Walls that breathe: Vertical garden catches fancy of this ‘green couple’

Neha Saini

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 31

Turning 3,500 waste plastic bottles into a vertical garden, IRS officer Rohit Mehra and his interior designer wife Geetanjali Mehra have made their home garden into a fine example on nature conservation. The ‘green couple’ whose residence at the Airport Road has now been recognised as the green haven by many in the city, introduced the concept of a vertical garden in Amritsar back in 2018.

Fixing these bottles in the walls and filling them with different varieties of shrubs and small plants, the Mehras gave a cool new idea that many have since followed.

“The common excuse especially in the urban centres is that lack of space required for creating a garden. With vertical gardens, that issue is taken care of. And using waste plastic bottles as planters for shrubs is eco-friendly as otherwise they would have gone to a landfill,” says Rohit, who is currently posted as Assistant commissioner, Income Tax, in Ludhiana. The plants in his vertical garden are irrigated using a simple drip system and incredibly, this has lowered the internal temperature of their home by nearly five degrees as Rohit shares, “A vertical garden not only protects it from extreme weather conditions but also helps in lowering the indoor temperature, especially in extremely hot conditions.’

Building his garden as a space that connects laws of nature to ancient Vriksha Ayurveda (Tree Ayurveda), Rohit has planted the panchvati, five trees that are considered valuable for their medicinal and environmental benefits. “I have Ashoka, Amla, Bel, Peepal and Bargad (Banyan). These trees are considered sacred and extremely beneficial for their medicinal properties. Apart from that we have planted Rudraksh tree, Kachnar, dragon fruit and many other varieties of native trees.” He is promoting the concept of Panchvati across Punjab through his green initiatives and managed to plant 2000 Panchvatis till date.

He also has created a small organic kitchen garden area where he grows vegetables and micro greens. The most striking aspect of his garden is the use of waste, especially plastic waste as garden accessories. “I have used plastic drum as planters and compost beds, huge wooden logs that were hollowed to be used as planters and we also have a vermicompost pit where we create natural manure.” His wife Gitanjali has also popularize the concept of seed balls made from clay, compost and cow dung and the couple have distributed over 20 lakh seed balls pan Punjab in past one year before Covid-19 pandemic.

Spending most of his time in his garden whenever visiting Amritsar, Rohit says that his effort to sensitise people about green wealth and its conservation comes from the deep bond he shares with nature. “I feel that trees are our ancestors and we have to co-exist with them with respect. The current pandemic is a wake up call that we cannot win against nature’s fury and so, we need to treat it with care.”