Karnataka man turns terrace into thick vegetation

Blany D Souza's verdurous terrace includes 200 varieties of plants and trees. The Mangaluru native has assisted in setting up 80 terrace garden.

Mangaluru:Terrace gardening has been embraced by many in Mangaluru. The self-sustainability and affordability it offers enable people to adopt it. As the price of land shoots up, it augurs well for the society as a whole.

Meanwhile, a gulf returnee has turned his terrace full of verdure. Blany D Souza of Marnamikatta has been nurturing his passion for over two decades. His joy knows no bounds with the sight of a plant bearing fruit.

He said, “the quantum of joy that comes on seeing a plant flowering and bearing fruit cannot be measured at all.” He has grown Kabul grapes in the terrace garden, surprising the traditional grape cultivators. They even contacted him to know the secret of his bounty of yield. He has also grown jackfruit tree in a pot, which he claims, would be the first in the entire country.

His garden includes 200 varieties of plants and trees which he collected across the globe. He resorted to terrace gardening, not because of the dearth of land, but due to lack of space to plant amidst the thick vegetation. His 23 cents of land includes wide varieties of mango, cashew, coconut, bell apple, sapota, butter fruit, breadfruit, drum stick tree, banana trees, fig and many more.

He is a B.Com graduate and he worked in UAE for six years. He manages a laundry shop now and devotes his leisure time for his passion, gardening. The ivy gourd creeper which he had planted 20 years ago still blooms in his kitchen garden. He never uses chemical pesticides and he manages the nutritional requirements of plants with neem mixed with water.

He helps people in setting up the terrace garden. Terrace garden in St Aloysius Gonzaga School was set up with his help. In total, he has assisted in setting 80 terrace gardens in different parts of Managaluru.

Blany spends his time prudently in his garden. According to the size of the garden, one may spend a half-hour or more in the garden, he said. His advice is that one should take care of the plants like one's own child. Start conversing with them and they would respond to you with wonderful yields, he added.