Do away with the condominium syndrome by indulging in some room therapy with vertical gardens. Ankita Jain reports
You can have a garden on your wall. Yes, a real one with leaves and tendrils, roots and shoots. A growing number of people, many living in apartments, have begun to devote their walls to some greenery. For those who have been robbed of the luxury of sprawling courtyards in a constantly expanding city, vertical gardens have brought in a fresh whiff of life.
For Natasha Iype, a green architect who has been intensely involved with the designing of environment friendly homes, this is not a new trend in India. “I think in India all the traditional homes are eco friendly. If you look at the traditional homes in Kerala, Tamil Nadu or any other part of the country they were all eco friendly. The concept is just being reinvented in the cities.” Iype has been popularising the concept of sustainable homes through the community living project, Good Earth, for the past 20 years.
live the living walls
Vertical gardens have been popular outside India for a few years now. Since they are low-maintenance and instantly adds to the décor, they are an easy makeover tool. These ‘garden units’ usually come in modules of three, which are fixed on the wall. A module can cost approximately `750 depending on the material or design. If a larger area is involved, the number of modules can be increased. Each individual pot contains either coir pit or coco peat as the medium, which may or may not be mixed with fertiliser. The absence of sand or soil makes the unit weightless and non-messy. Watering does not involve pouring. It just has to be sprayed twice a day. The plants in the vertical garden can last for at least eight months.
Why we need them
“lack of space in urban homes and the rising pollution in cities has led to an increase in this trend. They also have a very practical application if you want to impress your friends and visitors. People who are very attached to the environment use it to manage waste water. This helps to save cost for owners and the government. Most importantly, plants refresh the mind and reduce the impact of concrete surroundings around you,” says interior designer Neetu Arora.
“If the garden is planned for an enclosed space, the plants selected should be strictly indoor variety”, she adds. Generally, flowering varieties are not used in these gardens. “The most common plants that are used in vertical gardens indoors are money plants, aglaonema, philodendrons, syngoniums and the like,” she says.
In addition to the modules, colourful metal planters that can be hung from balconies while railings are also available in the market. Wrought-iron frames and hooks on which planters can be hung are popular choices, too. Vertical gardens can be set up outdoors as well. Those in larger and sunlit areas, mostly in commercial buildings, are usually fitted with an auto-irrigation system.
The world of terrariums
Spiny, green dinosaurs prowling with their mouths wide open in a field of moss — very Jurassic Park. Then there’s the enchanted forest with red toadstools, unicorns, green plants and goblins. Oh look, the Seven Wonders of the World are propped up there too…all in clear glass bottles along with a bunch of little plants. It’s like an aquarium of plants. “These are plants in a closed or open glass container, depending on the kind of foliage. It’s an age-old concept that started in the Victorian era,” says Sona Reddy, who started Room Therapy, where she creates a variety of terrariums using cactus, succulents, spider plants, ferns and arrowheads among others.
Why we need them
Terrariums date back to 1840s when an English botanist Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward built a few. Called Wardian cases, they were used to transport plants from England to Australia and back. The initial ones resembled a doctor’s bag with a glass body. Over the years the shapes changed and eventually terrariums went into oblivion. Gardening and green houses became a trend. What makes this over-a-century-old trend popular nowIJ While terrace gardening is picking up, terrariums are a way of bringing the garden indoors. It’s also fuss free. Terrariums do not need high maintenance and can survive up to a week without hydration. “Watering depends on the type of plants used. It does not need direct sunlight and thrives indoors in reflected light,” says Sona. Sand art is generally layers of coloured sand and pebbles. And there are also various DIY terrarium kits available online. For beginners, internet serves numerous ideas to set up your bottle garden. Personalise with elements that catch your fancy. And for handbag lovers there’s the unique handbag terrarium. Quite an arm candy that one. It’s a fun gifting option, a tad hipster, that’s replacing bouquets. Edible chocolate terrariums are making their debut in the party circuit. The pebbles, stones, gravel are replaced with cocoa powder and brownie crumbs and plants by fondant and cookies. Wonder what’s nextIJ Wearable terrarium fashion, perhapsIJ
Hanging baskets
Chhavi Gupta, who lives in an apartment says, “I have a sunless balcony and I use hanging baskets that I bought at an exhibition at a throwaway price. I plant whatever is willing to grow in them, without direct sunlight. Thankfully quite a few plants are willing and also trail down the sides of the baskets. I have money plants, wandering Jews, the hardy Spider plant and even a few succulents.” Today, you can buy readymade plastic hanging baskets with the hook and suspension chords, from any nursery. One can even get just a decorative frame, into which you can pop your favourite pot and interchange the plants as you like.
Why we need them
While garden space is becoming a luxury, hanging baskets can bring in that little bit of an earthy feel. They don’t take too much space, they are easy to maintain, and you can fill them with whatever plants your heart desires.
Anant Singh who runs a plant centre in Chhatarpur says, “Balcony baskets with herbs growing in them are an invitation to cook.” Mint, rosemary, coriander and Basil are some of the herbs that grow comfortably on balconies.
So go get yourself a basket or hanging pot from a nursery. At home, fill the basket with compost and put your plants in by gently tapping them out of their germinating pot. Check to see that the holes to allow water draining out are clear of any blockage. Then, hang up your basket and you are ready to enjoy the beauty of your handiwork over the months ahead.