Apart from obvious decorative advantages, terrace gardens serve utilitarian purposes, offering both environmental and economics benefits
BOMBARDED WITH NEW information every day and at times egged on by our neighbours, friends or kin, we juggle our aspirations and limitations to exercise choices to improve the quality of our lives. While most of us resent paying a premium for such choices, forgetting the age-old saying that you can’t have your cake and eat it too, the spin of making an investment for better life for our family is too tempting.
One such choice, which the privileged ones amongst the middleclass are in a position to exercise, is setting up a terrace garden. Whether it’s a residential apartment or a house, the terrace can serve the purpose of growing shrubs, creepers, vegetables, flowers and fruits. The lesser privileged can do with balconies instead of terraces. Apart from obvious decorative advantages, terrace gardens serve utilitarian purposes, offering both environmental and economic benefits.
Terrace gardens help buildings cut down on cold and heat absorption, thereby increasing or reducing the indoor room temperature, which leads to reduced heating or cooling requirements and costs. Plants also clean up air, pumping more oxygen into the atmosphere. Birds also have the choice to make terrace gardens their habitat. Besides, a terrace covered with luxuriant greenery can also muffle disturbing noises and reduce sound pollution. An important collateral advantage can be getting fresh and green vegetables from the terrace garden.
While the well endowed ones can cover the terrace with soil, make beds and lawns, and so on, others can do with potted plants. In any case, it’s desirable to begin with water proofing the roof to make it leakage proof. One can employ professional waterproofing agencies or manage with cheaper coverage techniques used by the local mason. Basic water proofing, which has a shorter life, is done with cement mixed with chemicals. It is preferable to use white cement in hotter climates to reflect light and heat. In fact, one may not need to do such basic waterproofing, if the terrace can hold its own in a heavy downpour. Irrespective of the kind of waterproofing one does, the next steps include choosing appropriate pots, planting mediums and plants.
Pots are the key to providing the right local environment. The choices vary from clay and terracotta pots to plastic or fibre pots, wooden and metallic containers. The weight of the pot with wet soil and plant is to be considered, factoring in the strength of the terrace, before one decides to go in for a particular type of pot. As a basic rule, pots should allow water to pass through so that the roots stay healthy. Draining water leaves space for air to fill in, which is necessary for roots to breathe. Whichever pots you choose, these must have holes at the bottom to allow extra water to drain.
Clay and terracotta pots, which are made of clay fired in kilns, with their rusty brown colour complement all types of greenery. They are good for plant breathing as moisture wicks through their porous sides. They also offer better insulation to roots in hot summers and cold winters. But they demand regular watering. They are not the best options for moisture loving plants. Clay pots can also break easily.
Plastic pots are lighter and durable. These may not be the best options for plant breathing, but suit moisture loving plants. They come in all colours, which may fade over time unless treated with ultraviolet light inhibitors.
Wooden containers complement certain ecosystems. They rest in between clay and plastic containers in terms of plant breathing. Redwood, cedar or cypress containers are long lasting.
After choosing pots, the next step is to focus on the planting medium. The difference between the garden soil and the potting soil is that the latter should be lighter and more porous. It should also be nutritive and supportive. While there is a variety of readymade potting soils available in the market, you have the cheaper alternative of making your own organic manure with the help of kitchen waste.
A desirable planting medium comprises equal parts of red soil or top soil, coco peat or peat moss and compost (vermincompost or manure). It’s safer to buy soil from a nursery rather than picking it up randomly from a construction site. While peat moss is expensive, coco peat from the coconut fibre industry is a compatible replacement. Compositing vegetable and food waste yields vermin-compost.
When it comes to plants, you can plant shrubs, creepers, vegetables, flowers and fruits. These can be seasonal as well as year-round. The preference should be for fibrous root plants, which grow along the surface. In contrast tap root plants, which are deep rooted, can cause cracks in the terrace.
It’s advisable to start with daily cooking greens like coriander, chilli and fenugreek. Vegetables such as bean, beetroot, carrot, cucumber, brinjal, lettuce, green onion, peas, radish, tomato and turnip can be also easily grown in pots. Growing some vegetables depends upon the agro-climatic zone you live in. It can take just a month to harvest your veggies. One square metre can grow from 25 kg to 50 kg of vegetables over a year.
For growing flowers, sky is the limit. You can grow flowers such as bougainvillea, carnation, chrysanthemum, hibiscus, jasmine, lily, marigold, petunia and rose. Dwarf varieties of fruits such as fig, guava and lemon can be also grown in pots. Vegetables, fruits and flowers can be complemented by growing medicinal plants such as aloe vera and tulsi (holy basil).
Given the choices, it’s only understandable that investment estimates vary. A rough estimate for growing vegetables, flowers and fruits, including pots and planting medium, and so on, over 500-1,000 sq ft would be Rs 10,000-Rs 20,000. This cost does not include professional water-proofing, which itself can cost up to Rs one lakh. Availing services of a landscape designer can set you back by Rs 50,000. Seating and lighting costs depend upon your taste and wallet. So do fountains, bars and barbeques.
There is no end to enhancing the terrace garden experience. Of course, it depends upon the size of your terrace and the budget. Whether you use mirrors to make your terrace look larger, grow greens vertically, ignore imported plants or take a high eco ground by reusing throwaway containers for pots, your imagination can help to some extent in overcoming the constraints of space and budget. However, a terrace spread over 1,500 sq ft lends itself to a garden well-appointed over a period of time.
A conservative beginning is recommended for smart management of the relationship with the terrace garden. Initial setbacks are not unusual. Learning by doing and not outsourcing is the key to long lasting success — and satisfaction.