Gardening—the new obsession!

  

 

At the start of 2020, if someone has asked me whether I would become obsessed with plants or gardening, I would definitely have said a resounding NO. But, come the September and I am completely addicted, mad, crazy and enthusiastic about gardening. If you ask me how, I’ll just shrug and say, “I don’t know, it just happened.”

 

How it started?

 

Before 2020, I was never a garden-type person. I rarely checked on my mom’s backyard garden. Forget about checking, seldom noticed it. I didn’t care about the type of plants that are grown, the pruning and weeding, fertilizing, etc. I just lacked the garden personality. But, in January 2020, I was asked to raise a nursery in the village I work as a part of the job description. And that proved to be a remarkable turnaround. 

 

It was quite a challenge in the beginning, to raise a nursery, without the gardening know-how. But with the help of YouTube, I came across the type of plants that can be grown from seeds and cuttings, the type of soil to be used, the process of cutting the stems, watering the plants, etc. To keep up with the survival rate, tried and tested different species of plants and observed their growth.

 

With regular care, seeds started to sprout and shoots emerged on the cuttings. Not all survived but the one that withstood the conditions and adapted to the environment started showing results. In the process, the barren growing bags turned into lush green and in no time, flowers started to bloom.  And this is where it all happened. The prospect of raising a living organism, just from a seed or a part of plant, when provided with sufficient sunlight and nurtured with water, felt awe-inspiring. It just felt as if I was learning a new skill and it gave a sense of accomplishment. 

 

Obsession??

 

The euphoria gained from raising a nursery prompted me to take up rooftop gardening, as the backyard was already occupied.  The idea was to start small and slow—accumulate few plants and take care of them. But, as it turned out, I started observing plants wherever I went—friends’ homes, offices, and miniature gardens along the roads, etc.—and I couldn’t resist knowing more about the plants and their methods of propagation. When I started searching about a particular plant online, I ended up knowing about many others and my desire to possess them escalated. 

 

As a result, I began to collect the cuttings of various plants by blatantly asking for them from whichever house I had visited. Only God knows how they felt by my crazy gesture. My temptation to ask for them overcame my manners. Visiting roadside nurseries turned out to be a nightmare. There was a certain urge to grab all the varieties of plants. But the indecision to select a few from the stack proved to be a much tougher task. Every time I dragged myself from the nursery, I promised myself to pick some particular plant some other time. Thus, it really turned into an obsession. I collected about 40 plants till now and they are having fun, basking in the sun and drenching in the rain.

 

What are the advantages of gardening? 

 

Our relationship with plants is always symbiotic. We nurture the plants with water and nutrients and they offer us many other things in return. From the aesthetic point of view, gardens bring nature to our immediate surroundings. When we don’t have the time and means to spend outdoors, gardens—backyard or rooftop—provide the opportunity to immerse ourselves in nature. 

 

On a stressful day, spending time in the garden keeps our mind off things. When everything is going against the tide, carrying out simple tasks in our garden gives us a sense of satisfaction. Thus it acts like a therapy when we are upset.

 

Gardening brings us back to the ground. With numerous tasks to check the growth and keep the plants healthy, we generate healthy sweat and productive aches. Playing with the dirt brings back the long-lost child in us. Thus they keep our physical and mental health in check.

 

Taking care of the plants is just like parenting. We prune the plants just like we teach manners to our children; we water them regularly, offer them nutrients and pesticides just like we offer healthy food to our children; we start appreciating little details about plants such as first bloom of a flower, varied colors on leaves, etc. just like we celebrate achievements of our children. In short, we develop some sort of attachment to plants that we feel happy when they are good and we will definitely worry when they are not doing well. Once we get attached to them, it’ll be tough to ignore.

 

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We never know when and what we fall in love with. But if we stumble upon something we cherish, we shouldn’t hesitate to proceed further. If there are some good addictions, gardening sure makes the list. And if you’re still pondering over taking up gardening, please don’t hang back. It won’t disappoint you.

 

Image source: My Acalypha Wilkesiana