Large houseplants fill your home with beautiful, dramatic foliage and can help create an "I live in a botanical garden" kind of vibe.
Some larger houseplants — like monstera and schefflera — can grow to be 6 feet tall or more.
Plants that size are not necessarily harder to maintain; they just need different kinds of care, mainly more light, more water less often, and the right container.
Let there be (more) light
Large houseplants soak up more sunlight to power their growth than their more petite cousins.
Without sufficient sun, some of the interior and bottom leaves can turn yellow and drop, so — especially this time of year — put your large houseplant in a south-facing window, then plan to move it to an east- or west-facing window next summer.
More water less often
As far as watering your big houseplant, because it's in a bigger container, you won't need to water as often. Plan on a thorough watering every three or four weeks in the winter.
Lightweight, moveable containers are best
If you've got a big ficus or dracaena or even a large Norfolk Island pine, make sure the container and base are large enough and mobile.
The container itself can be made from lightweight plastic with drainage holes in the base and placed on a caddy with wheels. That way, you can move the plant to different rooms for optimal sunlight, and you'll be able to roll the whole plant and lift it into the tub for a good shower once a month!
Repot and prune every two to three years
If the plant is in a big pot now and growing well, plan on repotting it every two to three years. When you repot it, give your plant a little root pruning, too.
And speaking of pruning, some large houseplants like dracaenas and monsteras can be pruned down to keep to a slightly smaller size. Others, like the Norfolk Island pine or some palm trees cannot be pruned; doing so will ruin their shape.
What to do in spring when No Mow May isn't an option
Q: I am all about not clearing leaves in the fall. Our leaves don't cover the grass that heavily, and just leaving them there works really well. But what do we do in the spring? "No Mow May" is not an option. We went away for two weeks last May, and when we returned, the grass was over a foot high and I couldn't get my mower through it. The risk of ticks and the fact that I actually use my backyard makes "going meadow" not really an option either. So what are your recommendations for what to do in the spring? - Merle, in Vergennes
A: That's a good point about "No Mow May" in the spring, as some lawns grow too fast, plus longer grasses do increase the risk of ticks.
And not mowing your lawn for the whole month of May and then mowing it down once bees and pollinators have come to rely on it as a food source might not be the best practice.
Instead, if you want to help pollinators all season, you could pick one of two methods: Designate a small patch of your property just for pollinators, or plant certain things in your lawn as food sources and mow your grass less often.
Once you choose a small space, let the grass in that section grow long and plant wildflowers and diverse native plants and perennials there.
But if you want to turn your entire yard into something more friendly to pollinators all season long, plant more clover, prunella and thyme directly into the lawn.
Then, when the grass is longer, give it a short mow to around 3 1/2 inches. Once your pollinator-friendly lawn is established, it will provide bees and pollinators something to feed on all season instead of just one month out of the year. And it will still serve as a functional lawn.
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