Stream Corner

The conservatory really does become an extra room for houseplants in the house, for it is available at all times of the year in complete comfort, is decorative at all times of the year and will help at all times of the year to provide decorative plant material for the remainder of the home.

But if it is small, then there may exist space enough merely for a few plants and a chair or two and a low occasional table. But if space is minimal, then use this to the utmost. For example, standing space immediately adjacent to the windows will seldom be used. So from the ceiling put in a series of hooks to enable hanging baskets or hanging shelves to be filled with plants.

A converted and improved little terrace house in the center of a large city frequently has a tiny backyard of no more than twenty feet square of cat-infested, sour-soiled, light-absent garden', impossible to transform into any kind of place that will grow worthwhile plants. To pave the area, import fresh soil and install a few plants will cost little less than to cover the area entirely with glass and so, even without heating, add an effective room to the house and increase significantly its resale value.

All the plants that could have been grown outdoors in this same area will grow much better under cover, for tall or spreading plants are impossible in so small a location.

Some plants which grow particularly tall or wide should have space allocated to them on the floor instead of on the staging so that they may grow to their fullest possible height or width. Under the central island site it may be possible to construct a pool or reservoir.

This will enable water, preferably rain water, to be stored at room temperature, an important matter to some plants.