Traditional interiors have their own conventions about planting, most of them inherited from a period when houses had conservatories, gardeners and a good deal more staff. Below is a conversation format covering the questions that come up most often when people are working with a period property or a classically furnished room.
Q: Does artificial greenery suit a traditional room at all, or does it fight the character?
It suits it well, provided you follow the same conventions the room already follows. Period decoration is rule-bound: symmetry in formal rooms, asymmetry in informal ones, and a preference for clipped, controlled plant forms in halls and dining rooms. Modern houseplant shapes such as broad tropical leaves are the ones that jar. Clipped forms, ferns and Mediterranean trees are the ones that sit down straight away.
Q: What is the single most reliable choice for a period house?
A pair of clipped bay trees, and it has been for two centuries. They read as architectural rather than botanical, which is why they work flanking a fireplace, a doorway or a console table. The 50cm Dwarf Artificial Bay Tree Laurel Topiary Bush is 50cm at £29.99, small enough to sit on a mantelpiece shelf or a hall table in pairs. If you want floor-standing pieces instead, the bay tree range runs considerably larger.
Q: Is symmetry compulsory?
Only in the formal rooms. Halls, dining rooms and drawing rooms with a strong central feature such as a fireplace or a bay respond well to matched pairs. Kitchens, snugs and garden rooms should be asymmetric, because they were informal spaces historically and matching pairs make them look staged. A practical test: if the room has a clear central axis, use pairs. If it does not, use single pieces at uneven intervals.
Q: Which plants belong in which room?
Ferns for anywhere that would historically have been cool and shaded, which usually means halls, bathrooms and north-facing sitting rooms. The Artificial Boston Fern Plant - 60cm is 60cm at £24.99 and has the arching, slightly untidy habit that Victorian interiors relied on to soften heavy furniture. Ferns look best raised, on a stand, a plant table or the corner of a chest, rather than sitting on the floor. Something already housed in a decorative container saves the search: the 40cm Artificial Fern Bush in Decorative Planter is 40cm at £33.99. The full selection is under ferns.
Q: What about larger trees in a period sitting room?
They work, but the leaf needs to be small. Big glossy leaves fight panelling, picture rails and patterned textiles because they introduce a scale of detail the room does not otherwise contain. Small-leaved trees blend in. The 130cm Artificial Red & Green Ficus Tree is 130cm at £38.99, and the mixed red and green tones pick up the colours already present in most traditional upholstery and rugs, which is why it settles into an older room more comfortably than a plain green tree. There is more in the ficus range.
Q: Is there a place for Mediterranean trees in a British period house?
Very much so, especially in garden rooms, kitchens and any part of the house added later. Olive foliage has a soft grey-green tone that sits beautifully against limewashed walls, stone floors and painted timber. The 65cm Luxury Artificial Olive Tree Bush - Premium Range is 65cm at £35.99 and is a bush rather than a standard, so it suits a kitchen worktop end or a windowsill better than a full tree would. The olive tree collection covers the taller options.
Q: What are the most common mistakes?
Three come up repeatedly. Plastic-looking containers, which show up far more against old materials than against modern ones. Plants that are too large for the wall they stand against, which is easy to do in rooms with dado rails and low picture rails that break the wall into bands. And using tropical shapes, which will fight a period room no matter how well made they are. Keep the container in ceramic, brass, terracotta, stone or aged metal, and the plant in a clipped, fine-leaved or arching form.
Q: Where should the container search start?
With the room's existing metalwork. If your fire surround, curtain poles and door furniture are brass, a brass or bronze-toned container will tie the plant into the room instantly. If everything is black iron, go dark. Vessels that read as decorative objects in their own right are worth considering; the decorative vases section covers pieces that suit stems and cut foliage as well as potted plants, and plants with planters lists pieces that arrive already matched.
Q: Any final rule?
Fewer, larger, better placed. Period rooms are usually already carrying pattern, texture and a good deal of furniture, so greenery should be doing one clear job in each room rather than appearing on every surface. Two well-chosen plants in a drawing room will look considered. Six will look like a florist's window.
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