Sunday, May 23, 2004 |
IN this era of growing foreign collaborations and multinational presence, a lot of premium is being put on the ambience and look of factories. Hence the growing emphasis on well-manicured lawns and landscaped exteriors of industrial establishments. Moreover, specific instructions from the Departments of Environment and Pollution regarding tree plantation has also put greening high on the agenda of factories. Even market committees and religious organisations have realised the need to beautify their premises. This is evident from the participation of more and more market committees, religious institutions and government organisations in garden shows.
For factory owners interested in getting landscaping done on their premises, it is time to prepare lawns for the ensuing monsoons. Dig as deep as you can and carry out deweeding operations. Keep the soil open for 10 days and repeat this process. The weeds will dry up in the summer heat. So will the insects breeding underground. The next important step is the levelling of the lawn unless undulation is desired. The levelling can be checked by watering the field. This way it is easy to mark depressions in the lawn and have them filled. Incidentally, watering will also encourage the germination of weeds, which can then be removed. At the time of levelling, the lawns should also be
treated against white ants by adding gamma BHC, the lindane dust. It
should be evenly spread on the field. About 1.5 kg of it is sufficient
for a 500 sq m plot. Similarly, adding 4 kg of single superphosphate and
3.75 kg of muriate of potash to every 100 sq m of lawn gives the best
results. Never add farmyard manure to the soil. It will lead to
uncontrolled growth of weeds. The planting of the grass should commence
with the rains. Once newly planted saplings strike roots, they can be given 2 tbsp full of urea or double the amount of kisan khad, spread evenly in the plant basin and hoed up to the surface soil. Follow this up with heavy watering. Repeat the process every fortnight. This feature was published on May 16, 2004 |