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July 28, 2005
GARDENING: Planting date palms
Answering readers’ questions, Zahrah Nasir sheds light on different aspects of gardening
Q We are moving into our new house soon and are trying to plan our garden. We are very interested in parrots and plan to plant lemon trees, guava, green spices etc. to attract them but we have not seen any parrots in the area at all. Can you offer some advice?A My only suggestion here is that you purchase a small number of parrots from the market, keep them in a reasonably sized cage, feeding them of course, for a week or ten days and then start leaving the cage door open so that they are free to explore their new surroundings. Hopefully they will like what they find and decide to stay with you but, please remember, beautiful as they are, they do cause lots of damage to all sorts of plants in a garden, any garden, which may not make you very popular with your new neighbours.
Q The area around my new house, i.e. between the wall of the main house and the boundary wall, is about four yards wide and faces the house windows. I cannot decide if I should plant trees or climbers against the boundary wall where they will be seen from inside the rooms. Which would be the best?
A I would recommend that you plant a colourful mixture of foliage climbers, flowering climbers and fruiting vines against the boundary wall, not trees, as tree roots, no matter how small the tree, will badly interfere with the foundations of the boundary wall and may also create problems with underground cables, sewerage and waterpipes. Try to select a mix of climbers that will flourish in one form or another, all the year round.
Q There is an area of about 100 square yards at the back of our new house where we plan to make a kitchen/beauty garden. Do you have any ideas?A The recent gardening series ‘The Edible Garden Dream’ which ran in six issues of The Review would be ideal to consult for your requirements but, if you cannot get hold of this, then make a trip to your local Sunday bazaar or to a second-hand book shop and pick up a few gardening books from overseas as these should give you lots of good ideas. The books from Australia and South Africa are those which often have information which is more relevant to gardens in Karachi than gardening books published in Europe. Sorry, I cannot be more precise but, this is difficult without actually seeing the piece of land in question.
Q I want to plant date palms, the seeds for which I got from Saudi Arabia. My friend experimented and now has a small, sturdy date palm. Where and how should I do this?
A Date stones are very hard and should be soaked in warm water for two to three days prior to planting in small pots. Individual pots for each date stone are best, having good compost. The compost should be kept moist at all times in order to encourage germination. The pots should also be placed in a reasonably sunny location.
Date stones can take up to three months to germinate so be patient about this. Also, the reason for planting them in individual pots is that date seedlings do not like being transplanted at all and need to be left undisturbed for as long as possible. They are also pretty slow growers and by the time they have outgrown their starter pots they should then be strong enough, and have a strong enough root system, to alleviate transplanting losses. Alternatively, why not ask your friend how they went about their successful experiment and follow in their footsteps?
Q The neighbours’ tree hangs over into our driveway and cuts down on light to our front garden.They have refused to do anything about this. What can we do?A You certainly have a problem on your hands with this. In Europe and America there are laws restricting the height of hedges and trees around an individual property in a built-up area to a maximum of six feet in order to avoid such problems, and anyone who breaks these laws is subject to a hefty fine. Unfortunately, as far as I am aware, there are no such laws in Pakistan, therefore, the only possible course of action is to try to convince your neighbours to either prune the offending branches themselves or let you do the job after reaching an amicable agreement. Don’t, whatever you do, take the law into your own hands as this could result in a long lasting, nasty feud with your neighbours which could have unfortunate repercussions.
Q I want to plant a small flowered, white, climbing rose in my garden in Karachi. Which variety is the best and on which side of the property should it be placed?
A Ross banksiae alba, a white Banksian climbing rose, originating in China and well adapted to our climate is the best rose variety for your purposes. It is usually available from nurseries during the late autumn and winter months which also happen to be the best time for planting. Climbing and rambling up to 20 feet and more, this double flowered variety is much stronger than its yellow counterpart Ross banksiae lutea. A partially shaded, north facing wall is the best location when growing such a climber in Karachi. If this is not available, then either a place which gets the morning or evening sun but not the direct heat of mid-day.
Q We have just shifted and our new residence in Karachi is almost obscured underneath masses of gorgeous bougainvillaea. This needs to be cut back and got under control. When is the best time to do this?
A Bougainvillaea can be trimmed back at any time of the year but, I feel it is best to avoid periods of very high humidity or rainfall as these could encourage infection or rot in recently cut branches. As a precautionary measure, you could seal new cuts with silicone, easily available in tubes from hardware stores, as this prevents any air-borne infection.
*Thank you for all of the above queries and please continue to send your questions at zahrahnasir@ hotmail.com.
*Sorry that the writer cannot reply personally.
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