The 250-yard courtyard has more than 85 plants
CHENNAI: In the midst of a concrete jungle in Madhapur, Hyderabad, stands Vannam Sreelakshmi’s 250-yard courtyard which comprises at least 85 plants. Plants in various sizes, shapes and colours are in full bloom here. In her independent house, it’s the front courtyard that’s her favourite. And quite obviously, because of the lung space. A thumb rule which has stood her in good stead ever since she started gardening in 1997 is: “Shower them with copious amounts of love.”
A multiple award-winning yoga and meditation practitioner, Sreeakshmi began nurturing her garden over 20 years ago, and now looks back at it with much pride. The garden also holds a special place for the semicentennial. It’s here that her love story with her husband, Satish Rao began. The duo spent most of their time in the garden. Love and flowers, blossomed together, they say. In fact, it’s also in her garden that Sreelakshmi finds inspiration to write her blog on yoga.
A good one hour every day, soon after her morning cuppa, is spent tending to the plants which include cleaning up the withered leaves, pooling them in one corner for natural compost and gently helping the vines to find support. While each and every plant and flower has been handpicked and sown with love, her favourites are summer flowers, especially the fragrant mallepoolu and sannajaji (different kinds of jasmine). “It’s hard for me to choose, but I think fragrant flowering plants are what I love the most,” she says. For her morning pujas, she has to simply step into her garden for hibiscus and other flowers. “My garden gives me enough bloom that I can use for my morning prayers,” she says.
Her cooking requirements are sorted with the vegetables from her garden. Green leafy vegetables such as spinach, kumtikoora (local tangy edible green leaf) and methi are grown too. In addition, mangoes,
guavas and chikkoos are in constant supply year-round for her entire family. “There are so many varieties of mangoes in the market, but the ones I grow here are special. Because of the labour of love, these are the sweetest. The trees are like family to me,” she says.
When Sreelakshmi feels out-of-sorts, she tells us that she can “feel the plants sulk.” “I can’t emphasise enough how much trees respond to our feelings,” she says.
When she’s not at home tending to her garden, she’s often found visiting gardening expos in the city. Even though she lives at a distance from the Public Gardens, she still manages to visit the annual flower show and horticulture workshops that take place. Of late, she’s also has been watching YouTube videos on cross cultivation and water requirements during summer. She has a good support system in her colony which means not having to worry when she travels. Clearly, sweet are the fruits of labour.
Tips from Sreelakshmi
● Place a handy strainer near the kitchen sink so that you can filter all organic waste (tea decoction, veggie peels etc) and use it as plant compost. It’s the best you can give your plants
● Convert used oil containers and pet bottles as pots. This way, you get to re-use it and you will not be adding plastic to the environment through disposal
● In summers, water plants in the evening rather than mornings, as it helps them absorb the
moisture and fight the heat
