The Best Low-Maintenance Houseplants to Spruce up Your Space

You don't have to have a green thumb to have a gorgeous indoor garden

PublishedMarch 21, 2022

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Image for article titled The Best Low-Maintenance Houseplants to Spruce up Your Space — Photo: fizkes (Shutterstock)

If you’re looking to breathe some life into your home, houseplants can be one of the easiest and least expensive ways to decorate. Besides making your home look amazing, plants can make you feel great too by reducing your stress level and improving your mood. And if that’s not enough to make you want to go out and get some greenery, having plants in your workspace can also help you crush those impossible deadlines. Studies have shown that plants can improve your concentration and productivity by up to 15 percent.

But if you’ve avoided starting an indoor garden because you’re afraid it wouldn’t survive, you may want to reconsider. You don’t necessarily need to have a green thumb to have houseplants that thrive in your home. We’ve rounded up some of the best fool-proof plants that can survive in your home with nothing more than a little bit of love and light.

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Aloe Plant

The aloe plant is one of my personal favorites. It’s a member of the succulent family, which means that it doesn’t need daily watering. In fact, you should only water your aloe plant when the soil is completely dry, which could mean every two to three weeks. Besides brightening up your space, the sap inside the aloe plant is a great skin moisturizer and the perfect at-home remedy for healing cuts and soothing sunburn. With a little love, your aloe plant could thrive in your home for years to come.

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Spider Plant

The spider plant is one of the easiest plants to care for, which makes it perfect for new plant parents. They make beautiful hanging plants because the long stems grow downward. The stems also grow plantlets that can be pruned and shared with friends or repotted and used in other spaces of your home. When it comes to watering your spider plant, allow them time to dry out a bit between waterings. Overwatering can cause the roots to rot. If you notice that the roots become exposed, you will need to repot your plant.

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ZZ Plant

The ZZ stands for Zamioculcas zamiifolia, but I like to think it could also mean that you can take care of this plant in your sleep. The ZZ plant is native to Eastern Africa and has grown in popularity due to its ability to survive in a wide range of conditions. The shiny, oval-shaped leaves look like feathers and tend to grow upwards. When you bring a ZZ into your home, keep it out of extreme direct sunlight. They thrive in medium to bright indirect light instead, which makes them perfect to keep in the bathroom. You can get away with watering it every two or three weeks, to allow the soil time to dry out. Just be careful if you live in a home with pets or small children. ZZ plants can be irritating to cats, dogs and humans if the foliage is consumed.

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Cast Iron Plant

The cast iron plant earned its name because it is one tough plant that’s hard to kill. Their green leaves can grow up to two feet long and four inches wide. It survives best in low light, so if you’re keeping one as a houseplant, keep it away from windows where it will get intense direct sun. You may have to fight off pests, including mites and scale. But by rinsing the foliage, you can keep the problem under control.

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Snake Plant

I bought a snake plant at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and two years later, it is still going strong. In fact, I’ve been able to separate it into multiple pots that are thriving on their own. Snake plants don’t need much light, so they can survive in practically any corner of your home. These plants with thick, waxy leaves prefer being left alone. You can keep watering to a minimum because too much will make your snake plant rot.

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