Ever Green

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever. Visualizing a beautiful garden full of colorful flowers and plants fills the heart with joy. This itself makes gardening all the more enjoyable. After all, observing a plant grow from a seed, slowly growing, budding and then flowering, is a uniquely pleasant experience. Gardening is an all engrossing hobby which remains with us all our lives. Plants are like babies. The more we tend and care for the plants the more we can understand their nature and requirements. It has been scientifically proved that plants have emotions and they respond positively to the person who looks after them.
Any garden, big or small, needs planning to keep it green and blooming throughout the year. 
Monsoon
June to October is the busiest time for garden lovers. If you wish to have some big perennial trees (gulmohar, mango , neem, champa etc.) in the garden, monsoon is the time to plant them. Winter vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage etc. are also sown in July-August. Seasonal flowers during the rainy season are few. Balsam and Zinnia flower are sown in June-July. Balsam loves rains. Which plant does not love rain? It’s their life! Cuttings of Chrysanthemum plants are also prepared in July, during rains.
Winter
Chrysanthemum is a beautiful winter flower. It begins budding by mid Oct. and flowers by November end.
“If winter comes can spring be far behind?” Certainly not! And because spring is not far behind, it’s time for some serious gardening. Oct.-Nov. is that time of the year when all garden lovers are on their toes, preparing the garden for spring blossoms. During the month of Oct., the soil should be prepared. The previous crop and all weeds should be removed. Plough the soil and let it rest for some days. Around last week of Oct., it is time to sow seeds of spring flowers .Before sowing seeds, mix fertilizer in the soil.

       JAN.-FEB.                             FEB.-MAR.                                MAR.-APR.                   APR-JUNE
Spring
There so many beautiful flowers of spring that it becomes difficult to decide which ones to select. If the garden is small, every year different variety can be sowed. Some popular spring flowers are- calendula, nasturtium, phlox, hollyhock, salvia, lyceum, dahlia, aster, dogflower, larkspur, dianthus, baraf and petunia. All these can be sowed in flower beds as well as in flower pots.
All flowering plants need plenty of sunlight to grow and flower. Lack of sunlight will make the plants thinner and produce few and unhealthy flowers. Salvia can thrive and flower even in less sunlight.
When the flowers bloom, they look more beautiful if the pots are kept in groups of similar colour or variety .In the flower beds, small beds should have one species. But larger beds can have multiple flower species. For example, tall plants like Larkspur can be planted at the back, then salvia and then smaller varieties like phlox and calendula. Salvia grows tall, but it can be kept short by cutting off the tip. This way it grows bushy and thus also has more flowering branches. Large circular beds too can have rows of different colours and species. Nasturtium, phlox, and misbrythum look particularly good in smaller circular beds.
Dahlia is one of the most elegant looking flowers, which comes in different colours, sizes, multiple and single layered .Dahlia looks good in rows, both in pots and beds. The best nutrient for dahlia is neem or sarson khali. The khali should be kept in water for about 15 days, till it gets dissolved and emanates a rotten smell. This water should be put in the pots/soil once in 15 days .It helps in getting nice big blooms.
During winter, lawns need special care. More so if it does not get sufficient sunlight. Sunlight is very very important to maintain green lawn .Mist/dew drops harms the grass. Therefore during winter, every morning the lawn should be sprinkled with water to wash off the dew. Just sprinkle. Much water will also harm, because during foggy days the excess water will not be able to dry. We just have to wash the dew.
Certain plants like Tulsi and difenbekiya have also to be protected from fog.

     JUNE-JULY                   JULY-AUG.         SEPT.-NOV.                     DECEMBER
Summer
Spring flowers say goodbye as summer approaches. Hot summer does not mean dry garden. Its time (Apr.) to plant lots of Kochia for the fresh green look during summer. Portulaka and misbrythum flowers add color to the garden.
Plants need extra care during summer. They have to be watered twice daily. Delicate plants have to be shifted in shade.
 Once the chrysanthemums start fading, the spring flowers start blooming. Then come the summer plants and flowers. Thus the garden can be so planned that it will have flowers all the year round. Then there are the evergreen decorative plants that add to the green look of the garden all the year round.
When watering plants, the whole plant should be showered with water. This not only keeps them clean and fresh looking, but washes away many insects too .In case of moss sticks, the moss stick should be fully watered. Plants should not be over watered. But the soil should always be moist. Otherwise termites may harm the plant. When spraying insecticides, it should be sprayed mainly on the stem and less on the leaves. Leaves get damaged by excess insecticide.
Gardening is certainly a passion. With a little imagination, lots of love and care, your garden can look like one big beautiful painting!