CHENNAI: People may not believe me, but it's been just 16 months since I began terrace gardening,” says Radha Kannan (40), a professional beautician since 2003, who specializes in bridal makeup. “During the Chennai floods of 2015, I fell down and broke my left wrist. Naturally, I couldn’t do much work, and so I started browsing Facebook where I saw a few posts on terrace gardening, and that piqued my interest. I bought some seed bags, planted them in my small balcony with the help of my daughter and my mom.”
Radha did not know what to expect, but she was surprised and amazed when every bag had a small bud in three days. Slowly they grew into colourful flowers and medicinal leaves, and that boosted her confidence. She began collecting articles and information on home, balcony and terrace gardens (TG) from the online group, Organic Garden Foundation. “My husband puts my health before anything else, he is protective. So I had to start TG without his knowledge. But after he knew I had passion for it, he supported me completely. He is clueless about TG though,” she laughs.
Her proudest moment was when she won the third prize in the Chennai Terrace Garden competition organised by the VGP Group six months back. “I was thrilled to win because I had a bigger garden within a year at that time,” she beams.
The biggest challenge, however, was convincing her family about what she was trying to do. “I also had to convince my Residents Association about TG. I had to explain that it won’t affect the terrace or consume too much water. They were initially okay with it, but as the garden grew, they raised a lot of complaints on water consumption, disturbance of the common walking area on the terrace, impact of the heaviness of plants on the terrace, and so many more,” she says.
Although her husband answered all these complaints patiently many times, Radha says she was asked to remove her much-cared-for garden.
“Fortunately, some family friends had an empty plot where they allowed me to transfer all my plants and create a garden. Since the new space is more than double of what I had, I now have a terrace garden and a regular one,” she says happily.
Radha now offers consultation to gardening lovers via Facebook. And to aspiring gardeners, she says, “Do not get discouraged by what others say. Use all your resources effectively and optimally so as to get the best results. Don't throw away your kitchen waste, cow dung and other natural wastes, as they are the foundation of organic gardens. And more importantly, take good care of your plants. Give them tender loving care and then enjoy the benefits.”
For consultation and queries, call 73388 77452.