Spending time at home, each and everyone found their solace, their comfort zone or even that one thing they now love to do — or one can even say, a habit that became therapy. It’s been a rather educational year and a year of evolving. Hobbies were our biggest escape route this year — for some it was cooking, trying out new dishes and for some, it was decorating their home for a warmer feel and painting surely caught on. For a lot of people, it was also nature.
For me, nature is the greatest source of maximising energy and is a great combination of good health and positivity as it exposes us to the five elements. It is a great source of calm, quiet and peace, as one yearns in today’s concrete jungles. Gardening, plants and greens have always been my therapy. Give me a space and I would convert it into a green oasis. The smell of the petrichor and the fragrance of jasmine is enough to get one going. Getting my hands dirty with mud, or setting up a corner to add that unique ‘green’ touch is sheer bliss.
I’ve come across many people who often ask me, “We don’t have that huge space to have our own garden, so any suggestions on how we can add that ‘green’ touch to our surroundings?” So here I am, trying to explore and bounce off a few ideas.
The Green Wall
Find one empty wall that is the perfect place to add some greens. Buy small hanging planters. Or if you are the creative sort, make them.
Create a row with those planters, or maybe two, and if you have more space, even more. You can also create a pattern with those hanging planters.
Nail them to the wall and let the setup begin. Once you fix the planters, find indoor plants that will add some oomph to your home.
My recommendation would be oxygen bombs as I fondly call them. Plants like spider plant, Syngonium (I just love the blush pink ones), sansevieria or peace lily.
Get small buds from your nearby local vendor and pot one root each in each planter.
Water them and in a couple of weeks, your wall is ready to be a green wall.
The Green Corner
It does not matter if you do not have a garden as you can always have a green corner for yourself
One might complain that I need a huge ground space to have my own garden, but sometimes, a corner is just enough! Not all spaces at your home are occupied by essentials, some corners are just left to be transformed into something different.
Get some bushy potted plants, maybe a few Xanadu plants, a tall palm tree, a few aglaonema for a burst of colours and place them clustered in that corner. Throw in some green decor and you are good to go!
If you are the zen kind, then add a Buddha statue and a few round stones to give it a warm look. You can even use the green mats that are easily available in the market. Place them and add small stools or even cushions in one corner, and voila, you have your own personal green corner!
Balcony Greens
Many people are endowed with a balcony space and that is your free hand to experiment with.
I’d recommend a patio garden design. Add hardwood floors to your balcony, create a corner with a stepped wood design that allows you to place your plants in a horizontal manner, one line after another.
Let your balcony railings have an extension that will allow you to keep potted plants or hang potted plants.
Select patio furniture which aren’t too huge, nor too small (can vary as per your balcony size).
Add potted plants, like weather-based florals, or add some bougainvillea or climber plants.
Alternatively, create a herb garden with aloe vera, some tulsi, basil and lemongrass.
You can even hang planters and wind-chimes from your ceiling, and let them create a symphony.
You can even add a swing, and let the breeze do the rest of the magic.
Monika Poddar owns plant boutique Chlorofyl. Reach her on @ChlorofylKol (FB) and @chlorofyl_giftinggreens (IG)