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Maddie Bailey of Forest London shares advice on the best houseplants to grow in awkward areas

From its online shop and London stores, Forest London offers a huge range of houseplants for different situations, including Philodendron xanadu, Cissus rhombifolia, Epipremnum aureum, Dracaena marginata, Ficus elastica ‘Tineke’ and Euphorbia trigona. As with many children of horticultural parents, my sister and I developed a love for plants at a young age – picking up snails in the garden with our mother, and running around our grandfather’s allotment eating strawberries.

Inspired by this earthy upbringing, I went on to study horticulture, while my sister Alice developed our plant shop, Forest. As this venture grew, so did our fascination and love for houseplants, so we began experimenting with propagation, and took our time researching and reading about the origins of our favourite plants, and how best to keep them at home, based on their natural habitat.

Since then, the houseplant trend has boomed, and our customers have an ever-expanding interest in unusual cultivars (Alocasia variegata ‘Polly’ is a current favourite), propagation, terrariums and finding new and unique ways to display their houseplants, offering the chance to scratch a botanical and a creative itch.

However, despite a wealth of knowledge circulating on social media and the internet, houseplant hobbyists had endless questions. We found that many of our customers were struggling with basic houseplant care, and this led to us writing a book, but we still get asked the same questions today.

People want to know how often they should be feeding their houseplants, as well as how to and how often to repot them. They ask which plants are the most air-purifying, and whether it’s better to water from the top or the bottom. The answers aren’t always clear cut, and they often depend on the type of plant, the age of the plant, its home environment, how quickly it’s growing and myriad other environmental and biological factors.