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Garden is like drawing room of the house. A well maintained drawing room always impresses visitors at first look and also gives idea about choice and taste of the house owner. Similarly, well maintained gardens at the house, office, institute etc. provide a good reflection of the owner’s inclination towards nature. Maintenance of gardens round the year and to keep them in presentable form needs proper planning. Knowledge on regular garden operations taken up in different seasons is also important.

Operations required to be undertaken for better maintenance is given below as quarterly calendar which will be helpful to formulate plan of action in advance.

Floral decoration in India has got a historical background spreading over different eras. Admiration of natural beauty, plants and flowers were part of civilization process. Many evidences are there in the paintings, carvings on wall of caves, temples, mosque besides literatural references that flowers were in use in many forms since time immemorial. Every religion, culture, rulers and regimes had great influence on the use of flowers.

At present, flowers are integral part of our daily life. We use flowers in various ways and for many purposes. Loose flowers are used for worship while garlands for decoration purpose during social, institutional, official functions etc. In addition, cutflowers in the form of bouquets are very common in use. Arrangement of flowers in the vase, bowl or any other container is displayed extensively for interior decoration. At present, placing flower vase is very popular in houses, corporate offices, institutes, hotels etc. and is a well established practice.

This is a very special type of garden for the visually impaired and disabled persons. The pleasure of seeing beauty of the nature like meadows, sky, sea, mountain and plants has always fascinated mankind who has vision. Unfortunately, people who are not able to see are entirely deprived of the pleasure associated with seeing such visual objects. Their world is entirely different from the others. However, they have got better sense of touch, smell and hearing ability to compensate loss of vision.

Disabled persons are also not in a position to enjoy fully the beauty of nature and plants due to restricted mobility. In addition, most of the ornamental gardens are not fully accessable by disabled persons particularly on wheel chairs.

The ‘Touch-‘N‘-Smell Garden’ is very rare and unique kind of garden meant for the visually impaired and disabled persons enabling them to learn about the diversity of plant species by touch and smell. In India, there are three such gardens. One in the Botanic Garden, CSIR- National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow and the others are at M.S. Swaminathan Foundation, Chennai and Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. Similar such sensory gardens of the world are in Berlin (Germany), Kyoto (Japan), New York (U.S.A.), Nanjing (China) and Warsaw (Poland).

In urban areas, there are spaces along the roads which can be beautified by planting various groups of plants by proper planning. In addition to that, there are large traffic islands in metropolitan cites which are ideal for developing gardens. Even narrow central verge of the two way roads provide ample scope for plantation. These kinds of plantations sometimes in the form of gardens are very useful and fulfill dual purposes - beautification and amelioration of environment.

Roadside Gardens

Scope - Vacant areas along both sides of the metal roads in semi-urban and urban places are ideal for plantation. Depending upon the space available, trees and shrubs can be planted in various ways.

Any kind of garden established on roof top of the building is known as ‘Roof Garden’. The concept of roof gardening is not new. There are references that in ancient Mesopotamia (600 BC) plants were grown on terraces. During Roman period also ‘Villa of the Mysteries’ in Pompeii had plants on elevated terraces. However, in 21^st century, scarcity of land has driven us again towards development roof gardens.

With the advancement of time, necessity and utility, the concept of roof gardening has also completely changed. In urban environment, development of ornamental roof garden or green roof top is a necessity as it helps in temperature reduction, minimizing environmental pollution and, above all, a source of unlimited enjoyment with greens and flowers. Therefore, building architects are now include roof gardens while planning new building. The environmental issues and aesthetic benefits of the cities by way of developing roof gardens are the prime consideration.

Gardens around the religious places / structures such as temple, mosque, shrine etc. have been developed since very old times. In fact gardening practice actually started with the temple gardens for growing flowers for worship purpose. The main purpose of these gardens is to create scenic beauty and a pleasant atmosphere where one can relax, mediate and spent some time in tranquility besides making prayer and worship.

Design

The garden around such structures depends on its type, requirement and number of visitors of that place. In case, large number of visitors visiting the place daily, garden areas need to be fenced with grill or hedge so that no damage is done to the garden, particularly walking through lawn, flower beds, plucking of flowers, leaves etc. Architectural beauty and position of the structure (temple, mosque, shrine), availability of space (area and allocation - front, side, back) should be taken into account while preparing design. In case of big areas with boundary, trees may be planted along the boundary wall. Remaining area is to be divided into blocks for accommodating other features like shrubbery border, flower beds, water bodies, fountain etc. as per availability of space and suitability. Gradation for making change of elevation by way of earth work or construction of retaining walls must be well planned and completed at the initial stage of garden construction. Other facilities for the public like seats, shelters, public conveniences are also to be taken into account.

This is a special kind of garden made with help of vertical structures and plants are grown / trained in special manner. Besides, roofs can also be converted into green roof. Restricted availability of ground space, modification of residential places and quest for growing plants have given birth of vertical gardening. Practically, this type of gardening has widened the scope of growing plants. Small spaces can also be converted into a lively place with proper design. Even bare walls can be converted into an attractive green wall with proper structure and designing with plants.

Advantages

Vertical gardening is ideal for urban areas especially for people living in the apartments. Following advantages have been recorded.