Her garden is lively round the year

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, September 29

When Jaswinder Kaur got her house constructed at Wadala village near the city, the first thing that she had in mind was that there must be some greenery outside every window of the rooms.

With that concept in mind, this head of the zoology and botany department of Lyallpur Khalsa College ensured that there is some garden area or at least some layers of pots in every nook and corner of front yard, back yard, side passage, balconies of the two upper floors and even terrace.

Even now when there are hardly any flowers in the garden with summer flowers having dried up and winter flowers just sown, Jaswinder Kaur’s garden was lively. The varieties of foliage plants including ficus bushes, caladiums, crotons, palms, coleus, ferns, jades, asparagus and some flowering begonias and lilies have brightened up her garden.

The best part about her frontal garden is her collection of brightly coloured ceramic pots. In different prints of bright red, blue and white, these have been arranged nicely along huge piles of stones. She has also kept shells, garden designer ware, stone-craft items and earthen ware here and there to team up with her plants.

The side passage garden is also unique since she has arranged her pots on two huge logs of trees. Switching on the fancy lights and fan in this area where she had arranged garden furniture, she said. “This is our favourite area for sipping tea every morning and evening. Sitting amidst the greenery freshens me up for starting the day’s activities,” she explains.

She takes us to the backyard where she has planted various trees, including those of lemon, narangi, mangoes etc. There are some cacti also kept safely in pots along the walls away from her pet dog Murfi. “I have tacked them in a corner even though Murfi generally does not go near plants. He neither digs up the soil nor tramples my plants.”

The next points are the balconies, which have again been done nicely with decorative plants. Terrace area is a bit different. Almost the entire terrace has been covered keeping huge grow bags. Even crates usually used by the fruit sellers have been kept on the terrace with a lining of jute or polysheets at the bottom and along edges.

Some summer vegetables including lady fingers, brinjals, chillies etc are already growing here. Spinach too has been planted for the coming season. The most attractive part here is tiny chikoos and pomegranates growing on the trees planted in the bags. “Since this area gets good Sun all through the day, I found this to be the best area for growing fruits and vegetables,” she explains.