Styling With Plants When You Have Kids - Eight Simple Ways
We learned quickly that our plants needed to be relocated when Ester started crawling. Now that she is walking it's even more tempting for her to play in the plants, and the dirt. The benefits of indoor plants are endless, and watching them grow and blossom is rewarding; they are essentially members of the family right :)?
Instead of saying goodbye to your plants, here are some ideas for keeping your plants around while your little ones grow up. Keep in mind that mature toddlers can help take care of your plants too.
1. High Tables and Shelves
Cluster your small potted succulents and cacti together on a high console table or shelf. Make sure your plants are in a location where they will receive a healthy amount of natural light. Don't forget to protect your furniture and shelves from the moisture (terra cotta saucers do leak moisture).
2. Unique Tall Stands
Use a small, unique plant stand that is tall for corner plants. You can anchor the stand to the wall to make sure your little ones don't pull it over. (If you have ambitious climbers this may not work.)
3. Corners Behind Furniture
Place your plants behind taller furniture, especially your plants that need to be on the floor due to how large they are. Climbing on the furniture will likely happen, but since you'll be supervising the climbing you can also supervise the plant grabbing.
4. Heavy Plants on Lower Shelves
Plants with deep containers can be place on top of low shelving and tables, especially if they are heavy. The pots can be touched but not pulled over. Keep the less fragile items and baskets of toys and books down low.
5. Window Sills
If you live in an ideal climate, use the outside window sills for your smaller plants. The plant life becomes part if the indoor and outdoor palette. (This is especially good for cacti. The spines are rarely forgiving, especially the fuzzy/fine spines, ouch! Also, cacti are the heartiest, least vulnerable type of succulent.)
6. Parent Only Spaces
If you have an office or studio that you typically keep the little ones out of, keep your plants here. If the door is always closed you don't really have to worry about the plants in these spaces.
7. Hanging Plants
Hanging plants simplify everything! If you have limited space and minimal light consider a variety of philodendrons, they can pretty much grow in the dark, need little water, and are easy to trim if them grow too long.
8. Kitchen Counters and Dining Tables
Plants in the kitchen and on the dining table are always welcome, as long as you have enough light. In these spaces your plants will be out of the way from the littles and you'll be often reminded to take care of them.
It may be a little more work to keep plants around, but we think it's worth the effort. We have one plant in particular that Ester is determined to destroy. It's definitely a battle, but we know in time she'll learn to respect the space and the plant, and will move on to something else. One day she will take care of this plant and watch it blossom when it matures (it's a baby peace lily). Maybe she will even want this plant in her room when she's older.
