Search site

Stoney Ground Herbs

Beautiful, strong herbs for NZ gardeners and herbalists of all levels

  • Home
  • About
  • Herb plants
    • Basil Mint
    • Bergamot, Scarlet
    • Bergamot, Wild
    • Borage
    • Catnip
    • Chamomile, German
    • Chamomile, Roman
    • Clary Sage
    • Elder, Black
    • Feverfew
    • Lemon Balm
    • Motherwort
    • Mugwort, Chinese
    • Peppermint, Chocolate
    • Peppermint
    • Rue
    • Sage, Common
    • Sage, Purple
    • Self Heal
    • Soapwort
    • Southernwood
    • St John’s Wort
    • Sweet Violet
    • Thyme, creeping
    • White Sage
  • Dried herbs
    • Catnip, Nepeta cataria
    • German Chamomile, Matricaria Recutita
    • Lemon Balm, Melissa officinalis
    • Lemon Verbena, Aloysia citriodora
    • Motherwort, Leonurus cardiaca
    • Nettle (Lesser), Urtica urens
    • Peppermint, Mentha x piperita
    • Sage, Salvia officinalis
    • Self Heal, Prunella vulgaris
    • Yarrow, Achillea millefolium
  • Ordering Your Plants
  • Maramataka Māori
  • Blog

Elderly Kokedama

May 4, 2021 By SandRa Timmins Leave a Comment

Really, this is a blog post about how I don’t have time to do a decent blog post! Personal life (as apposed to business life) is at full stretch this month.

So here’s some pictures of what happens to kokedamas’ as they age…

Two year old kokedama
This is the very first kokedama that I made two years ago! It’s a goldfish plant, obviously has a small root system as I’ve only had to restring it once (and not add moss)

Two year old kokedama
This wee guy is around the two year mark too…see those roots?

succulent kokedama
He’s actually seemingly happy to wrap his roots around the ball, despite that I have re-mossed and strung him up twice now

Old kokedama
Last year I made Chrysanthemum kokedamas’, they looked gorgeous but didn’t sell, seems people didn’t dig flowering indoor plants. I plonked this one in my garden, the moss and string is slightly falling off but the roots have gone down, the plant has shot up and it looks like it will flower by mother’s day!

Crazy hair Kokedama
The ever popular crazy hair kokedama! The moss is going slightly green (I like that) the string going brown, they’re all natural products this is what you should expect to happen. Eventually that string will start falling off. I may wait till it’s easy to come off then re-string or I might just re-string over it…haven’t decided yet.

Old kokedama
Sometimes plants die. sad but true, it happens to the best of us. But all is not lost! Dig out what you can from the top of the kokedama, just enough to make space for the root system of another plant..

Elderly kokedama
That’s what I did with this one. If you have any succulents around they don’t mind going into old dry soil. This string of pearls is more happy here than what it was in it’s pot, and the kokedama is happy because now it’s supporting another plant!

So take care y’all, remember indoor plants need less watering during the winter months. Number one killer is too much love! If you have kokedamas, let them dry out completely before soaking.

I will be back for next months (Haratua) Maramataka Māori gardening guide, hopefully before the New Moon! Oh, and keep your eyes peeled, working in the background are some busy beavers and I believe I’m going to be having a new website soon-ish!! I’ve been wanting a new website that is a bit easier to navigate to find plants and relevant information and my wishes might be coming true, whoop whoop!!

Filed Under: Indoor Plants, Kokedama, Pretty Pictures Tagged With: chrysanthemums, crazy hair, Goldfish plant, Kokedama, kokedama as they age, old kokedama, string of pearls, succulents, what to do with kokedama

Fill Your Life with Plants!

August 11, 2019 By SandRa Timmins 2 Comments

I have always loved herbs- they were the first plants I grew when I was a child (oregano and thyme, growing them is child’s play, you should buy your child/mokopuna a pot of oregano!)

Origanum vulgare, wild marjoram
Origanum vulgare

But I have another plant passion and that is house plants (my first was a cast iron plant). For the last 10 years that passion took a backseat, from when I had to give away my 60+ plant collection to friends when we moved from Wellington to Picton (we were going to live on a boat~ I really couldn’t keep them!). Thereafter we just moved around so much and had young children with fiddle faddle hands – there has never been much appeal to start the collection again…

Cast iron plant, Aspedistra elatior

And then along came kokedama… and me oh my, how I’m kicking myself for letting go of those plants! But nothing like starting afresh eh.

Kokedama, Japanese moss balls
Image by La Florida Studio from Wikimedia commons

So let’s talk about indoor plants for a spell then we’ll get back to kokedama..

Herbs are wonderful plants with a variety of features that make them useful and beneficial for humans (and animals). From gladdening your heart with their scent (I’m looking at you pineapple sage) or taste (basil), to their bittering principles (hello dandelion) and healing properties (all of you).

Image from Plant Life Balance

It’s my real belief though that indoor plants can be placed on the plant healing spectrum too. This plant healing spectrum below is of my own making, therefore it’s purely my opinion, you’re free to agree or disagree!

Plant healing spectrum, from preventative to healing/cure.  Indoor plants have their place on this.
Prevention is better than cure!

You perhaps have heard of certain plants that help with air purification in the home or office?

There’s a surprising amount of toxins in our indoor air, coming from our furniture, plastics, cleaners, cosmetics etc. there are certain plants that do a particularly swell job of absorbing these pollutants, filtering them through their leave s as they respire.

NASA did a whole lot of research on the subject and they actually examined the levels of various toxic chemicals in the air that could be reduced by indoor plants. Chemicals like, benzene, xylene, toluene and formaldehyde. You can see their results here.

Possibly more relevant for office spaces (and space stations) and/or poorly ventilated buildings than our homes that have doors and windows opening letting in outdoor air..

Plants for dark places
Plant Life Balance

But how’s this, there are some plants that actually work their photosynthesis magic (turning carbon dioxide into nutrients for themselves and oxygen for us, using the sun’s energy) at night! It’s called CAM (Crassulacean Acid Metabolism) photosynthesis. Want a more relaxed, sleep conducive atmosphere? Put these plants in your bedroom…

  • Aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis)
  • Bromeliads
  • Moth orchids (Phalaenopsis spp.)
  • Mother-in-law’s tongue (Sansevieria trifasciata)
  • Air plants (Tillandsia spp.)
  • Zebra cactus (Haworthia fasciata)
  • ZZ plant (Zamioculcas zamiifolia)

(Take note of those botanical names in italics, there are many plants with different common names, for example you may of never heard of a Mother-in-law’s tongue but you do know what a snake plant is- they’re the same thing).

ZZ plant (Zamioculcas zamiifolia)

For more science-y information go here to Plant Life Balance; they also have beautiful pictures for your eyes to inspire you to have many plants in your home (I’ve used a lot of their images on this post).. You’ve been warned!

Image result for room full of plants

Mindfulness

The other health benefit of house plants, mindfulness and wellbeing. Studies have shown that plants in indoor spaces boost mental wellbeing. After spending time living and working alongside plants, those taking part in the studies found that, on average;

  • Their mood levels improved
  • They felt less stressed
  • They felt more productive
  • Their attention span improved (in some studies)

Even just one plant in a room can make a difference to the feel (and look) of a place. Here’s our (in need of repair) bathroom as an example!

Bathroom, so plain!
BEFORE. So plain!
Bathroom made new by plants
AFTER. A plant based transformation!

Lots of people have a fear (fact based or otherwise!) of killing house plants. Perhaps in the past (or right now) you’ve gotten the right plant but in the wrong place. A lot of indoor plants don’t appreciate direct sunlight for instance.

I used to be store manager at Ambience in Mt Victoria, Wellington. We specialised in unique and unusual indoor plants- I learnt a lot there. the owner Nicola Byrne was/is so knowledgeable and generous to boot. Not only did I learn from Nic but also the customers and I learnt that a super common mistake by those whom really want plants but keep on killing them – kill by love.

YOU CAN OVER WATER A PLANT! A more common mistake than clear neglect. Browning on the tips of leaves can be a sign that your plant is getting too much water. Some good advice can be found at this website Plants are Alive.

Most indoor plants come with light and watering requirements on their label, if in doubt ask the person that you’re buying the plant from. (Which could be me soon, once I get stock levels up~).

Right, I think kokedama can wait for its own post. I’m going to be doing a workshop on how to make them for our homeschool group in a couple of weeks, by then I would’ve had a lot more practise!

Plant Life Balance

Two books that I’ve been perusing at the moment and where I’ve gotten some of this info from are, Yates, Top 50 Indoor Plants and RHS Practical House Plant Book.

Filed Under: Care and Maintenance, Gardening Styles, Indoor Plants, Uncategorized Tagged With: Ambience mt victoria, CAM, fill your life with plants, health benefits, house plants, indoor plants, mindfulness, NASA clean air study, nicola byrne, night time air purifiers, plant healing spectrum rainbow, Plant life balance

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Stay up to date with blog posts and announcements here!

You can also follow me on…

  • Facebook
  • Instagram

Beautiful, strong herbs
for gardeners
and herbalists
of all levels.

Grown
with passion
and persistence.

Categories

  • Animals (4)
  • Care and Maintenance (45)
  • Gardening Styles (37)
  • Herbal Lore (20)
  • Herbs in Use (23)
  • Indoor Plants (2)
  • Kokedama (3)
  • Maramataka Māori (13)
  • Moving Gardens/New Gardens (12)
  • Pretty Pictures (16)
  • Recipes (8)
  • SGH updates (40)
  • Tomatoes (11)
  • Uncategorized (28)
  • White sage (9)

Contact/Inquiries

    Your Name (required)

    Your Email (required)

    Your Message

    Friends

    Becoming Healthy Ltd NZ

    Supporting Busy People Becoming Healthy

    · Copyright © 2022 · Great websites for great ideas - Help Me Net NZ ·