Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu

Kids despite consistent deterrence from their parents love playing with water and mud. Though there are hazards of thus playing, if channelised properly, they can be taught to adapt these habits as a hobby. Gardening could be a very good hobby, favourite pastime and utilisation of leisure time in a productive way. Garden is a very human place — a place of sweet mystery, an opening to mystical experiences and one of the few places left in our modern lives where we can be who we truly are.

How to start

You don’t have to have a big piece of land to start gardening. Some knowledge of gardening will prove fruitful. For instance, first of all figure out what would you do? Would you like to utilise your space of land as kitchen garden or would you make it a beautiful place full of beautiful flowers?

Then comes, what to begin with. Plants grow according to season. If you are going to start your hobby in winter then you have to choose those kinds of plants that grow properly during winter and this implies for other seasons as well. In the mean time you have to collect some information on what kind of care you have to provide during that specific season.

Do you need skill

You may need, you may not. Though it is said that nothing can be done without a skilled hand, gardening is a simple hobby that you get adept and habitual to the things that have to be done when you start once. Of course, later care of the plants in their early stage needs very skilled hand to weed, water and provide shade but nothing to worry, they are not that hard to adapt.

Arrangement

Whatever planted in the garden makes a beautiful ambience provided everything you have arranged properly. A small piece of land could be developed with lots of flowers, vegetables, etc. Flowers arranged according to their species in a different row and column not only soothe eyes but also create a serene ambience. Your imagination could play a vital role in such cases.

What you can try

You can try bonsai and ikebana as well while gardening. Bonsai is Japanese art of cultivating plants and trees in their smaller version.

Ikebana is the art of beautifully arranging cut stems, leaves, and flowers in vases and other containers that evolved in Japan over seven centuries. These techniques are what people attend ikebana classes to learn.

Some tips

• Make sure that you have lots of options available to start.

• Digging holes is one thing that seems to hold endless fascination.

• Plant radishes even if you don’t like them — they come up in three or four days.

• Try to keep seeds, tools, etc as similar as possible to avoid the inevitable squabbles.

• After an activity, do something to reinforce what everyone has learned.

• Talk about what went on, who did what.

Where to get

You can ask your elders or contact nearby nursery for the information on what kind of plants could be opted for the season. Books also can provide much information about the fertilisers that have to be used. Information can be gathered for the care of your garden round the year through an expert.