CHENNAI: “I love not Man less, but Nature more,” says Ramgopal Bindiganavale, quoting Lord Byron. A resident of Karkhana, Secunderabad, he is an architecture by profession. Despite his busy schedule, he has incorporated his gardening hobby into his daily routine, giving it 45 minutes a day.
His love for gardening began 26 years ago, and the seeds of this love were sown in his terrace garden, which was not common at the time. Being an architect, he designed his house himself. And in that 950 sq.ft space, he has dedicated 300sq.ft to the lawn, and the rest of the space is occupied by a few potted plants like aloe vera and omam (ajwain).
Now, his terrace is adorned with a variety of plants, ranging from jasmine to a banana tree. The latest addition to his garden is a mango tree, which will be ready to bear fruit next summer.
However, his terrace garden did have its share of maintenance issues. According to Ramgopal, “The major problem in maintaining the garden is water scarcity and the different temperature conditions that plants require.” About finding solutions to the problems, he says, “We addressed the water scarcity issue by using the water that is used to wash vegetables, dishes, clothes etc. Especially this summer, a lot of plants died because of extreme heat. We even had to use the water from AC outlets!”
Speaking on the cost of maintaining the garden, he says, “The cost is nominal, because I use vermicompost as an organic fertiliser — it is efficient for small-scale gardens. In addition, regular kitchen waste like egg shells, used tea bags and so on, increases the produce from the plants. Also, the gardener comes once every fortnight and trims the plants. To preserve this garden, we have also cut down on our vacations, all our relatives come down to visit,” he says. “I’m a member of the Rotary Club of Secunderabad, and we decided that we would give away plants instead of bouquets at events.”
These terrace gardens are imperative when the green cover across cities is diminishing due to development. “In addition to gardening, I try and compensate for the loss of green cover due to construction in my own way.”