I popped into my local book shop to pick up yet another gardening and horticultural text that I had ordered. I joked to the shop assistant that I was starting to buy more plant books than actual plants. That comment got me thinking: “Which of those many books I have purchased would I actually recommend to other like-minded individuals?”
The result of that questioning?
Here is a very quick glance at three of the interior plantscaping books currently on high rotation in my ‘library’…
The Manual of Interior Plantscaping: A guide to design, installation, and maintenance
Written by Kathy Fediw, this so-called manual of interior plantscaping is indeed just that. Kathy is an internationally renowned interior plantscape consultant, author and speaker based in Texas, USA, and Honorary Member of the Interior Plantscape Association (IPA). Some of you may remember Kathy from her presentation at the 2017 IPA conference in Melbourne.
Kathy has a wealth of experience which she generously shares with her audience. Kathy profiles sixty indoor plants in detail, including cultivation and maintenance notes, and placement suggestions, e.g. floor plant, desk plant, seasonal rotation. She describes how to design different types of plantscapes from potted plants and terrariums to atriums and green walls.
Who should read this?
Professional interior plantscapers, including horticulturists (e.g. plant technicians) and designers)
Details: Fediw, Kathy 2015, The Manual of Interior Plantscaping: A guide to design, installation, and maintenance, Timber Press/USA
The Planthunter: Truth, Beauty, Chaos and Plants
If you are after inspiration, then this is the book for you. Written by Georgina Reid, aka ‘The Planthunter’ and photographed by Sydney-sider Daniel Shipp, this beautiful book should grace all coffee tables across this country especially the ones in your office! Your clients would be no doubt be inspired by it and seek your help to realise similar interiors.
This is no ‘how-to guide’ of interior plantscaping. Instead, Georgina skilfully recounts the story of the people behind the featured gardens through those gardens. Daniel shot the early Plant Life Balance campaigns and he knows how to captivate the viewer with images of lush landscapes, both indoors and outdoors. The result is a book that you really want to return to again and again purely for pleasure. However, it may just benefit you professionally as well.
Who should read this?
Designers of interior and exterior plantscapes; lovers of truth, beauty, chaos and plants!
Details: Reid, Georgina & Shipp, Daniel 2018, The Planthunter: Truth, Beauty, Chaos and Plants, Thames & Hudson/Port Melbourne
Top 50 indoor plants and how not to kill them!
Written by Angie Thomas, a horticultural consultant to Yates, this practical guide to growing and maintaining indoor plants is focussed squarely on the home gardener.
This guide provides basic cultivation and maintenance notes for fifty of the most popular indoor plants currently on the market, ranging from Alocasia amazonica (African Mask Plant) to Zamioculcas zamiifolia (ZZ Plant). It also includes design suggestions for different areas within the home, some of which can be transferred to other settings, e.g. Angie’s recommended plants for a low light situation can also be included in retail and commercial settings.
Given Angie’s professional relationship with Yates, it is no surprise then that Yates products are recommended by her to her readers. However, if you get past that limitation, this could potentially be a handy guide to people starting out in the industry.
Who should read this?
Horticulturists and designers starting out in the interior plantscape industry, especially those with residential clients; keen amateur growers and designers; green and brown thumbs
Details: Thomas, Angie 2018, Top 50 indoor plants and how not to kill them!, Harper Collins Publishers/Sydney
Your reading recommendations?
What books would you recommend that your newly employed plant technician or designer get their hands on?
Share your recommendations with fellow IPA members on our Facebook page or via e-mail: info@interiorplantscape.asn.au.
Gabrielle Stannus / Inwardout Studio
IPA Board Member