In this blog post, I will walk you through the process of making your own potting soil at home = the way I do it – using readily available materials, and share tips on how to create the perfect mix for your container plants. If you’re a serious home gardener like me, you know how important it is to have the right potting soil for your plants to grow well. However, buying readymade potting soil can get quite expensive. Making your own potting soil at home is not only cost-effective, but it also allows you to customize the mix to suit your plants’ needs. Do watch the video below where I mixed it with one new ingredient for disease tolerance. Also, I did NOT use…
Artificial grass for balcony is the new rage among apartment dwellers. The green grass gives a real lush look to the space often making up for the lack of a garden. I get a ton of queries from people moving into new homes asking for quotes for laying artificial grass or if I can refer any vendors who would do the same. A while ago, I had featured Xanadu Organic Gardens. I asked the following questions on your behalf about the pre-requisites for laying artificial grass, how much it will cost so you can budget accordingly. XOG answers them for you: 1. What is the pre-requisite in terms of flooring for laying artificial grass in a balcony? We typically do a site evaluation and consultation…
Wondering how to make the most of your small balcony / deck / terrace in the city? These pictures of balcony gardens from real apartments will inspire you to get started or seek professional help (details inside). In this follow up series featuring Xanadu Organic Gardens, there are more landscaping and garden design ideas for your home. Over the weekend, I saw first hand the ease of maintaining an artificial grass lawn. Needless to say, the bed looks lush green throughout the year. This got me thinking into turning a part of our terrace into a tropical retreat lush with grass and Frangipani trees. Featured below are garden installations of all sizes from from a large one with picket fencing to several green nooks around…
This morning, I was reading an article on New York Times about Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan, the founder of Apartment Therapy. He says,” the house itself is by far the least important thing. What really matters is creating a place where you can get out of your brain and into your body.” For city-dwellers, the place that helps you detach from the mind is nature. Plants make life in the big city bearable, the air breathable, worries distant, and have a calming effect like no other. And, I write this post from the green oasis we have created for ourselves. The focus is on nature today, and it’s only apt to feature Xanadu Organic Gardens (XOG). If you are looking for someone to design and install a garden…
Five vegetables you can grow in pots all around the year is one of the most viewed posts on the blog. And, another often searched item is ” how to grow tomatoes in pots at home”. I’m not surprised because the price of tomatoes varies substantially all through the years. Sometimes, they are available at throwaway prices and sometimes they are priced like gold. Nevertheless, becoming self sufficient for tomatoes, chillies has been a gardening goal for us. We have not bought papayas, pomegranates, lemons, basil, curry leaves and chilly from the market for the past year. I would like to soon get there for okra, beans, and tomatoes as well. In this post, I share my learning on what increased the size of my…
I ran a poll on our Facebook page a few weeks ago asking what you would like to see: a post on balcony garden or accent walls? An overwhelming majority of you voted in favor of balcony garden. Understandably so, given that we all live in concrete jungles, but have fond childhood memories of growing up amid greenery. Garden space is a luxury for most urban apartment dwellers. I’m using 18 beautiful balcony gardens designed by Livspace to illustrate how you can create a green haven for yourself irrespective of how little space you have with this guide. I have dissected these gorgeous spaces into five different elements and tips for each of them: plants, planters, flooring, furniture and accessories. Plants No balcony garden is complete…
Looking for a home remedy (concoction) to cure that nagging running nose or cold? I’ve compiled a list of 15 easy to grow medicinal herbs in pots in your kitchen garden. A home that smells as heavenly as a spa. Some aromatic herbs to garnish your dinner – freshly picked from the garden. A herb infused flavorful water to quench the thirst during summer. A heady aroma filling your bedroom that will gradually lull you to sleep. Or, a natural sweetener for your diabetic mom? What if I told you I have more than 15 fascinating herbs growing in all corners of my house from windowsills to terrace and balcony that do all of the above, and more. …
You know what the hardest part of gardening is? Atleast, it is for me. Getting the seeds to germinate, and of course, dealing with pests the organic way. Germinating seeds might seem like a no-brainer, but it’s a game of patience. One that I never seem to crack for seeds like peppers/capsicum. Have you ever wandered into a nursery and looked with awe at those neatly lined seedlings in a tray? I would wonder either they have magic fingers, or there is a trick behind this 100% germination rate. I haven’t cracked the code yet, but I guess it’s the perfect greenhouse environment + fertilizer for that kinda success rate. My success with germinating seeds these past two months have been appalling. Tomato,…
Winter is one time of the year when you can expect your vegetable garden to really thrive, from my experience. This post is a handy guide on what to grow in your kitchen garden in winter. Vegetables, flowering plants, and most herbs grow best in pots /containers at home in winter in India. Also, make note of the tips on how to care for them. What you can grow in winter in your home garden There is very little that can go wrong. In summer, you face the risk of plants getting scorched or dried up if you forget to water them at least once a day. On the other hand, monsoon brings with it deadly tales of pests and creepy crawlies of all kinds. That’s why…
The brief showers during the summer did wonders to my terrace garden. Here’s a sneak peek into what’s growing in my garden now. The whole inventory: Vegetables: Tomato – 5 Okra – 2, 1 guava, 3 tomato plants, 2 okra, Bottle gourd – 1 Beans -4 (just planted), 1 guava, 3 tomato plants, 2 okra, Drumstick – 1 (not yet flowering) Radish – about 8 of them Spinach Herbs: Coriander – 1 sqft by 1 sq ft patch Methi – 1 sqft. by 1 sqft. patch Basil – 2 Lemon grass – 1 Brahmi – 1 Betel – 1 Ajwain – 1 Curry leaves – 2 Fruits: Guava, Banana, Papaya, Pomegranate, Mango, Orange, Pomelo, Lemon – all 1 each Apart from these I have a…