Conservatories are once again being used for cultivating and enjoying plants. Amelia Thorpe reports on a growing trend
AT last, conservatories are being used for their original purpose— to nurture hot-house flowers, trees, shrubs and climbers. It’s a fact, endorsed by the RHS, that houseplants support our health, not least because they improve air quality by trapping and capturing pollutants. And, as conservatories are being used to grow plants, so are greenhouses now being used as spaces in which people can relax among their plants and ‘enjoy a cup of tea while listening to the rain patter or as an alfresco space in the summer months,’ says Tom Barry, managing director of Hartley Botanic.
How you choose to fill your conservatory is up to you. One approach is what Tom describes as the Victorian look, reminiscent of ‘an era in which plant-hunters filled their greenhouses with exotic plants, ferns and giant palms’, or you could attempt the artfully arranged displays created by indoor plant specialists such as Conservatory Archives (www.conservatoryarchives.co.uk).
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