This is a virtual tour of Vriksha Nursery in Mumbai.
Every store owner I’ve spoken to has exhibited that one quality that sets them apart and keeps them going day after day: passion. But, at Vriksha, it was a tad different. The e-mail exchange was full of life, energy to go on, and enthusiasm to do more – it felt as if I were there in Mumbai amidst the greens. I felt happy knowing Vriksha. Yes, happy, was the word I was looking for to describe my virtual experience of Vriksha.
I wrote to Shaan Lalwani, horticulturist and nurturer of Vriksha nursery. His parents created this green heaven in Mumbai 34 years ago. Yes. 34 years. Gardening is close to my heart and I know for many of you too. There’s tons of priceless information, here, in this post from Shaan, that comes with experience. So soak it all up and let’s put it to good use in our gardens.
Snippets of my conversation with Shaan:
A little background about Vriksha in Shaan’s words: “Vriksha has 100 different herbs fruits and vegetables (local and exotic) all for sale at the nursery. The idea here is to make gardening interactive: carnivorous plants, insect repelant plants, edibles, aroma plants etc. I’m 26 years old and thankfully have a team of 45 people willing to try (sometimes fail) new things.
Ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement. Mom is into the 6th year and next year she heads to japan to give her teacher level exam under the grandmaster in japan. She arranges flowers in offices, hotels, events in mumbai and thankfully she still after 25 years in the line still wants to do something diffrent…”
1. What would be the ideal potting mix – soil and cocopeat and in what proportions for a balcony?
Every nursery has their own little concoction when it comes to garden soil ….some say 50-50 some say 70-30…our soils at the nursery are a family recipe 30-mud-30-cocopeat-30-coal-10 sand(leached). Reason we do that is it keeps the soil light and airy…also I’ve been playin with the idea of wood chips in india for a while results are awaited …
