My Home and Garden


A lot of my friends on facebook and other places liked a picture of my garden that is greener than other times because it is still the monsoons here in Jaipur. This time I snapped a picture from the north side to get a different view.

There is a small pond towards the north with a small concrete bridge over it. At one time I use to stock it with gold fish but then the fish eating birds found out and that had to be stopped. Now it is a part of the rain harvesting apparatus of the home. Shyamu the boy who has looked after the home and garden for the last twelve years is shown standing in second photo and I am seen sitting in the first identical one. Just click on the picture for a bigger and better view of the photo. Our photos are tiny because the idea was to get in as much of the garden as possible rather than us.

As you can well make out I have planted as many trees as possible all around my home and many on the street sides too. If I had more space I would have planted more but I am extremely grateful to the Lord and Mother Earth that she has granted me a home to plant a few trees, bushes and flowers of my choice at least.

I hope these pictures encourage any visitor to this blog to do the same on any space they access to at home, office, parks, streets and even the countryside on weekend picnics, that is if they feel that living, working and entertaining amidst such greenery is more pleasant than living in barren or concrete filled spaces. It is hardly any work after you have planted something. Mother Earth does most of the work.However, the gentle and kind Mother Earth never imposes too strongly around places her children live and leaves them barren in case her children want it that way, even though I am certain She is not happy about it. Once in a while, like any mother,  she gets angry though and all the bottled anger bursts out in droughts, typhoons, storms, tsunamis, floods, land slides etc.

At one time when I lived in an apartment in Delhi, I used to plant small trees in pots. When they grew to be about a couple of feet, I would then transfer them to the parks outside and some of the first trees planted in the new campus of the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi where I worked at the time were planted by me. Soon others repeated the practice and the area is now full of trees.

Comments

keiko amano said…
Ashok,

I like your garden. It's very green.
So, you don't need a sprinkler system. Do you have to water your garden in dry season?
ProfAshok said…
Yes Keiko, we have to water almost daily in summer that comes down to once a week in winter. We water with a hose and it take about an hour to go around the house to do all the watering. I have planted drought resistant things in areas we cannot reach regularly. Just now in monsoons though one need not water at all for a few months.
Rebb said…
Your garden is beautiful, Ashok. It must be nice sitting outside having tea or coffee. I like the bridge over the pond. Bridges call to me in some way.
ProfAshok said…
Thanks Rebb. Yes the garden is a source of peace and happiness indeed. Somehow I have been fascinated by little bridges in Japanese gardens and decided to create a very tiny one in mine although there is only a little space in my urban plot but I am really fortunate to have that even since with rising population in urban areas of the world, urban space has become scarce.
Rebb said…
Yes, especially the Japanese bridges, Ashok. The Japanese Garden in San Francisco has a very lovely Japanese Bridge. When my significant other and I revisited the garden, as we both had memories from childhood, he said he’d like to have one in his father’s back yard. It seems it would be a challenge to build one, but anything is possible for the amateur, I suppose. Thanks for the added inspiration to build one! At least, I can think about it. : )
ProfAshok said…
One needs just a tiny stream leading to a little pond and then one can build a small leading to a bridge crossing it.

The easiest way to build a pond is to dig ( not too deep fro safety of children that might slip in)Line it with a plastic sheet (light blue is best) and cover the edges with soil so that the plastic does not show with some sand and pebbles at the bottom.

The path is easily built by putting wooden strips on the edges and spreading pebbles on the path. All this requires no concrete so that the design can easily be changed if it needs that.
Rebb said…
Thank you, Ashok.
Anonymous said…
Hi beautiful pictures, like in a dream but do you live in a forest :) ?
Anonymous said…
Hi beautiful pictures, like in a dream but do you live in a forest :) ?
ProfAshok said…
Sam I have answered your question in the latest post with a new picture.




Rajive Johri said…
Dear Ashok, Your inner beauty is reflected in this manifestation of a beautiful house with a grand garden!
ProfAshok said…
Dear Rajive, Thanks a lot for your very kind comment.
Ac repair said…
The garden is a source of peace and happiness indeed.
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