Planning a garden

"Initial laziness when setting up a garden is what really makes it a tedious process later. Ofcourse, people don't have to stick entirely to their plans - they can choose certain parts of it keeping their budgets and space restrains in mind"



Shahnaz helped me plan out a ideal garden for a big house, i can change things around for a community garden and growing plants in apartments/ changing those vast empty spaces around houses into gardens.
There are four parts to a garden - Trees, creepers, beds/rockery, pots.

• The front yard would have the ornamental trees and plants.
  
• The bushes or hedges should preferably be right next to the walls. - for instance poincetias and hibiscus on the front wall.
  
• In front of the porch one can have more ornamental plants, bamboo, low bush flowers like peuinias/ chrysanthemums/ candy tufts/ cosmos/ dahlia And if one plants palms heloconias grow well under the partly shaded grounds around them.
  
• If one is interested in having a rockery - one can even plant herbs in there along with some annual flowers such as nastutiums. They make for real pretty things to have around the house. Make such the taller plants go at the back and don't over crowd the area.
  
• The pots next to the drive way could have annual flowers and ornamental plants. growing a gulmohar tree outside or inside the gate could provide shade for the car. Creepers such as bouganvilleas and jackmontia's could go on the wall next to the driveway.
• A few trees to plant in one corner of the compound would be Potato trees/ Champa/ Frangipani. Its not a bad idea to have a few potted Holyhocks around the trees - make sure they're not completely shaded though.
  
• On one side of the house one can have strawberries crowing in pots and ono the other one can have an archway for the creeper vegetables such as bottlegourd, bittergourd and cucumbers. This area could then later be used as a shaded nursery for young plants and saplings.
  
• The corners of the backyard could have Mango/ guava and pomegranade bushes next the walls. A few trees to have in continers/ raised beds would be citrus trees, Drumsticks and the curry leaves plant. Growing chillies in containers is also a great idea.
• Spices such as cardomom and peppers can be grown in the shade of the mango tree.
• Melons/ pumpkin patches should also be nearer to the corners where they have space to sprawl. Marigolds should be planted in melon patches. Herbs can be planted almost in all the vegetable patches as they are the natual bug repellants... as is garlic.
• For Tomatoes/ brinjals and okra - (beds) - 6' by 4' plots are sufficient. - radishes and carrots can be grown with these plants as well. Petunias are good for tomatoes.
  
• 4' by 4' for coriander etc or plant them with potatoes as they keep the potatoes safe from diseases and pests.
  
• 5' by 5' for spinach/ methi/ leafy lettuce. - mint/ rosemary/ oregano/ thyme keeps these plants safe as well.
• Leave enough space around the citrus trees/ drumstick trees to walk around.
• The beds for large trees should be 4' to 5' in diameter.
• The diameter for bushes should be 2 - 3'.
  

The companion planting bit have been added by me... Shahnaz believes more in mulch and compost than she does in preventing bugs and pests from attacking her crops... or she simply examines her plants everyday... I think she believes in using her own hands and eyes to keep diseases away. What i learnt from being there is that observing your plants and changing things accordingly is the easiest way to maintain your garden... common sense and logic need to be put to use once in a while.

I'm thinking of keeping the ornamental part of it to a minimal... presenting it, but not in too much detail and focussing more on the vegetable garden. Also, I'm going to be presenting pot gardens for cramped spaces and rooftop gardening as options as well.



Thursday 9 - 07-2009;
Kothwala Residence,
Navadarshanam,
Gomulapuram, near Anekal.

This is the last night, a dark and stormy one at that. The winds roar outside like sea waves crashing against hard rocky cliffs. Neither exist for miles from here. What does exist is a strange biosphere of semi forested grasslands, sandalwood growing wild, a duck pond and a vast garden full of fruits, flowers, vegetables and terrifying bee boxes.
I'm working in the dark in spartan, wooden attic, under a mosquito net and a solar powered torch light is the only thing accompanying me in this dark, cold night. I can see people wandering around in the forests that the attic window looks onto... Navzer had mentioned poaching and trees being cut down for firewood. Corruption exists everywhere. Some how people mindlessly believe that money and plastic are the neseccities of modern day living, i wonder who feeds them with this bullshit. Why aren't they content with their current sources of income? They seem to have unquestioningly accepted a certain way of life.
For the past two days i have gathered the following -

1. Personal stories -

• Encounters with wild elephants and panthers nabbing their dogs.
• Adjusting to their new sustainable lifestyle and the hardships they faced initially.
• They lived for one whole year with just gas lamps before acquiring and installing solar panels.
• How life changed for them both when Shahnaz came across an inheritance - money can be put to better use, invest smartly instead of jaccuzis and shopping mindlessly for things you don't need and sometimes don't even want. There's a reason teh market is evergrowing and everchanging - they have the customers going back for more and more to "keep with the times". Ofcourse people ignore the real changes going around them - they needs a weatherman to tell them which way the wind blows.
  
• Navzer likes to avoid wastage of anything and is a perfect model for reuse and recycling.
  
• Shahnaz's high is plucking fruits and vegetables out of her garden and getting to cook them/ eat them/ turn them in jams or sauces.

2. Gardening details -
a. Planning a garden - marking out areas for trees, shrubs, rockeries,harbgarden,beds and pots.
b. Soil preparation - digging + the appropriate soil mix + leaf mould and composting + sources for manure, compost + making home mixtures.
c. creating frames for creepers - this could feature as an activity in the book.
d. preparing saplings and shade for saplings, transplanting + providing support.
e. Pot gardens - choosing plants, watering, pot mixes, mulch, fertilizing.
f. Rockeries - setting it up and planting herbs/ flowering creepers - another activity.
g. Labelling you garden is important.
h. Planting, harvesting and procuring seeds and saplings.