove Lamp by Stuff of Dreams, £155.00 | Comet Moth Rectangular Cushion by Kith & Kin, £56.00.

Top image by ciaodesserts

Nest: Hellebores

When there is little else to pick in the garden, the hellebore* steps up.

Or bows down, such is the coy nature of its earth- gazing blooms. You could snip a few flowers and float them in a bowl for coffee table showiness, but better to cut a longish stem and pop into a vase, like this splendid swan.

Sarah Raven advises ‘conditioning’ – lowering stem ends (about 2cm) into boiling water for 30 seconds – first, and if that keeps them flowering longer, we’re all for it.

* The hellebore is also known as ‘Christmas rose’ due to its early flowering. Still pretty good in the new year, though.

And look out for more welcome winter blooms in the form of snowdrops gracing our February cover - out Wednesday 27 January.

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