If
you wish to employ a garden contractor, it is best to look
out for one who has had a reasonable amount of experience
in making a garden and one who has trained staff. The reputed
contractors too can give you a lot of trouble by not adhering
to the specifications that are to be followed in making
the garden. For example, if a tree requires a pit of 3'
x 3' x 3' to be dug, he may dig a pit of 3' x 3' x 2' or
he may dig a pit of the correct specification but while
filling it with fresh mixture of garden earth and manure,
he will fill the bottom part with the excavated infertile
soil. (There is nothing wrong however in using the excavated
earth if it is of good quality.) Both will not let the plant
grow properly.
It
is best to spend some extra money and have a good garden
made rather than be fooled by the enormously low amount
quoted by some garden contractors.
You
can however make your own garden in the following way.
Draw
out a landscaping plan for your garden. You do not need
to be an expert in drawing. A rough sketch will do. A number
of factors will have to be considered in making a landscape
plan, such as the topography of the are, the location of
the house or building, whether the area is in a sunny of
a shady location, the amount of land available in making
a garden, the availability of water, the time that you can
spend in maintaining the garden and most important of all
the amount of money that you are willing to shell out in
making the garden.
Making
the Lawn
The
lawn acts as a canvas in making the garden with the house
or some object as the main focal point. All other feature
of the garden comes within the lawn.
Level
the area and fill it up with mixture of garden earth and
manure in the ratio of 3:1 (3 parts of garden and 1 part
of manure) to a depth of 6". Water the area and leave
it for a week. This is done to allow the weeds present in
the lawn to come up. After a week remove all the weeds.
Your are now ready to plant the lawn.
For
a sunny location you have the choice of planting the Cynaon
dactylon (Hariyali 'Doob'), the Korean Carpet grass or the
Mexican Carpet grass. The latter two are also known as jumping
grass.
For
a shady location you can plant the Paspalam grass.
Planting
Shrubs and Hedges
Shrubs
and hedges are plants the growth of which is intended for
not more than 3'. Besides their beauty they act as a demarcation
line for the garden. The hedges can be given various shapes
as well. The color and the flowering pattern of the shrubs
should be well exploited to get a well-designed garden.
Depending
upon the fertility of the existing land, dig a trench of
1' - 2' depth and 1' - 2' wide. Fill the trench with a mixture
of garden earth and manure in the ratio of 2:1 and plant
the shrubs as per the layout design. Again depending upon
the growth pattern of the shrubs, plant them at a distance
of 1' - 2' from one another.
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