Come into my garden

My Sunny Balcony, a fledgling venture in Bangalore, specialises in designing gardens for small balconies in high-rise apartments.

A group of four friends met at a coffeeshop in Bangalore in January last year, and were lamenting the loss of the city’s green cover when they hit upon an idea. Why not take “the garden up the elevator”, they thought, and so chucked their corporate jobs to turn ‘modern maalis’ — as they occasionally like to call themselves — with a business venture called My Sunny Balcony.

Among them is Reena Chengappa, a former Infosian who turned her hobby of gardening into a business. “We don’t want to stand in the way of development or carry out dharnas against high rises. But we wondered, working within the structure, how could we bring the greens back into homes?” she says. The My Sunny Balcony partners — Shailesh Deshpande, Athreya Chidambi and Sriram Aravadmudan, besides Chengappa — now know how.

 

The four began by experimenting in their own backyard. When a friend’s boss heard and liked the idea, the team designed his balcony. Word spread, and now the team is juggling six projects.

“Our design concepts are completely personalised. Our policy is — why should someone with a small apartment be denied a garden?” says Chengappa. The team keeps the decor low-cost and eco-friendly, by using bamboo fences and clay pots, mainly. Many of their makeovers incorporate elements of Japanese-inspired Zen or European-style floral outdoors, with simple water features that are easy on power and work on self-circulation. Sometimes a wall in the balcony is brightened with Warli paintings. The emphasis is on simplicity with an accent on natural earthen colours.

Gardens on balconies can also ensure privacy, points out Deshpande, who continues to keep his job as an environment consultant while helping out at My Sunny Balcony. “Our task is to turn a balcony overlooking another house, or a concrete wall, into a private space.”

Even an area that’s as small as 5’x2’, with hardly any sunlight? “In such cases, we suggest the Rainforest theme, where we place plants that can survive without much sunlight,” says Chengappa.

If you travel frequently, My Sunny Balcony will work out a Zen-inspired, Spartan garden using a lot of bamboo, aloe and cacti. “An automated water system is also an option we provide. However, if you want to keep costs low, we suggest rudimentary ways to set up a watering system, for example placing pots on saucers or in a bathtub, which will keep the plants watered for a few days,” explains Chengappa, while pointing out that kitchen gardens need a lot of patience and sunshine.

“We make clients aware of the requirements and benefits of each plant and give them an organic kit to maintain the garden.”

Customised service is My Sunny Balcony’s USP. In about a week’s time, the team draws up simple illustrations for each client, based on information they gather from them about likes, dislikes, space constraints, sunlight patterns and maintenance issues. The client has the option of executing the design on his own or asking My Sunny Balcony to complete it. Execution usually takes a day.

Now the foursome has also drawn up plans for outstation clients. The team dabbles in big gardens as well, but the challenge, they say, is always in those little balconies. My Sunny Balcony works on an average budget of Rs 9,000-12,000, though costs can also shoot up to Rs 1 lakh.

GREEN ROOFS AND TERRACE GARDENS

Heard of the Urban Heat Island effect? It’s the phenomenon whereby urban areas are far warmer than surrounding rural areas, because the concrete in our crowded cities retains heat. A green roof, however, helps insulate your home from the heat and cold. Grow herbs or vegetables in your terrace garden or roof-top, if you like, or use the space to connect with nature.

Here are eight handy tips for a terrace garden from Jeeth Iype, director (design) GoodEarth, Bangalore

• Find out if your building design can hold the load of a terrace garden. For example, if you want a lawn, it will need a soil base, which is heavy. To lighten the load, use planting material (such as humus) instead of soil.
• Water proofing and a good slope are key to a terrace garden
• Make sure your terrace garden has a cellular drainage system which ensures that only water goes through its crevices and the soil remains intact. Or use a PVC sheet as a drainage system and then put the soil above
• Design your garden well. Place bigger trees in large pots close to the wall, to transfer the load. Use natural materials such as stone and bricks to complement the shades of green
• Vertical gardens are catching on in India — this is the technique of growing plants on a wall using mesh or fabric.
• Consider a Pergola to support creepers and vines
• Use water as a feature in your terrace garden in the form of a fish pond or fish tank, waterfall or even a swimming pool. It’s soothing.
• If you have a small balcony, plant in mango crates or crates made of pine wood using planting material such leaf mulch compost. Avoid soil as it invites pests.