A garden on the window sill

The desire to grow things is deeply rooted in most of us; perhaps it is a faint echo of ancient days when man survived by working the soil and growing his own food. And the further we get from nature the more we yearn to make contact with it again. This shows itself in various ways — we fill our high-rise flats with indoor plants, decorate our windows with flower-filled window boxes, our little town patios with tubs and urns.

Children too need this link with nature. On country walks they fill their pockets with acorns and beech nuts, polished conkers, stones and pebbles. It's all good play material but it is also an unconscious link with nature.

"Will this grow?" they ask hopefully, brandishing an acorn, or an orange pip. Out come old pots and pans, a damaged teacup, to make the basis of an indoor garden. In go the seeds, but too often the small gardener's interest wanes if there are no immediate results. They forget to water it, or complain that "nothing is happening" or "it takes too long". In no time, they have directed their interest to something else.

Yet it is possible and easy to make an indoor garden. It's a rewarding hobby and one that will add interest to a room, but to succeed you needs to have patience and to go about things the right way. Help your children and share the indoor gardening with them and you will be well on the way to success.
You can grow things in almost any container — old pans, large jars, a hanging pot an old aquarium. Glass is an ideal medium because not only do you see the top of the plant, but the stems and the earth as well. Glass looks particularly good on the window-sill where it reflects the light, and looks much more exciting than the traditional earthenware flowerpot. To get a decorative effect, use glass in different shapes, for instance a combination of drinking glasses, prettily shaped bottles, preserving jars, jam jars, etc. Vary the plants with the size and shape of container, from small things like African violets, to ivy, ferns, busy Lizzie, etc.

How to plant a garden in a bottle
First of all wash your glass containers until they are spotlessly clean, and dry them well to make them sparkle. Then make a layer of gravel in the bottom (the kind used in aquariums and supplied by pet shops.) This will provide drainage for the soil above it, a job done in earthenware pots by the small hole in the bottom of the pot. Now add a layer of potting compost. The depth of this will depend on the size of the container and the size of the plant you are going to grow. Small plants need less soil than larger ones with bigger root systems, but as a general rule fill a third of the container with the potting compost.

Filling glasses and wide-mouthed containers presents no problem and you can then plant firmly, adding a little soil when you have firmed the plant into the hole; water well so that the plant has a good chance to root. Firm again with your hands and then keep moist, particularly during the early days while the plant is getting established.

To make a garden in a large bottle with a thin neck and small opening requires more dexterity. It is easy enough to pour in the gravel, and to shake the bottle until it settles evenly. Repeat this with the earth. To plant, you will need a long-handled spoon; with it make a hole in the centre of the soil, deep and large enough to take the root of the plant. Carefully pick up the plant and guide it into the hole with the aid of a thin stick or twig. With the spoon push earth over the roots so that they are adequately covered, then gently push it down with the spoon so that the plant is secured and cannot move about. Water the plant with a thin jet of water and firm the soil again with the spoon. Make sure the soil is kept moist while the plant becomes established; later spray the soil with a flower-spray through the opening of the bottle.

If you have the space you can plant three or four plants together to make a real bottle garden, but do leave room between each plant or their growth will be stunted. Put your bottle garden where it will get plenty of light, but not in direct sunlight.

How to make an underwater garden.
It is perfectly possible to have an underwater garden in a large glass or a bottle, but because of the confined space only one plant will grow, which is far less effective than a container full of plants. So really the best thing to use is an old aquarium; you can usually pick these up quite inexpensively in junk shops, but make quite sure it does not leak before you buy it. Clean your aquarium very thoroughly then put a thin layer of compost in the bottom. Over this place a layer of gravel or coarse sand — the layer in the bottom of the tank should measure about 5-7cm (2-3 in) from the bottom. Now push the plants into the layer of compost and scatter more gravel between the plants so that they are firmly embedded. Finally, fill the tank carefully, but not right up to the top. Don't worry if the water turns green; it will clear itself. It will not be necessary to change the water, just add more water if the level drops due to evaporation.

If the aquarium is big enough, you can add some water snails to it and even a couple of goldfish. You can buy aquatic plants suitable for growing under water and the fish and snails from good pet shops.

A hanging garden
Not only are hanging gardens very graceful and decorative, but they are also a good way to have plants in a room where space is at a premium. All you need is enough light and warmth. Your garden can hang from a hook in the ceiling or in the window frame, either at the top or at the side. You can use a straw or cane basket, one made from wire, or a pottery container — it is a matter of choice, but whatever you use, the bottom must be waterproof to prevent water from dripping onto the floor.

So line the bottom of the basket with thick plastic or a layer of tinfoil (making sure there are no tears anywhere). Over this put a layer of crocks for drainage, and then a layer of compost into which various plants are embedded and firmed both before and after watering them in. You can have one single plant or, if the basket is big enough, it is more interesting to have a selection, forming a real miniature garden. For the best effect, use trailing plants round the edges like ivy, or the asparagus fern, Asparagus plumosus or Asparagus sprengeri, which has needlelike leaves and small white flowers followed by red berries. Both these plants need a lot of watering and syringing with water in the summer and feeding throughout the year.

With your trailing plants you could also have an African violet (Saintpaulia) and a Peperomia caperata varie-gata, with heart-shaped leaves of cream and green and cream flower spikes, or Peperomia argyreia which has thick smooth leaves marked in alternate bands of silver and dark green. Mar-anta leuconeura 'Massan-geana', its handsome leaves striped with crimson, is also a good choice; a good foil for it is Selaginella, a moss-like plant which is allied to ferns.

The desert garden
Perhaps the least demanding of window-sill gardens is provided by cacti. A variety of them, planted in a flat dish, or a pottery or glass bowl, look attractive.

Cacti are sturdy plants. In summer they need warmth, and need to be watered about once a week. In winter a cool place is the ideal situation and watering can be cut down to once a month. In summer it is advisable to give the cacti a little liquid plant food occasionally.

You can start your cacti from seed. They are very easy to grow in a shallow baking tray with a little compost and some sand on top. When the seedlings are about 2.5cm high (1in) you can transplant them to the cactus garden. To make a garden use a dish or a bowl with a layer of gravel in the bottom. To this add a layer of potting mixture and finally a layer of coarse sand.

Most cacti are very slow growing but many can be propagated easily from cuttings. There are some beautiful flowering varieties; perhaps the best known is the Zygocactus also known as the Christmas cactus or the crab cactus, which flowers freely during the winter. The branches are segmented and new plants can be started off by placing one or two segments in a suitable growing medium. Not all cacti will flower every year. Phyllocactus, with long branches which resemble leaves, produces large flowers in a wide range of colors, but unlike most cacti it should be shaded from the sunlight. Astrophytum myrio-stigma has yellow flowers which appear freely when the plant is two or three years old. Opuntia, however, has a yellow flower which appears only rarely.

The herb garden
Apart from the joy of growing indoor plants for decoration, a sunny windowsill can enable you to grow your own fresh herbs in individual pots or in a plant trough. Most of them are very easy to raise, but use large pots so that you have enough to cut them often.

Chives are delicious with soup, in sauces or as an addition to your salad dressing. They are good in omelets, added just before the egg mixture is setting — never cook chives or they will lose their flavor.

Parsley is a versatile herb; use it in stuffing, to add flavor to soups and casseroles, in sauces, sprinkled over cooked vegetables from potatoes and carrots to ratatouille.

Rosemary is one of the few herbs which is almost as pungent dried as it is fresh. Use it with lamb or pork, or with fish; it brings a touch of Mediterranean sunshine to casseroles.

Sage, with its aromatic leaves, is best with pork, or mixed with onion to stuff a chicken. Thyme is part of a bouquet garni (with parsley and bay leaves) for stews and soups.

Cress is the easiest of herbs to grow — most children have grown it on blotting paper. A decorative way to grow it is demonstrated in our photograph — in a hollowed out piece of bark. Cress needs moisture and a sunny spot. It adds bite to salads and is good in all sandwiches. As cress grows so quickly it would be fun for children to sow it to spell out a name — an unusual birthday present.

The rest of your herbs should be grown in large pots on a sunny window-sill. Open the window regularly and spray them at least once a week or better still put them outside when it rains. Herbs are such an intriguing subject that once you start you may easily find you want to buy a book about them.