How Plants Grow: The Essentials

Cultivate your dream garden escape

This two-week, plants-first course from BBC Gardeners’ World will teach you the foundational knowledge needed to be a good gardener. Building on the basic science behind plants, you’ll learn how to help any plant thrive by creating the right growing environment.

Discover different plant types and how to grow them

In order to create the best environment for your plants, it’s important to understand how they function and how they differ from each other.

You’ll start by building a foundation in the science of plants, learning about the different parts of plants, their different forms, and how each part supports growth. You’ll then look at various different plant types and their different needs to grow successfully.

Learn the growth cycles of different plants

Plants all have their own optimal environment for growth, and this includes the time of year and weather that they each thrive in.

This course will guide you through the growth cycles of different plant types and tips for maintaining them through these cycles. You’ll also look at the different environments that help each type of plant to grow, both indoors and outdoors, and assess the growing conditions that you already have around you.

Explore how soil composition determines what you can grow

When assessing different growing conditions, you need to know how to adapt your cultivation techniques according to your plant’s needs.

This course will teach you the basics of different techniques and what you need to know to assess different growing conditions and adapt for your plants. You’ll also focus on soil composition and the role it plays in determining what you’re able to grow.

This course is designed for anyone with an interest in gardening who wants to learn the best way to grow and care for all kinds of plants. It will be useful to every kind of gardener, whether you’ve gardened before or not.

• How plants grow
• Welcome to the course
• Back to basics: what's in a plant?
• How a plant grows itself
• What will you grow?
• Where and when plants grow
• Assess your conditions
• Understanding seasons
• Climate, outdoor and indoor environments
• Understanding your soil