Green school

Besides lectures,practical training is also given to the gardeners. “The topic for the classes is relevant to the season and plants that grow then. For instance,we are now training our staff for the monsoon,” says Shiv Kumar Sharma,director of horticulture at NDMC.

Ramdev,who works at the Madrasa Nursery,is an expert in growing chrysanthemums. He says while he always enjoyed what he did,the classes have made him more passionate about his work.

“I really like attending the classes. While I have been doing this work for years,I feel that there is still so much I can learn,” he says. The students are given lectures on varied subjects and also trained to use various equipment. Some gardeners such as Islam,who cuts grass and bushes at Golf Links,train specifically to operate equipment.

The classes running out of brick huts are fully air-conditioned and equipped with latest gadgets. In one class,prize-winning bougainvilleas are being shown on an LCD TV. Satender Pal,an assistant director at NDMC,is taking the class on propagation while showing pictures of prize-winning bougainvilleas. “We are given in advance the subject we have to take a class on. I am showing them different ways of propagation and explaining to them how best to retain the moisture in the soil,” says Pal. In the next class,a lecture on indigenous plants is on. Rahis Ali,an assistant director,is talking about trees and shrubs that can be used for landscaping in Central Delhi. They are taken on site visits to areas such as Garden of Five Senses in Said-ul-Ajab and Chirag Delhi nursery.

“We teach them basics of horticulture in this school. For instance,how to pick up healthy seeds,preparation of beds,best time for sowing and how to sterilise the bed. There are 1,300 of them working in NDMC area. We have got many queries from other departments and associations as they want to learn from us. We are working out on how to hold classes for them also,” says Shiv Kumar.