With Over 100 Fruits & Veggie Plants, Engineer Has Turned Noida Home Into Mini Jungle
Noida resident Akshay Bhatnagar has turned his house into a haven of ornamental plants, fruit trees and vegetables and flowers.
As a child, Bareilly-native Akshay Bhatnagar helped his grandfather in the garden. He always wanted to have a garden for himself but after leaving home for studies and a job, this dream remained unfulfilled.
When he moved to Indirapuram with his wife, all Akshay could think of was decking up a beautiful garden in the available space. The rented apartment had a small balcony where he started growing small plants like roses, aloe vera, money plants and around 40 others.
Five years ago this computer engineer and his family moved to Greater Noida. This gave him more space for setting up a garden.
Today, he has hundreds of plants.
He says, “After toiling in the city for weeks or months, most of us try to escape for a few days to resorts or farm stays amid the greenery. Our aim then is to get some fresh air and peace. But how many of us consider turning our own space into something similar?”
Aksay’s flat in Noida is on the ground floor where they have a space of 500 square feet. He started growing trees here and surrounded the whole house with small plants in pots.
“Around 30 pots in the garden were brought from the earlier apartment. I concentrated on growing fruit trees, vegetables and flowering plants. Seasonal veggies like carrots, cherry tomatoes, bottle gourd, broccoli, bitter gourd and okra along with fruits including watermelon, cherries, lemons, grapes and oranges are grown here. I also spend time growing microgreens,” explains the urban gardener.
The latest addition to his garden is exotic plants. Several varieties of monstera and 15 types of snake plants are seen in the home garden. Additionally, the very rare Monstera Peru is also planted here. Considered to be the best indoor plant, 13 varieties of Syngonium can also be spotted here.
The visitors are welcomed by some beautiful flower vines on both sides. This green cover helps the house remain cool during sunny days. “My family and friends frequently visit the place and all of them love the greenery and comfort. Moreover, we also have visitors who come just to take a look at the garden,” says the 34-year-old.
He adds, “If you love plants, you will find time to take care of them even during busy schedules. Also, it doesn’t take much time to pamper them daily. Even if you are super busy with work and other things, there are methods to set up self-watering systems. Once this is done, it requires just 2-3 hours per week to maintain a garden.”
Akshay waters his plants at 6.30 am before he leaves for the office. On returning home at 5.30 pm, he takes his dog for a walk and spends time in the garden checking his plants.
“The major fertiliser I use for nurturing the plants is compost. Wet waste from the kitchen along with dry leaves is set in a bin which is converted to compost manure within a month. Almost 75 per cent of household waste is composted this way. It works as excellent manure for the plants,” he says.
Other than taking care of his garden, Akshay also finds time to share tips with fellow gardeners through his Instagram page and a WhatsApp group. “Gardening and composting can be done by anyone if you have a little space on your balcony or terrace. The sight of fresh plants gives you nothing but sheer joy,” he adds.
Read this story in Hindi here.
Edited by Yoshita Rao; Photo credits: Akshay Bhatnagar
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