GREEN FINGERS: This teacher nurses herbal garden at home & school

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 9

As a Meerankot Kalan Government Elementary School teacher, Davinder Kaur has been instrumental in setting up herbal garden, dedicated to the 550th Parkash Purb of Guru Nanak Dev, at her school.

One with nature, Davinder teaches her students about various plants and has created special learning sessions to make them aware about environment. At home, she has not only created a lush green garden space in her front lawn and backyard, but has also managed to transform the street leading to her house into a double-tree lane.

Her garden homes over 300 species of indoor and outdoor plants. “My interest in gardening was developed by my father and later, I took up gardening as a therapeutic exercise. My husband Kanwardeep Singh too has a green thumb and we look after our garden together,” she said. She mostly has plants with medicinal and high oxygen value. Varieties of tulsi, giloy and aloe vera are planted in the front lawn. The backyard garden has fruit-bearing trees such as jamun and lemon and vegetables.

She uses waste material such as broken glass and plastic bottles as planters, worn out shoes and clothes to add aesthetics to her green spaces. “I believe that one doesn’t have to spend money to create green spaces. I use most of the household items such as a spare bicycle, ladder, broken wooden beds and even chopped pieces of a log into platforms for planters. I hand painted plastic bottles to use them as fancy planters. Most of my time during the Covid-imposed lockdown was spent in creating beautiful garden décor from waste,” she said. She spends an hour daily to groom her garden.

Their shared love for green spaces also encouraged the couple to transform a side street into a double-tree lane. “We planted shady trees, with more oxygen value, to turn the street into a green area. The otherwise a barren patch of land was converted into an eye tonic with enough green trees. We are planning to use more empty plots of land for creating small gardens,” she said. To bring awareness regarding sustainable lifestyle, she gifts a plant or a sapling to every guest as a parting gift.

For the beginners, who want to create home gardens, she has a piece of advice. “One should invest in plants that are a rich source of oxygen and are native species as they will require less maintenance. Plants such as turtle vine and bougainvillea can be used for beautification rather than fancy landscaping. Using waste household items too is an innovative and cost-effective way to add visual appeal to a garden,” she said.