Winter Garden and newly learnt gardening tips

Winter Garden

Our tiny little winter balcony garden is like a flowery wonderland these days. Here in Kolkata, the slightly chilly air of the “catch me if you can” winter, is the welcome sign for the flowers to start arriving. Every morning we wake up to our winter garden adorned with the voluptuous roses, the pretty petunias, the starry dianthus, the elegant kalanchoes and the ever cheerful chrysanthemums.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CXoRykbATKk/?utm_medium=copy_link

Chrysanthemums


New additions and mustardy tips

We went to a local nursery just after Christmas which was decorated like a magical garden. It was difficult to restrain myself and I ended up buying at least 4 new rose plants .

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CX8st04AjuH/?utm_medium=copy_link

As a free gift I was rewarded with genius advice about soaked mustard husk for watering my rose and all flowering plants. Immediately I bought 4 packets at just Rs 10/- per packet. Its very simple to use as well. I just need to soak around 50 gm of the husk in half a bucket of water for 4 days. Then dilute it with more water and voila! My liquid rose fertiliser is ready to be used for watering my plants.

Natures cycle

Excited with my new knowledge about mustard ,recently I sowed a few mustard seeds in a planter, watered it and left it on its own for a few days ( with regular watering). The sun and nature played its magic. Lo and behold, I have my cutest mustard sprouts, growing with leaps and bounds everyday! Maybe I will be able to produce my own mustard husk and the cycle will be complete!

Mustard seedlings


Why Gardening?


I often wonder myself that why do I invest such a lot of my time for these plants and flowers. How is it that I get so much happiness from them? Gardening has been my friend for the last 7 years now.
It is difficult for me to imagine life without my plants. They feels like an extension of me as a person and va
lidate my trust on nature. I recently read that a group of researchers carried out a meta- analysis on the effects of gardening on health and they have “provided robust evidence for the positive effects of gardening on health.” According to them “ gardening can improve physical, psychological, and social health, which can, from a long-term perspective, alleviate and prevent various health issues facing today’s society”. Read more about it here .

Chrysanthemums in our Winter Garden
Chrysanthemums in our Winter Garden
Yellow Rose in our Winter Garden
Yellow Rose in our Winter Garden
Pink Rose


Winter Garden Tips

Now after convincing you that why you need to have a small garden of your own (albeit its just a few plants whom you are responsible for keeping alive), I will share a few winter gardening tips.

  1. Water only when necessary, always check the soil before watering .
  2. Deadheading the old flowers will help in new flowering. Also removing dried leaves and stems from the plants helps the plant breath easier.
  3. Mustard husk fertilizer: every two weeks.
  4. Organic liquid fertiliser/macro and micro elements/seaweed: every week.
  5. Cow dung fertilizer: every 4 weeks
  6. Neem oil spray for the pesky pests: every week.
  7. Chat and sing to your plant babies: every day!

This post is part of Blogchatter’s CauseAChatter.

Views expressed in this post are personal and for reading purpose only. They’re not medical advice. Each individual’s experience may vary. Please consult a professional if you need help

4 Comments

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.