Dil garden, garden!

Valentine’s Day is around the corner, and the city is seeing a rise in a new gifting trend. Moving from bouquets and chocolates to whole gardens itself. “Gifts must be cherished. The maximum one can do with a bouquet is to place it in a vase and it soon dries up, garden gifting allows you to give your loved one a ready to harvest garden that is fresh and can be cared for,” says Mallesh Tigali, CEO of Purna Organics.

Gifting a garden is the new and unique way of presenting a living and thriving ecosystem to another. There are different types of gardens that can be gifted, vegetables gardens are the most common. Those in love with flowers opt for flowering gardens and there are terrariums that are little ecosystems of plants created in a glass container.

Terrariums
Dr Vandana Krishnamurthy, co-founder, Urban Mali has seen a number of individuals and companies that are choosing terrariums as gifts.  “A terrarium is a self-managing system. It does not require much care, and looks beautiful. This is why people go for them as gifting option,” states Vandana. Agreeing to this, Merlyn D’costa, a plantsman says that she has gifted over 50 terrariums to her friends and loved ones as they are easy to maintain and most people prefer them. She makes the terrariums themselves.

For those who cannot make one, there are several places these beauties are available at, and can be purchased. Vandana however, throws light on the conditions that destroy terrariums. If the glass bowls are placed in direct sunlight or over-watered, they kill the plants. She advises keeping them in indirect light and sprinkling water, once a week for moisture. The beauty of these gifts is that you can make it look fancy. For those with a creative streak, using different kinds of pebbles, small figurines, white or brown sand can make the terrariums look artistic, almost like a fantasy in a bottle.

Vegetable gardens
For those who have some more space, like a balcony or a terrace, there are vegetable gardens that one could go for. Mallesh states that people can order a garden 40 days in advance, and pick vegetables of one’s personal predilection. Planter boxes come in sizes of 2 square feet, and one can even choose a garden of 12 to 24 square feet, which he specifies is a modular garden. You can have one variety of vegetable growing like Tomato, Cilantro, etc.,

“There are 24 different types of plants including root vegetables, greens, herbs, runners and surface plants that can be opted for. A planter box with ready-to-harvest plants are transported to the desired location. The joy of seeing a living garden in your balcony or terrace when you wake up, is a different experience in itself,” he says. Vandana advises going for native vegetables and not exotic plants as they are high maintenance, and require pesticides. All vegetables can be grown in Bengaluru weather, and Vandana usually suggests going for seasonal vegetables as per season.  Vegetable gardens allows one the privilege of cooking with fresh and organic vegetables that are free of pesticides.

Flower gardens
Merlyn loves flower gardens, and has tried her hand at planting roses and anthuriums. Vandana has seen a growing interest in flower gardens that serve a functional purpose and not just an aesthetic one. Flowers that can be used in poojas are the most sought-after. Some of them are hibiscus, native roses, oleander and jasmine. These are all native plants and make for lovely gardens. Gardens are a thoughtful gift, and a step in the right direction. If your loved one craves to be around nature but does not have the time to invest in gardening, you now have the option to gift gardens and nothing can be as delightful as receiving a garden as a present.