Linnaea Newman

The Guide to Interior Landscape Specifications, 5th Edition, ALCA (PLANET)

Although this drawing depicts how many interior landscapers have been installing interior foliage plants for years, it contains one significant ommission.  It does not depict how to keep plants from sinking into the planters as the well-drained soilless media used in them compacts and decomposes.

It’s springtime, and all the new installations I’m traveling to inspect  look great, with planters full of soilless medium and brand new plants.  However, without a method of preventing the plants from sinking, they AND the soilless medium will be 6" below the planter rim within a year, as in the photo below.  This palm tree has a 14" liner wrapped around its trunks, 4" sticking above the medium, and 10" below the soil, which has sunken beneath the plants.  Duration of installation, 2 years.   

Since exterior landscapers have faced this problem for more years than we’ve been operating indoors, they have devised a method of preventing this problem by using proper planting methods (see previous post).  We can do likewise, so stay tuned for the solution.