Sneak Peek

Indoor Plants Short Course

This course teaches you how to better manage indoor plants:

• What to grow where
• How to grow it
• How to keep it in good condition
• How to detect and attend to problems
• In many respects, it is "Landscaping for inside a building"
  
  

WHY?

Some people will do this course as an amateur who just wants to grow and use indoor plants better in their own home.

Others though, will do this course in preparation for working with indoor plants; or to improve your ability to work with them.

OPPORTUNITIES

People work with indoor plants in various ways, including:

• Plantscaping companies - design, build and sometimes maintain indoor plantscapes
• Specialist nurseries - propagate, grow and sell indoor plants to retailers, contractors or direct to the public
• Contractors who visit (mostly commercial) buildings routinely, inspecting, carrying out maintenance, and if needed, replacing sick plants
• Environmental companies -may focus on creating  better environments within a building; through a number of initiatives - and plants may be a part of their broader strategy

COURSE CONTENT

This short course covers seven lessons:

Lesson 1  Introduction to Indoor Plants

• Psychological and physical benefits of plants 
• Where indoor plants are used 
• Considerations when introducing indoor plants 
• Groups of indoor plants 

Lesson 2   Ways to Grow plants inside 

• Containers and growing systems for indoor plants 
• Planters, pots or tubs & their Problems 
• Hanging baskets, hanging pots, wall baskets and planter boxes 
• Atriums and terrariums 
• Green walls 
• Tower gardens 
• Systems used for indoor plant installations 
• Water and watering 
• Watering systems 
• Fertigation 
• Potting media

Lesson 3  Planning and installation 

• Formulating a design approach 
• Design 
• Placing container plants 
• How to use colour with indoor plants 
• Design elements and Principles
• Evaluating a building 
• Choosing the system 
• Environmental controls/improvements 
• Choosing the plants and conditioning them 
• Conditioning plants for indoors 
• Providing drainage
• Installation techniques 
• Installing baskets and hanging pots
• Installing window boxes
• Atriums and Terrariums 
• Placing container plants 
• How to use colour with indoor plants 
• Mixing colours 
• Walls and Mirrors 

Lesson 4   Maintenance of indoor plants 

• General care 
• Maintenance of hanging baskets 
• Maintaining a terrarium 
• General maintenance tasks for vertical gardens 
• Water movement from soils to roots 
• Understanding soil and potting mix 

Lesson 5  Pest and disease

• Identifying problems
• Maintaining plant health 
• Symptoms and diagnosis 

Lesson 6   Hardy indoor plants 

• Plants species that grow in low - moderate light 
• Plants species that grow in air conditioning 
• Plants species that grow in temperature extremes 
• Growing culinary herbs indoors in winter 

Lesson 7   Air quality management and indoor plants

• What is in the air? 
• Humidity 
• Pollutants 
• Ventilation 
• Plants 
• Plant species that grow in poor air and pollution

LEARN WHY PEOPLE GROW INDOOR PLANTS

The overall objectives in using plants indoors are to beautify a space and to create a great atmosphere, both aesthetically and physically within a built environment. Aesthetically plants should help set a mood for the interior. Physically, plants can improve air quality, provide screening, impact acoustics and contribute in other ways. You learn all that in this course.

There are a variety of ways in which plants might be introduced indoors. Good design will enhance a space, whether it be large or small. Plant installations may be as simple as a terrarium or as complex as an atrium or green wall.

There is a lot more to establishing an indoor garden than just choosing plants. There are many facets that need detailed consideration and include: planning (design – the planting design and the system design, installation and maintenance) and evaluation of an existing space where a plantscape or indoor plants are to be retrofitted rather than part of an original building design.

Design
Before anything, discover the needs of the people using the space you are designing (i.e. plantscaping). There is no point in introducing a lot of plants into a time-poor home. Equally there is no point in designing a complex plantscape for a commercial setting, if you also don’t plan for a maintenance program. 

When it comes to indoor plants, more often than not they are an afterthought, especially as far as design is concerned – not just in homes but often in commercial buildings and offices too. When plants are afterthoughts, they often don’t work from a design perspective however a plantscape can be stunning, and even the placement of a single plant can have dramatic effect on a room. A good example is the placement of a colourful Phalaenopsis orchid in a modern, minimalist setting – the plant takes central stage against white walls and sleek furniture; modern settings like this, with their clean lines, stark walls and simply constructed furniture, demand simplicity in each and every input into that design, including the plants. A plant can become an important design element in such a space, drawing the eye and creating drama similarly to a piece of artwork.