Campus Watch: In a first, Pune college introduces course on setting up terrace gardens

The college was approached by a private company to convert the empty space on their 408 sq ft terrace into a “home garden”.

“We thought it will be a small project initially, how much can you do on a terrace? But the last one year has been a revelation and we realised that there is so much to learn. From choosing the size of the pot according to the plant we want to grow, to choosing the correct soil mixture, when to water and when to not, how much to water and whether to use a spray or cup? When people want to learn today, they ask people at nurseries who have their own commercial interests and may not always guide properly, or people watch videos. It is all very sporadic. With highrises and the gated society culture growing in Pune, people living on upper floors don’t even get to see plants or flowers, forget getting their smells or benefits. We want to help people develop their own mini gardens and maintain them on terraces to contribute to a greener future,” said Sanjay Kharat, principal of Modern College.

Currently, the terrace garden at the college, which has been developed at a total cost of Rs 2 lakh.

Currently, the terrace garden at the college, which has been developed at a total cost of Rs 2 lakh, has over 120 varieties of plants and small trees including 15 fruit varieties like pomegranate, mango, banana, sweet lemon, 12 varieties of roses alone, other flower varieties, cactuses, vegetables like brinjal, cabbage, tomatoes, lemons, chillies and more.

Kharat said the certificate course will begin from August 15 and registrations will begin in the first week of August. The first-come-first-serve course is open to all – students, pensioners, working professionals, homemakers and so on. It will be a two credits course of 30 hours each, of which 20 hours would be practical learning and 10 hours of classroom teaching, and will be taught in the evening hours.

The has over 120 varieties of plants and small trees including 15 fruit varieties like pomegranate, mango, banana, sweet lemon, 12 varieties of roses alone, other flower varieties, cactuses, vegetables like brinjal, cabbage, tomatoes, lemons, chillies and more.

“We realised that there is no college teaching a short-term course like this, a practical, hands-on course for growing and maintaining one’s own terrace garden. And there is a huge demand for it, especially during Covid we saw a lot of people drawn to it. But often we used to hear people say the plants they buy from nurseries die out early, why does it happen? This course will answer these questions. I learnt how to layer the soil, first with sand or pebbles, the compost to soil ratio,” Kharat said.

“Many don’t know that we need to add things like coco peat or rice husk to increase the plant’s water holding capacity, it is best for seed germination and improves aeration in the soil because even roots need air. People choose pots as per design, but no one size fits all. This course will teach people what size and type to use for which plant. Even a small 100 sq ft space can be developed if one knows how to do it,” he added.