Course description

Bought a plant that drooped within a month? Not sure whether to water, move it or leave it alone? This course shows you, step by step, how to choose houseplants that suit your home and keep them healthy for years: watering, light, compost, feeding, repotting, propagation, pests, the seasons and keeping pets and children safe.

It's a full course, not a list of tips. There are 10 sections and 50 written lessons, each with a practical task. You follow a fictional plant owner in a rented flat in Gloucester through her first six months with houseplants, using her plant log, the mistakes she made and how she put them right. Every section has a worksheet, model answers, a cheat sheet and ready-to-use tools.

What you'll learn

• Getting started: how houseplants work, choosing your first plants, reading labels, plant safety basics and starting a plant log.
• Watering: checking before you water, pots and drainage, signs of too much and too little water, watering from below and humidity in UK homes.
• Light: what each window direction gives you through the year, plants for low light and for sun, moving plants and grow light basics.
• Compost, feeding and repotting: peat-free mixes, when to feed, how to repot, choosing containers and keeping plants clean and tidy.
• Plant groups: trailing and climbing plants, succulents and cacti, ferns and calatheas, flowering plants, palms and statement plants.
• Propagation: stem cuttings in water and compost, plantlets, division, leaf cuttings and plant swaps.
• Problems: reading leaves, common pests, treating them safely, rescuing a plant from root rot and knowing when to let go.
• Through the year: spring, summer, autumn and winter care, radiators and cold windows, holidays, moving house and seasonal gift plants.
• Plants in your home: pets and children, styling and grouping, shelves and hanging plants, and plants in rented homes and at work.

The final project

You'll plan a plant collection that suits your own rooms, build a care calendar for the whole year, learn to review a plant log so you spot problems early, and use a checklist to buy healthy plants. A project brief, a collection planner and a care calendar builder are included.

Who this course is for

• First-time plant owners and anyone whose plants keep dying.
• People in flats and rented homes with no garden who want greenery indoors.
• Pet owners and parents who want to choose plants with care.

How the course works

Read each lesson, then do the practical task using the files in the practice pack. You don't need any special kit to start: a plant, a jug and a window will do. You keep lifetime access, so you can come back whenever a plant puzzles you.

What will I learn?

• Choose plants that suit the light, warmth and space in your home, and read plant labels
• Tell when a plant needs water and avoid the overwatering that kills many houseplants
• Place plants in the right window and adjust for the UK seasons, with or without a grow light
• Choose peat-free compost, feed at the right times and repot without stressing your plants
• Care for the main plant groups: trailing plants, succulents, ferns, flowering plants and palms
• Grow new plants from cuttings, plantlets, division and leaves, and share them
• Spot and fix yellow leaves, pests and root rot, and know when to let a plant go
• Keep plants safe around pets and children, and plan a collection and care calendar of your own

Frequently asked questions