Natalia Sáez Achaerandio (Madrid 1986) is the author of the books Indoor plants do not exist (2022) and Los mataplantas noexist (2024), her latest guide to plant care, both from the Anaya publishing house. She herself was a “plant killer,” she confesses, until, while looking for decorative elements for her house, she came across the Monstera Deliciosa, very characteristic for its perforated leaves. This species, a classic plant for interior decoration due to its wild appearance and ease of spreading into spaces, was what made Sáez grow interested in gardening.
An architect by training, it was not until 2015 that she began to be interested and trained in plants and their care. She studied a master’s degree in digital business and, once trapped in the world of gardening, one in landscaping to further deepen her knowledge. “I have a double aspect,” she explains, “the master’s degree in landscaping is very complementary to training as an architect.” After a lot of reading about plant care, and also a lot of trial and error, in 2017 she decided to start the blog In April leaves a thousand, the name also carried by her social media accounts, where she has accumulated thousands of followers – 216,000 on Instagram, almost 10,000 on YouTube and 93,100 on TikTok – with which he shares tips and recommendations, tricks or false myths about gardening.
Where does this passion for plants come from?
Actually, it started in a very casual way. I had had a lot of family contact with this world because my grandmother had two plant stores and she loved them, but it’s true that for me they were a bit like… Well, that’s grandma stuff, right? In fact he had had three or four of these very easy ones, like a bamboo, and he had killed them all. So, at a certain point, when I became independent, I wanted to redecorate my house because, being an architect, decoration is a topic that I really like. There I saw that there were certain decorations, especially Nordic style, in which there were always plants. And one of them was the Monstera Deliciosa, which is this plant with holes in the leaves and which I thought was super aesthetic.
All this was born from the Monstera.
I told myself “I’m going to try to buy one of these delicious Monsteras and see if it lasts this time.” The plants I had had kept me alive for a week or a month at most. I looked for information about it on the internet and discovered millions of spectacular plants. The Monstera wasn’t bad for me, I saw that it survived me for a while and then I bought others to decorate certain places in the house. I don’t know when my head clicked, madness broke loose and I ended up having more than 100 plants in a really tiny apartment. That’s how it all started.
So you could say it was thanks to searching on the internet?
It is true that the information I found seemed contradictory to me. Because in some places they say one thing and in others another, in fact, there were plants whose names did not even match from one page to another. Let’s say that the internet served as a base for me. Then I also read botany books, I was above all interested in explaining how plants really work, rather than specific care guidelines. That’s what I realized wasn’t working for me. Over time you let go and you see that some plant is better for you than the other, it is a bit of trial and error. Obviously, I made many mistakes along the way, you learn from them. I don’t call it a methodology, but I have acquired my own criteria when it comes to taking care of plants, which is what really works the most for me.
What is this criterion like?
The first thing, following a bit what I explained in my first book, which is that indoor plants do not exist. What we do is adapt them to the interior of a house because our outdoor climate does not allow us to have them there. Starting from that, I would continue with the theory that we cannot generalize, nor give the same guidelines for all plants everywhere. It depends a lot on the type of climate you live in, the temperature of your house, the light given to the plant, whether you have it near the window or not, the substrate, the pot… Instead of explaining to us plant care from general guidelines, what I do is, first, observe the plant, because there are many that give us clues. Then, know that the plant, if it can be outdoors, will always be better than indoors. And third, always observe the state of the substrate, because maybe in your house you have to water a plant once a month and I have to water it every 15 days because its environment is different.
Do you think that following fixed guidelines and not thinking about possible variables is the worst mistake for a beginner?
I think the first mistake is misinformation. Of the first plants I had, I didn’t even bother to look up the name or what they needed. Then what happens is that there are many guidelines that are too generic, without taking into account that each plant behaves in one way in one place and another.
What would be an easy plant to start getting interested in gardening?
One of the ones that I usually recommend is pothos, which is a plant that, if you have pets, it is better to avoid because it is toxic to them. If this is not the case, it is a very easy plant. If you give it very good indirect light, great, but if it is in a space with less natural light, it adapts relatively well. In that sense it is undemanding. And it has one very good thing and that is that when it needs watering it becomes wilted. Of course, you don’t have to let it become wilted until the leaves completely fade, but when we have no idea when to water, that is a very good indicator to know.
The plant itself warns that it is time to water it.
That is. There are others that are also very easy, but if you have no idea about plants, I usually recommend pothos especially for that reason, because it gives you a warning. It seems to me that in that sense it is much easier to learn this way.
And what elements must be taken into consideration once we want to buy a plant or we already have it and want it to outlive us?
For me there are two super important ones that should be the basics, at least to make it last a while, irrigation and light. Irrigation is the first thing that kills a plant, unfortunately. Watering too frequently or leaving the substrate waterlogged usually kills most plants. Leaving it dehydrated for a long time can damage the leaves or dry it out, but it is easier to recover. And then the light, which by calling them indoor plants and having them inside the house, I think that sometimes we buy them like someone who buys a small table or a candle. There are plants that, even if they are indoors, need much more light than it seems to live well and grow. In general, we give little importance to light.
Does it kill you to overwater rather than underwater?
Completely, in the vast majority of plants. For example, the fern needs a lot of environmental humidity and a lot of water, because it dries very quickly. But, in general, we almost always kill them because of excessive risk. It is the most common evil.
So, would it be important to take into account the origin of the plant when choosing it?
I think it depends on what works for each person. It helps me because if I know that it comes from tropical jungles, where it rains a lot at times and where the temperatures and humidity are high, I already know that it is a plant that is going to need specific conditions: which will be quite far from those of my house and that will require greater attention in terms of its surroundings and irrigation. Based on that, I can give them some care almost by intuition.
And for the light, would leaving the plant near the window so that the sun touches it be enough?
The closer to a window the better. The issue of orientation should also be taken into account because, for example, if it faces north it will never receive as much light as if it faces south. For example, the Monstera that we talked about before, the direct summer sun can burn its leaves. If you have curtains you can play with that a little. In general, it is ideal for indoor plants to be in semi-shade, meaning that they can receive early morning sun. Or filtered through a curtain, without receiving direct sun.
Chemical products for plant maintenance, for or against?
That is a good question. I use a little of everything. If I can use a natural or less chemical remedy that works for me, I prefer those types of products. What happens is that there are more and more resistant pests, so chemical products are increasingly necessary. There are certain things that you cannot fight with honey oil alone. By preference, I prefer natural products and, if they are not natural, they should be as ecological as possible, but it is difficult not to use any chemicals. Sooner or later, if you have pests, you have to use one.
To a person who doesn’t know anything about plants and wants to start, what advice would you give them?
Inform. You go to a nursery and you can go crazy. Ideally, see which two or three plants are easiest to start with. Have your plant at home for the first few months, learn to care for it, understand it, become familiar with knowing when the substrate is dry, when that means it needs watering… And when you are already a little familiar, start looking for other types of plants, one that you like and that suits you. Taking care of plants can become frustrating when, in reality, knowing the basics is super easy.
Any recommendations for places to get informed and learn? In addition to his book, of course.
Instagram and TikTok have more and more great content about plants because, in addition, each one specializes in one type or another, they do some tests with one thing or another, because this is a science that is still developing. I think it’s great to follow different content creators to see different ways of doing things and different ways of taking care of plants and finding the one that best suits us. And then, on the internet. It is true that, if you are looking for a specific plant, you immediately see the same pages with the care sheet and it may not be very reliable, but I usually like to see them when I am faced with a new plant.
Have you tried any AI-powered plant care apps?
Yes, I have tried several. There are those where you tell them what plant you have and they remind you when it’s time to water. Those have not worked very well for me, first, because I have so many plants that I would spend forever putting them all in the database. And, second, because they have never been nailed down as to when it is time to water. Then there are those where you take a photo of the leaf and it identifies the disease or problem that the plant may be having. Sometimes they get it right and sometimes they don’t, because there are symptoms that are common. For example, there are symptoms that may indicate excessive watering but also lack of fertilizer and the application tells you one, but it may be another. In that sense, I think it is worth taking more things into account than simply the photo of the leaf. The ones that I do use a lot are the ones that identify the plant through the photo you take of the leaf or flower. Those are useful to me because, in the end, there are thousands and thousands of plants, also wild ones, that we do not know and they identify them quite well.
