16 January 2025

The Plant Society Design Handbook

| Rama Gaind
book cover

The Plant Society Design Handbook brings together essential know-how for incorporating the ethereal magic of plants into your living spaces. Photo: Supplied.

If you are a plant lover with a ‘’green thumb’’ (and others, too!), then there’s every chance you will learn a lot from The Plant Society Design Handbook. As it states, it’s a plant stylist’s guide to creating beautiful living spaces. So, if you love plants and appreciate design, this is an ideal way to combine the best of the two in your home.

After training as an architect and working as an interior designer, Jason Chongue founded The Plant Society in 2016 as a way to merge his love of plants with his day job. He loves the idea of introducing that joy into people’s lives.

“I’ve always felt complete when in the garden; my relationship with plants has been a solace and source of calm,” Chongue said.

“In our increasingly urbanised world, it’s easy to forget about the interconnection between humans and nature, and the role we play in nurturing the environment around us. We often look towards nature, rather than seeing ourselves as a part of it.

”Creating gardens in our own spaces is an excellent way to re-establish this connection – and to allow the natural world to enhance our mental and physical health, every day.”

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Design can of course be replicated, but it’s the individual, personal touches that make a space feel like a home – and which set it apart. Greenery is the key to this, the comfort and completeness that plants provide being crucial elements in a design’s success. We put a lot of thought into how our homes look and feel, paying particular attention to architectural and interior design elements.

“While the conversation has changed since 2016, plants – and the budget for them! – are still often considered a nice-to-have or an afterthought. Yet they are about more than growing a garden: they allow you to curate a space that breathes your heart and soul.”

The Plant Society Design Handbook brings together essential know-how for incorporating the ethereal magic of plants into your living spaces. Chongue builds from the basics with a comprehensive guide to 80-plus of his go-to plants, the conditions they thrive in and how to nurture them for a long life.

He reveals the secrets to successful garden layouts, sharing design-led templates that are adaptable to different spaces, and explains how to navigate plant grouping and placement. He also shares style fundamentals including colour, texture, shape and scale.

Chongue is a designer with a fresh take on plants and gardening. His approach to a successful garden design always starts with two simple things: functionality and personality. The green elements in your space must practically suit your needs and lifestyle, and they should reflect your own tastes and values.

“Many people still think of gardens as exclusively green spaces outside. But if you ask me, a garden is any space where you can tend to greenery. There are no rules about what forms a garden can or should take.”

Now, if you say, “But I’m not a gardener”, Jason has an answer to that too. “Well, neither was I. My love for plants grew out of a happy childhood hobby. I didn’t train in horticulture; rather, I’ve built on the knowledge that fellow gardeners have shared with me over more than 25 years.”

His approach to gardening reflects who he is: “I combine intuition with experimentation and, mostly, get where I want to go.”

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The 253-page hardcover includes 41 “recipes and blueprints” including illustrations, colourful photography, plan sketches, a shopping list and tips for ongoing care so you can enjoy the rewards of your own personal green spaces.

He hopes to inspire you to dream up your own green space, big or small, and give you all of the ingredients you need to bring this vision to life. He talks you through the design fundamentals to consider when planning your space. The rudiments get you started, like with budgeting, understanding seasonality, when to plan, when to sow and the art of plant (and planter) choice (it is an art!).

Afterwards, of course, once your garden is up and flourishing, there’s indispensable knowledge for keeping it that way: with regular plant care such as watering, pruning, deadheading, repotting, aerating, feeding, beating pests and more. With these foundations, you can explore a vast array of garden design projects – from verdant plant shelves to bold balcony arrangements to fuss-free front yards.

You will have a wonderful garden, be it tranquil, enchanting, wild or tidy. Creating your own green oasis is addictive!

The Plant Society Design Handbook, by Jason Chongue, Murdoch Books, $45

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