Horticulture means colours. In any display you have to put in colours. All green display means nothing and suffers monotony. You cannot distinguish between different foliage textures unless you have colour differentiation. There is wide range of colour and texture in plants. Their judicious use makes all the difference. When you go shopping for plants in the nursery pick up different kinds with contrasting hues. Such a display pattern also holds good for garden planning. You must be familiar with nature of the plant whether it is valued for flowers or foliage. Plan the planting and display in such a way that there is no gap period. Can I start making lawn? And if not now when? Pooja,Chandigarh * You can start on lawn making any time now. But let the grassing be delayed to the last week of June. In the meantime let the soil be exposed to hot sun. My phalsa plants have started flowering. When will the fruit be ready? Can I make some products with the fruit which I feel will be in plenty? Satwinder Singh,Panchkula * You can expect the fruiting in May. Yes,phalsa bears fruits aplenty and you can make sherbet with it. It has tremendous cooling effect,when it is needed the most. A friend has an excellent shehtoot tree and has offered me to make a plant out of it for my own garden. Is it easy to propagate and if so,how should I proceed? Manoj,Chandigarh * It is very easy to propagate shehtoot by way of cuttings. But the time to do so is in January when it is dormant. How frequently should I water my ber tree? It has just finished giving fruit? Mukesh,Mohali * Give water at the most once if the soil is too dry and thereafter,leave it alone as this is the dormancy period for ber. For gardening queries,ASK DR GREEN at satishnarula@yahoo.co.in
