Can You Safely Decorate Your Houseplants For Christmas? Our Master Gardener Weighs In

Plenty of folks maintain a "the more, the merrier" mindset when it comes to holiday decorating. If your idea of a merry Christmas involves adorning as many items inside your home as possible, you've probably considered lending some holiday flair to your houseplants. But is that really a good idea? Master Gardener Tiffany Selvey gives two green thumbs up for this idea. In an exclusive interview with House Digest, she spoke to us about how to decorate houseplants safely as well as practices to avoid. "In general, I think it's definitely fine to decorate plants for the holidays," Selvey states, "Christmas is the perfect time to add a little extra pizzazz to your houseplants, but a few bad choices can cause long term damage."

If you don't want your embellishments to spell doom for your indoor garden, the key is choosing the best kind of decorations for different types of plants. Things to consider are the decorations' weight, whether the plant is strong enough to support decoration, and how you attach them to the plant — if at all. Keep these things in mind as you plan your plants' décor, especially if you're looking to use houseplants as a Christmas tree alternative for your small space.

Some houseplants like amaryllis, poinsettias, and Christmas cacti are perfect spice up your holiday décor without adding extra lights and baubles, but our year-round plant friends would look oh-so-adorable with a bit of flair, wouldn't they? Some smaller indoor plants that rest on tabletops might not support more than a couple of bows on their stems and branches, but in her exclusive interview with House Digest, Tiffany Selvey suggests, "Red berries or flowers on stems inserted in the soil add even more color and texture." A product like these WangLapp Artificial Red Berries Stems would be a great candidate for decorating fragile plants without damaging leaves and branches. "Those with smaller houseplants can still add some shimmer to their greenery," says Selvey, "Battery-powered LED fairy lights can brighten up dark nights." Featherweight string lights like these Ariceleo LED Fairy Lights will easily wrap around leaves without weighing them down.

Baubles and larger ornaments aren't totally off the table either, depending on which houseplants you keep in your home. Selvey shares, "If you're eager to hang heavier items like standard lights, colorful garland, or ornaments on your indoor plants, only add those to larger, woody plants like fiddle leaf figs or indoor citrus. If you have large plants that are a little more delicate, like parlor palms, lightweight ornaments like small plastic balls should be safe to hang on the more mature fronds for a festive look."

While most plants can handle a light holiday makeover, there are some mistakes to avoid if you want them to stay happy and healthy for the rest of the year. While she's all for a little festive flair, Tiffany Selvey cautioned readers in her exclusive interview with House Digest, stating, "When you're thinking of adding your houseplants to the decorating fun, there are a few things to keep in mind. Unlike LED lights, incandescent Christmas lights can get hot and burn delicate leaves." Another thing to be cautious about when decorating plants with Christmas lights is that even with LED bulbs, the increased light can be too much for sensitive plants. This can lead to yellowing or overly pale leaves, since too much light can break down plants' chlorophyll.

Take extra care while hanging decorations on plants. "Of course, you never want to pierce a leaf to hang an ornament," Selvey warns. If you're playing it safe by placing décor in pots' soil rather than attaching them to plants themselves, she also reminds us to "Steer clear of plant roots if you are inserting anything into the soil." Of course, some plants are better left alone to display their natural beauty. "The only plants I would recommend not decorating are very delicate plants or seedlings that are easily bruised or damaged. That could include some succulents," says Selvey.