JOIN USGone are the days when every house had a garden and empty spaces in the City would be converted into a garden.
Today, the City has turned into a choked, urban sprawl space filled with asphalt and concrete.
A few garden enthusiasts though are not ready to be written off just yet and are undeterred by shrinking living spaces and changing climates. They have used their skill and imagination to create small green areas in which one could unwind, relax, recharge their batteries or even augment their tables with fresh grown produce.
Metrolife takes a peek into different urban gardens that are nurtured on balconies, terraces, rooftops, stairways and even pavements!.
Wendy Dickson’s love for gardens is reflected in her novel A Hint of Jacaranda which has several vivid descriptions of old Bangalore’s flora and fauna.
“My mother and I live in an apartment with three large balconies, which I have turned into gardens with frangipani and a pretty lemon trees in pots! (not bonsai). We have a little grotto with a dainty statue of the Virgin Mary, around which ivy, philodendron, and all kinds of ferns thrive lushly. My clematis vine with its sweet-smelling white clusters is my pride and joy filling the air with its delicate fragrance and that balcony is my 'sacred space'. My mother who is 86, rarely goes out much, but enjoys sitting on her own little balcony in the evenings, with the fragrance of jasmine, rose, petunia, and mint wafting all around her,” says Wendy.
Tina Franco has converted her backyard into a delightful little kitchen garden where sparrows and squirrels nest and scamper around.
“I grow my own lemons which taste even better because they are from my backyard and nothing can beat the flavour of fresh curry leaf, mint and green chillies. I also have fragrant coffee bushes which produce lovely reddish-copper berries in December which I use in my Christmas wreaths. Besides looking wonderful they last for ages,” she says. Tina also fills every nook and corner of her home with a variety of green plants and she says they serve as ideal design feature and air purifiers.
Olivia Lobo lives in a house which leaves no space for gardens unless you are very creative, which she is. From the top of her tiny terrace, all the way down her spiral staircase and outer walls every available space is filled with lovingly tended plants.
“My garden, which meanders into different parts of my home, is a tremendous source of joy and therapy for the mind and body. Many people stop by just to have a peek at the garden and tell me that it makes them feel so good. I have beds of peace lilies seemingly growing wild on either side of the house giving the space a total lift and filling it with positive energy. I also constantly add seasonal flowers for splashes of colour, roses, lantana and bougainvillaea which are easy to maintain and flower all through the year.
My little herb garden which I nuture with great care has over 12 different herbs which not only add flavour to my table but help in concocting herbal remedies for minor ailments like cold, coughs and stomach upsets,” she explains.
On the other end of the spectrum are houseowners whose love for gardens has spilled over onto pavements which they have conveniently appropriated for their personal use, not for the good of the community at large.
“We live in an upmarket area in the city yet people have built their homes right upto the end of their plots ignoring the municipal set back requirements. They have now encroached upon the pavements fencing it off so other residents are denied access and grow their own fruits,vegetables and flowers there. They have access straight from their gates into this encroached space while the rest of us are forced to walk on the roads,presenting an easy target for learner drivers and speeding vehicles. We also have elderly folk in their walkers who have to negotiate their paths very gingerly in the early morning as there is no pavement where they can walk in safety and comfort,” say irate residents of Sadashivnagar.
Apparently many of these encroachers have also been spotted using their ‘fenced pavement gardens’ to have a cup of tea,entertain their friends or conduct meetings.