How to Grow an Urban Jungle at Home
Plant-loving architect Jason Chongue shares 3 tips for jump-starting your indoor garden
Annie Thornton
May 30, 2018
Houzz Editorial Staff
Think you don’t have the room, time or skill to grow indoor plants? In Plant Society, published this spring, Australian architect, interior designer and plant cultivator Jason Chongue shows how anyone, regardless of home size or plant knowledge, can create a lush, thriving indoor plant oasis.
The following three tips from Chongue match common concerns about indoor gardening with plant solutions we can all use.
The following three tips from Chongue match common concerns about indoor gardening with plant solutions we can all use.
Hardie Grant Books
Photos by Armelle Habib
Chongue, pictured in front of his Melbourne home, has been enamored with growing plants since he was a child, learning through trial and error and receiving encouragement from his grandma, also a gardener.
Today, the home he shares with his partner, Nathan Smith, overflows with an ever-growing collection of tropical plants. Together, they’ve grown their own plant knowledge and collection, collaborating and sharing their know-how with gardeners of all skill levels.
In the book, Chongue covers everything from choosing plants to styling them and caring for them when things go wrong. “It doesn’t take much to create your own green spaces at home,” he writes in the foreword. “I hope [this book] inspires you to start your own personal plant journey.”
Chongue, pictured in front of his Melbourne home, has been enamored with growing plants since he was a child, learning through trial and error and receiving encouragement from his grandma, also a gardener.
Today, the home he shares with his partner, Nathan Smith, overflows with an ever-growing collection of tropical plants. Together, they’ve grown their own plant knowledge and collection, collaborating and sharing their know-how with gardeners of all skill levels.
In the book, Chongue covers everything from choosing plants to styling them and caring for them when things go wrong. “It doesn’t take much to create your own green spaces at home,” he writes in the foreword. “I hope [this book] inspires you to start your own personal plant journey.”
Hardie Grant Books
From left: Purple heart (Tradescantia pallida), Swiss cheese plant (Monstera obliqua), philodendron, wax plant (Hoya sp.), prayer plant (Maranta leuconeura), heart-leaf ivy (Philodendron cordatum) and watermelon peperomia (Peperomia argyreia)
1. Limited room? Think vertically with cascading plants on shelves and windowsills.
In a home where floor space is limited, consider placing plants on narrow windowsills, open wall shelves or even in containers hung from the ceiling. Cascading foliage can soften bare corners or hard edges that we often forget to decorate. “For those wanting an indoor jungle, try hanging plants from your ceiling and letting those trailing and climbing plants grow wild,” Chongue says.
Small-footprint plants with cascading foliage:
1. Limited room? Think vertically with cascading plants on shelves and windowsills.
In a home where floor space is limited, consider placing plants on narrow windowsills, open wall shelves or even in containers hung from the ceiling. Cascading foliage can soften bare corners or hard edges that we often forget to decorate. “For those wanting an indoor jungle, try hanging plants from your ceiling and letting those trailing and climbing plants grow wild,” Chongue says.
Small-footprint plants with cascading foliage:
- Wax flower plant (Hoya spp.)
- Swiss cheese plant (Monstera adansonii)
- Radiator plants (Peperomia spp.), which are perfect on narrow windowsills
Hardie Grant Books
From left: Lucky bamboo (Dracaena sp.), babaco (Vasconcellea x heilbornii), devil’s ivy (Epipremnum aureum), cabbage tree (Cussonia sp.), cast-iron plant (Aspidistra elatior ‘Shooting Star’) and Zanzibar gem (Zamioculcas sp.)
2. Killed plants before? Skip fussy species and stick to ones that will clue you in on their needs.
This may sound like common sense, but self-professed black-thumb gardeners should probably avoid plants known to be high-maintenance. “Often, plant enthusiasts who haven’t had much luck growing plants confess to having chosen temperamental plants like maidenhair ferns (Adiantum spp.) and fiddleleaf figs (Ficus lyrata),” Chongue says.
Give yourself a break and start with plants that are known to be easy to grow. “I call these ‘icebreaker’ plants. They can adapt to a range of natural lighting conditions and will visually let you know when they are thirsty,” Chongue says.
“Icebreaker” plants with high impact:
2. Killed plants before? Skip fussy species and stick to ones that will clue you in on their needs.
This may sound like common sense, but self-professed black-thumb gardeners should probably avoid plants known to be high-maintenance. “Often, plant enthusiasts who haven’t had much luck growing plants confess to having chosen temperamental plants like maidenhair ferns (Adiantum spp.) and fiddleleaf figs (Ficus lyrata),” Chongue says.
Give yourself a break and start with plants that are known to be easy to grow. “I call these ‘icebreaker’ plants. They can adapt to a range of natural lighting conditions and will visually let you know when they are thirsty,” Chongue says.
“Icebreaker” plants with high impact:
- Devil’s ivy (Epipremnum aureum)
- Peace lily (Spathiphyllum spp.)
- Split-leaf philodendron (Monstera deliciosa)
Hardie Grant Books
From left: Devil’s ivy (Epipremnum aureum), radiator plant (Peperomia sp.), wax plant (Hoya sp.), betel leaf (Piper betle) and begonia
Hardie Grant Books
From left: Devil’s ivy (Epipremnum aureum), watermelon vine (Pellionia sp.), wax plant (Hoya sp.) and peace lily (Spathiphyllum ‘Picasso’)
3. Not enough time? Stick to resilient, low-maintenance species.
You don’t have to commit tons of time to gardening if you don’t want to. “People often steer away from plants, as they are under the impression gardening is time-consuming. This is not the case and once again comes down to what plants you choose,” Chongue says.
Easy-care plants that won’t eat into your schedule:
3. Not enough time? Stick to resilient, low-maintenance species.
You don’t have to commit tons of time to gardening if you don’t want to. “People often steer away from plants, as they are under the impression gardening is time-consuming. This is not the case and once again comes down to what plants you choose,” Chongue says.
Easy-care plants that won’t eat into your schedule:
- Cast-iron plant (Aspidistra elatior)
- Peace lily (Spathiphyllum spp.)
- Split-leaf philodendron (Monstera deliciosa)
Hardie Grant Books
Info: Plant Society, by Jason Chongue (Hardie Grant Books, April 2018)
Your turn: Do you grow houseplants in your small space? We’d love to see them. Share your best photos in the Comments below.
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Your turn: Do you grow houseplants in your small space? We’d love to see them. Share your best photos in the Comments below.
More
10 Pet-Safe Houseplants
See more guides to small-space living
Browse indoor pots and planters
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This is about a quarter of the plants in my bedroom, consisting of the ones that can handle 6 hours or less of bright sunlight without suffering too much. The rest of the bedroom is an unmitigated chaos of monstera, norfolk pine, staghorn ferns, trays of pet grass, terrestrial orchids (paphs and various jewel orchids), pothos, and a bird's nest fern with a worrisomely large wingspan. The rest of my place is 800 sq. ft. of west and south facing windows (more windows than wall) and is full of the sun-loving cacti and tropicals which provide some dappled shade to my orchid collection. I wish I had a recent photo of my banana and grapefruit trees! I haven't quite reached critical mass yet, but my significant other no longer calls it "gardening" and now refers to it as "terraforming." As long as he can figure out how to navigate the ever-changing arrangement of plants without knocking any over, I don't care what he calls it! :)
I am in love with the ZZ plant. It is large but it is not very fussy and has leaves so glossy that you have to touch them to see if they are real.