May 17, 2007

If you want to grow some fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers but haven’t got a clue where to start, then here are a few tips from Zahrah Nasir

Okay readers. It’s back to basics this week as quite a number of you have been brave enough to admit that you can’t tell a green leaf from a green flower and are desperately seeking to obtain a green thumb!

Actually, one reader did request that I write a piece called ‘Gardening for dummies’ but I felt that was a little over the top as no one who is sincerely interested in gardening can, in my humble opinion, be called a dummy. A learner maybe but certainly not a dummy!

Now, how to begin your horticultural education and, the big question here is, can I complete it in one easy lesson? I don’t think so but…let’s see.

First and foremost, never ever be afraid to admit that you don’t know something, such as what is the difference between an annual, a bi-annual and a perennial for example and do not be embarrassed to ask. An annual is sown, flowers, bears seed and dies all within a one year life span or, due to climatic conditions, in as little as six months or so. It will not come up again.

A bi-annual generally lives between one and two years, being sown one year for flowering and producing seed in the next. A perennial, depending on whether it is a short-lived or long-lived species, generally continues growing for anything from three years upwards and may take quite a long time to be mature enough to flower and bear fruit, the latter two cases especially if the perennial in question happens to be a tree of some sort.

Having kicked off with the above I suddenly find myself wondering if this is what you want to know and guess, at this initial stage of the game, it isn’t all that important. Let me try again.

You want to grow something, fruit, vegetables, herbs, flowers but haven’t got a clue where to start. You do have a patch of ground but have no idea where and how to begin; a garden which you feel the mali is making a mess of and you don’t know how to correct him or, alternatively, you don’t have a garden but want to grow something in plant pots. This sounds more like it I think!

If you have a patch of ground then first of all you need to take a long hard look at it, see which parts are in full sun and which are in partial shade as such conditions have a major impact on the types of plants you decide to grow. This also applies to the location of plant pots if you intend to garden in those. If you need to mark out locations for borders, beds, lawns and footpaths then this should be at the top of your agenda and will need careful consideration and measuring out.

Don’t have too much lawn as grass often ends up requiring far more maintenance, watering, feeding and manicuring than flower and vegetable beds. I would even suggest no lawn at all to be frank but, if you feel you really need it, a small paved patio area instead as this is simple to maintain whatever the weather conditions. At the beginning stage you should also decide on the locations of trees and perennial shrubs such as oleander and hibiscus if you are going to include them.

Soil preparation is a must. You can’t just grow beautiful things in any old soil and this goes for plant pot gardening, too as, inevitably, the soil in which nursery purchased plants are sold is often mixed with recycled soil from previously unsold, dead or diseased plants and is most unlikely to contain the nutrients essential for strong, healthy plant growth. Plus, as the pots from the nursery are as small as the seller can get away with for cost reasons, then purchased plants will probably need to be transplanted into larger pots which you have purchased yourself.

If you have existing garden soil then it is possibly in poor condition and, if you reside in Karachi, probably of a highly sandy nature. You will need to go out and buy soil from a reputable, if you can locate one and don’t be shy to ask someone you know who has an established garden for advice, soil vendor. Reasonably good soil is often much darker in colour than predominantly sandy soil and is not so finely textured.

Sand will run through your open fingers for example while decent soil is of a far more crumbly, importantly water retentive nature but, beware of heavy clay which will stick together like a chunk of concrete when wet as this is not good on its own either. A picture of nice chocolate coloured, rich, crumbly soil springs to my mind, something like a mound of what I imagine stale cake crumbs would look like!

This soil can be mixed, 50 – 50 if possible, with your existing soil to bring it up to standard and then further improved by covering the lot with at least a three inch, preferably six inch, layer of old, well-rotted, if possible, organic manure which can be roughly mixed into the top layer of the soil beneath. If using pots, and you won’t have any soil to start with, then use a mix of 75 per cent soil to 25 per cent well-rotted manure for your planting medium.

New manure is smelly, sticky stuff containing large lumps and lots of strawy bits whilst well-rotted manure is dark brown, fairly crumbly stuff resembling the previously mentioned good soil in texture. Garden soil and soil for use in plant pots should be prepared as far in advance, at least one month anyway, of planting as possible and kept damp, not flooded, to help it settle down into something which your new plants and seeds will greet with glee.

Seed sowing in the appropriate season, and this differs considerably from area to area of our huge and wonderfully climatically diverse country, can depending on species, be done direct in the location in which you want your plants to grow or, again depending on species as some hate to be transplanted, be undertaken in especially prepared seed beds, seed trays, in plant pots or the increasingly popular plastic sleeves although, as they tend to dry out very quickly, it is better to utilise good old-fashioned clay pots which retain the all essential moisture for a much longer period of time.

Seeds can be pretty finicky things and should always be treated with care and the quality of soil in which to sow them is of great importance. Simply tossing a handful of seeds in to dusty, unfed, unprepared soil is more than likely to result in complete failure of germination and may even put you off trying again but…..don’t despair…..even though I am out of space for this week I promise to take an in-depth look at seed sowing next time around or, at least after the next question and answer session.

In the meantime, prepare your soil, purchase your pots and get ready to get down to some serious growing business and, when buying pots, don’t waste your money on tidily little things, select those gorgeous, rather decorative, not to deep, round ones which are for sale, costing between Rs60 – Rs120 depending on how hard you bargain, all over the place.

Send your gardening queries to zahrahnasir@hotmail.com. Answers to selected questions will appear in a future issue of ‘The Review’. Please be patient as this may take some time.