How to Decorate a Home With Ferns

Ferns provide decorators with a variety of foliage to add life to a room. The fronds of indoor ferns range from delicate lacy leaves to gigantic fronds reminiscent of a prehistoric era. Most tender ferns thrive in temperatures ranging from 65 to 75 degrees, and can dress up a dull corner of your home for several seasons when provided an occasional misting and filtered light. Read on to learn how to decorate a home with ferns.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Fish bowl
• Pebbles
• Potting soil
• Copper tray
• Driftwood or cork

1. Choose ferns that tolerate the low humidity and light conditions indoors. You can grow Boston fern, bird's nest fern, sword fern and button fern.

2. Create a terrarium to display your ferns. Pteris table ferns and Adiantum maidenhair ferns are dwarf varieties suitable for a fishbowl or large brandy snifter. Line the bottom of the container with two inches of pebbles for drainage, add potting soil and plant the ferns.

3. Set a row of ferns in an oblong copper tray filled with pebbles and water. In addition to providing beauty, the tray functions to increase the humidity around the ferns.

4. Add cut ferns to flower arrangements. Outdoor specimens that add to indoor arrangements include the tall plumes of ostrich fern and the reddish-brown sticks of the cinnamon fern.

5. Grow the dramatic staghorn fern on a piece of driftwood or cork. Hang the specimen as you would a piece of art. When the fern needs water, submerge the slab of wood or cork in the sink or bathtub.

6. Rejuvenate ferns that have become drab after a winter indoors. Snip off dead or dying fronds, and place the fern in a sheltered location outdoors every other week until new growth appears.