A garden up your wall

Bhanu Pande

With the green cover shrinking in big cities and metros, people are increasingly looking inward, within their homes to find that oasis of calm that a garden can offer. Paucity of space for a personal lawn in high rise apartments is making city dwellers create verdant spaces in whatever little corners they find and opt for ideas which can fit in vertically, thereby maximising the utility of spaces.

Across the country, vertical installations such as green walls have become a fad with those who are willing to spend a little more to nurture their desire for greenery in urban spaces. While we traditionally throng nurseries and then do our own thing with help from our good old maali, many start ups across the country now offer such solutions. The Living Greens from Jaipur, Pune-based Green Drops and Four Leaf in Delhi are some of the service providers offering innovative designs. Prateek Tiwari, founder and CEO of The Living Greens, says that turning exterior walls green ensures that sunlight doesn’t fall directly on it, hence saving on the upkeep. In a city like Delhi, with its deadly impact of growing pollution levels, there is an increasing interest in  greening up homes, offices and commercial establishments. So even if urban dwellings face a space crunch, a vertical garden and innovative displays can breathe positive energy into your home.

Let’s look at three women residing in metros, who pursue gardening to spread positivity and cheer.

Terrace beauty

Bhavna Saxena, a Mumbai-based school teacher, has made gardening in her first floor apartment a regular part of her daily chores. The management graduate and former Indian Oil executive has used almost every space in her apartment to green up her family life. And thanks to a 500 sq ft terrace, she can pursue her hobby. She has over 100 potted plants on the terrace, sitting room and the lobby outside the entrance. She has used hanging pots to do up her terrace, making her home worth a visit. “Plants and flowers just freshen you up without having to make huge investments in colouring the rooms and placing expensive showpieces,” she says, adding, “I find the presence of plants very soothing.”

Her husband and son take active interest and help her in this. “It’s one of the positive engagements to look forward to each day. It also allows the family to spend quality time together with these plants.” Apart from potted plants, Bhavna keeps innovating with recycled containers at home, including dry coconut shells to grow plants. “We use these inside sitting rooms to make decorative arrangements.” She keeps changing pots to change the ambience of her room and give it a different look each time. 

Living With The Shoots

Sharanita Keswani, a Delhi-based marketing professional, believes a home without plants is incomplete. She takes pride in her creative green spaces — terrace, balcony, entrance and staircase — in her third floor house. “Plants make me smile,” she beams. “They are like pets because they respond to our care, look, touch, attention; and that makes one feel so good.”  She works mainly with indoor plants and proposes varieties such as aralias, scheffleras, chlorophytons to name a few, which are ideal for indoors. “A plant must be able to survive indoors, hence choose one that survives well in shade or indirect light”. Of course, she puts them out periodically for sunning, watering and fresh air. Is that too much effort? Sharanita doesn’t think so. “All you need is a bit of common sense and some basic knowledge,” she says. “One has to be particular about the light quality.”  Essentially, she’s pointing to the city’s extreme weather conditions. During peak summer in a city like Delhi, plants burn if they are left uncovered on a terrace, or those which are indoors can burn or dry out if left unattended next to a glass window. They have to be moved in and out accordingly. Similarly, deprived of natural light, plants die. “I love plants and my morning routine starts with them.”Despite her hectic schedule as a senior professional, she always manages to find time to tend to her plants back home.

Root It In Style

Nandini Arya, who is based in Noida, has always loved greenery. However, she lived in a high-rise apartment that hardly offered any space to pursue her hobby. “I have always believed that one must have two things at home — plants and a pet. They are great stressbusters, she says.” In her previous second floor apartment in Delhi, Nandini made use of space in the balconies and entrance lobby to put up potted plants. She feels gardening gives her creativity a vent and adds to the aesthetics.

Nandini’s relocation to her own apartment in Noida was a dream come true. It offered her a larger canvas to pursue gardening. And there was no looking back. She turned her balcony into an island of greenery and colourful flowers. Today, scores of potted plants outline her entire apartment. “Plants have become an integral part of our family and to see them flourish gives me a great deal of joy,” she says. Nandini has created murals on the walls with scrap material and broken wasted tiles that extol the beauty of her plants. “Nature inside your home attracts positive energies,” she says. Throughout the day, her balcony is a hub of chirping birds and natural sounds that ensure her day is calm and cheerful. She believes that even though green spaces within homes are a luxury, people can use even the smallest of corners to create their own green areas and infuse them with freshness.

Caring for the plants

• Feeding: Even if your soil is good, you still need nutrient supplements for healthy plants. One can also look at a soil-less medium for a certain variety of plants.
• Mulching: A layer of organic or inorganic supplements spread over to feed the soil, curbs weed, retains moisture or insulates roots in winters. 
• Watering: Adequate watering is essential depending on the type of plants. Greens walls respond well to drip technology.
• Grooming: With regular care and maintenance such as pruning, etc. plants can be at their best.
• Pests: Plants can be vulnerable to pests, hence pesticides are essential.
• Disease & disorders: While a plant’s natural defence is able to resist most attacks, some can be fatal. Rope in a professional gardener/help occasionally to ensure you are on the right track.

They  help, and how!

• Plants absorb the volatile organic compounds in paints, eliminate toxic odour
• Indoor plants such as the money plant, continuously release oxygen
• Presence of plants around a recuperating patient aids recovery
• Plants add to the aesthetics of a house
• Indoor gardening is a good destressing activity
• Plants exude positive energy