Q. Keeping my house cool by completely covering and shading it with trees, creepers / climbers, flowering and productive plants is my aim and, as I reside in Hyderabad, this is not simple to achieve. To further complicate matters, I am new to gardening and do not know the names of many plants or how to care for them. Can you please suggest some very fast growing species so that my too hot home can be transformed in to a naturally cool, green place?

A. A laudable aim and having seen such a home elsewhere in the country, I will add that not only can your aim be achieved but that the end result can be really cool in all respects! Taking up this challenge requires a huge effort, plenty of work, a good source of moisture retentive, preferably organic soil / compost, a reliable water supply and lots and lots of patience as creating the cool place of your dreams does take time.

I suggest that, as you are a new gardener, you begin with a selection of easily obtainable, fairly tough, shade trees, climbers and creepers with the latter two categories being trained up and over your house with the assistance of a suitable arrangement of wires, nets and strong rods to help them on their way. Easy to care for shade trees include: Melia azadiracta (Neem), Tamarindus indica (Imli) and, providing there is plenty of room, lots of bananas and papayas too as, planted in blocks, these fruiting species do provide a surprising amount of shade. The easiest and fast growing climber and a species which will happily grow right over your house once it decides to take off, is that good old, very reliable, Bougainvillea which, with the addition of some Tecoma grandiflora (Trumpet vine), Passiflora (Passion flower) and a selection of Bignonia varieties, should push the project along quite nicely. Otherwise, keep your eyes open for interesting plants in your local nurseries and also on this column for possible surprises in store.

Let the climber/creepers climb up the walls to cool off your place, while giving it a beautiful look

Q. Please tell me if it is possible to grow Ylang-Ylang vine in Karachi. I adore Ylang-Ylang perfume.

A. The answer is yes but … please be warned! Ylang-Ylang vines are grown in Karachi and have also been grown in Lahore for many years, including in Lawrence Garden’s. Locally known as ‘Hara champa’ and available in many nurseries, the vine rarely, if ever, has the overpowering perfume of the actual Ylang-Ylang tree, botanically known as Cananga odorata and which can achieve, very rapidly, a height of 100 feet! The vine is native to this region whilst the tree version is more tropical than sub-tropical. The tree can be grown in the south of Pakistan but really only thrives in high humidity whilst the vine is not so fussy but, as already mentioned, as far as the exquisite perfume is concerned, it is the tree and not the vine that you need.

Ficus pumila covering a wall, Photos by the writer

Q. We have divided our lawn in to three parts: in one part we have German grass and in the other two we have American grass. The problem is that there is a lot of ‘wild grass’ in amongst the German grass which has begun dying off in parts. There is a ‘chikoo’ tree at one end of the German grass to provide shade and there is also a drainage line. Sometimes the grass gets exposed to drainage water but giving it clean water is not a problem. We reside close to Karachi University and would appreciate your advice.

A. Simply hand weed any ‘invaders’ out of the German grass, water regularly with clean water and see if, over time, it does pick up. If not then remove all the grass and either start again or plant something which makes sensible use of precious clean water please.

Q. Some years back I planted three Ficus pumila creepers in the ground and, after the usual slow start, they really took off and soon covered three walls of my two storey house with thick, lush green, vegetation. Then, over the past few months, something has gone badly wrong: The leaves are turning brown and falling off. Now one of the walls is completely without leaf cover and the other two walls are patchy and look terrible. For obvious reasons I cannot have the creepers removed so please advice on how to revive these once beautiful plants. I reside near to Seaview in Karachi.

A. Regular, very heavy pruning is a basic necessity for maintaining what was — and can be again — a stunning green display on your house. It can be quite difficult to keep on top of pruning over such a large area, especially over two storeys, but it must be done at least twice, if not three times, a year otherwise the resultant ‘dieback’ is, as you know, not a pretty sight.

Q. I have lawns of Korean grass at the front and rear of my Rawalpindi house and both lawns have become infested with termite (deemak). Can you please suggest some remedy to get rid of this pest?

A. Termite is a major problem in the Rawalpindi area and, sadly, is all but impossible to exterminate without recourse to extremely toxic chemicals. You can try digging up and removing all soil, replacing it with new soil and then planting new lawns but this is an expensive job and, no doubt, will have to be done again and again. Sorry. There is no organic solution I can recommend.

Q. I have a lemon tree at my house in Karachi and it was healthy and fruiting for the last two years. However, since last February, it has dried up a little which, in my opinion, was normal due to shedding of leaves which started re-growing by April. The startling thing though, is that a half portion coming out of a single stem is green and fruiting now whilst the other half is completely dried up. I am at a loss to explain this phenomenon and neither can any of my gardening friends. Can you tell me what steps to take to remedy the problem please?

A. This is quite a common occurrence. Prune out the dead wood and, in time, the tree will rebalance itself by growing anew.

Please continue sending your gardening queries to zahrahnasir@hotmail.com. Remember to include your location. The writer will not respond directly by email. Emails with attachments will not be opened.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, November 23rd, 2014