Whoever said that gardening is a pleasurable hobby didn’t take into account the amount of hard work that goes into working with the soil. Being a novice at gardening I found myself breaking my back, getting tanned and getting dirt under my nails by pulling weeds, digging , transplanting and getting mad when the seeds refused to germinate or when insects destroyed my plants and yet it’s an addiction for the end result of watching beauty unfold slowly but surely makes it all worthwhile. But there can be no joy without sweat.
Currently I don’t have a gardener so it’s an actual hand on learning experience. While visiting Lal Baugh I found myself fascinated by a gardener’s knowledge and wanted to stay there with him and discuss my garden with him. We discussed miniature roses, vegetables, ornamental plants, growing annuals and perennials from seeds and about planting and maintaining a healthy lawn. Aaman had to tear me away from that fellow since we had to go to IIM for the Bar Camp and there I got to feast my eyes on true landscaping beauty. There were pergolas with gorgeous bamboos, fern like bushes that reminded me of candy floss and so many other plants that I recognized by sight but still need to find out their names.
I got a lot of ideas from there especially about container gardening and what kind of plants look best in them. There too I found myself wanting to talk to the gardeners, I wanted to learn how they keep their plants so healthy and more so the crotons that were planted in the open and were still thriving.
Another place where one gets to see gorgeous landscaping is Infosys where the greenery is complemented with beautiful fountains and ponds with koi in them. The buildings are a bit weird but the grass is actually greener at Infy and worth visiting.
And of course there is Cabbon Park( the lungs of Bangalore)- beauty unsurpassed except for the maddening crowd that one cannot escape.
Even on the congested roads one can find beauty in the gigantic Mahogany trees that line the roads. Bangalore is a gardener’s paradise- nearly everything grows here even those without the green thumb, like me, can achieve moderate success.