Inside the greenest apartment in New York City

Think living in an apartment is holding back your green thumb potential? Try this for inspiration.

Summer Rayne Oakes has established an indoor garden with more than 500 plants in her Brooklyn apartment.

“When my roommate moved out over six years ago, that’s when it occurred to me that I could start making adjustments to the house,” Oakes said.

“I got my first houseplant – a fiddle leaf ficus. When I brought it home, it was just over three-feet tall. Now it is so gargantuan, it curves and stretches its leafy limbs across my bedroom ceiling, forming a large-leaved canopy.”

Over the years, Oakes has turned her 111 square-metre home into a living space that is host to around 500 plants across 150 species, proving that neither a lack of outdoor space nor an inner-city location are barriers to creating a thriving green space.

“I wanted to feel closer to nature while living in the big city. It’s really allowed me to feel more at peace, more connected, particularly in a place that is overstimulating to the senses,” Oakes said.

Maintaining the indoor garden requires daily watering via the 45-metre hose permanently attached to the sink.

“Typically I spend about 30 minutes every day ­– which I consider my early morning or evening meditation – then I spend about 1-1.5 hours on the weekend clipping, pruning and watering,” Oakes said.

Also helping to upkeep the plant life is the sub-irrigation system Oakes has installed in the bedroom’s vertical garden.

“To my knowledge, it was the first sub-irrigated vertical wall built for a residential unit in the US,” she said.

Having a “hands-off” landlord has afforded Oakes the freedom to update the apartment to suit her lifestyle and environmentally-friendly living ethos.

Many of the DIY projects undertaken in the former commercial loft have been completed with the help of Oakes’ father, including the Mason jar plant garden installed on the kitchen wall.

“Since that time, we’ve built a “drawbridge” herb garden from reclaimed wood above the sink, converted a coatrack shelf into an herb drying rack, created a vertical “swing garden” for my calatheas [prayer plants], converted my closet into a herb and vegetable garden and created an air plant art fixture with some discarded wood I found on the street.”

Oakes has also made efforts to ensure waste is minimised in the home in line with her work in the environmental sector.

Originally a model, Oakes is a qualified environmental scientist who has worked across numerous sustainably-minded ventures in the fashion, beauty and food industries. She is working on a cookbook to accompany her online platform, Sugar Detox Me.

“I’ve been a big proponent for composting, so I have a composting and vermicomposting system set up in my home, and I’m just very conscious with my waste in general. I typically only toss a small bag of garbage out every three weeks,” she said.

“I suppose I’m just far more energy conscious than most, though with all my plants, I probably use quite a bit of water!”

Oakes’ home is always evolving, with new projects and plants always on the horizon.

“I really do consider what we do living art. It has a permanent place in the home, yet it’s constantly shifting, growing and changing,” she said.

“It’s art – but it’s art that you must attend to – or alternatively, that you can eat!”

Photo: Summer Rayne Oakes

Oakes’ top tips for indoor gardening

1.
Grow herbs on your windowsill. They are perfect for cooks!

2.
If you have direct sun, grow succulents. They are low-maintenance and easy to care for.

3.
Add Spanish moss or air plants to your home. They are easy to care for and only need soaking and misting.

4.
Turn your old tea canisters into plant containers.

5.
Add some eucalyptus branches to your shower. The heat from the shower will release their scent and bring greenery to your bathroom routine.