You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile (and a plant)

Mark Mac Hattie

Landscape designer @that_other_plant_dad

At this stage of your mid-adult life, you most likely have had, at the very least, 5 house plants. With any luck 2 of them are still thirty, flirty and thriving. But why did the others die, were they temperamental? Was it a disease? Your inexperience? Bad lighting and poor soil? Yes, to all of the above. You were terrible, but you’ve gotten the hang of it. Slowly your collection has grown and you’ve learnt the correct placement, light, water and disease treatment protocols. Well done. You’re doing great sweetie.

There’s just one last thing, you’ve gotten really good at taking care of your plants, like a “Little Shop of Horrors” type of good - and now, Audrey wants out. Time to learn the most valuable lesson as a plant parent. You never truly own a plant, you’re a custodian of their wellbeing and while they're in your care, it’s the Maddox to your Jolie. You adopted a tiny three leafed Monstera with heart shaped leaves and cared for them for many years and now, they're standing 2m tall, have leaves bigger than most of your friends and it is dwarfing your furniture. You are competing for space and the best thing you can do is set your baby free. But do it nicely.

Freedom for the houseplants is mostly a shaded area under a tree that is moist, but not wet. If you don’t personally know of someone that has a garden that can take in your beauty, talk to your local parks department to see if you could plant your baby in a section. The only reason for them to say no is if your plant is on the invader alien list and poses a risk to local flora. Botanical gardens are always looking for good large specimens, there are usually a few per city or even one per town.

Next up is another route, one I have pursued recently. Auction and private sales. It sounds strange, but believe me , the plant auction market is ridiculous. The bigger the specimen the more likely you are to get a bid. People transport plants internationally and most buyers of large specimens have greenhouses or atriums, something not stock standard in most city dweller's apartments. Plants are the new beanie babies and everyone wants the rarest and biggest, so if you have a large specimen, you are willing to part with (make a cutting first though) get on one of these trading platforms. Facebook groups specialising in types of plants, ebay auctions and certain websites deal exclusively in plant bids and transport.

I know it seems like a moral dilemma, but most of your plants started off small and the joy you had in watching them grow, transplanting them regularly and having friends admire them is all part of the process, and once you've raised them to be a good sized specimen, letting them go on to their new home or outside space is the most natural thing you can do. This also opens up space for more plants that will go with you through the process again and add joy to your life.

Plant care for home and garden.

The new range of GARDENA Hand Held Pump and Pressure Sprayers offer convenient and gentle plant care for all garden sizes.

The soft sprayer is perfect for gentle watering of delicate plants and seedlings. The Pump and pressure sprayers are cleverly designed to ensure no air gets sucked in and that the sprayers are able to work in any position. High-quality brass nozzle can move up to 90°, making it perfect for under-leaf applications. Translucent body provides easy visibility of water level.

Effective and convenient plant care for home and garden.

Soft Sprayer 0.45 Litre

Pump Sprayer 0.75 Litre Pump Sprayer 1 Litre Pressure Sprayer 1.25 Litre

gardena.com