NO.17, JLN IMPIAN SETIA 11

My Garden

Today I’d like to share the feeling of joy and excitement that my wife and I had by having our small garden in our yard. The project started 2 year back during Ramadan month (fasting month for Muslim). We never thought that our tiny yard size 5m x 2m that was full with unwanted construction debris has turn into beautiful minimalist garden.

We did actually had a few discussion ( plus argument hehehe ) until we finally came into final decision on how our garden would be set up. The concept is minimalist garden concept and we focused on few things.

1.Our main target is to create an open space that will be used by our kid as play area, BBQ area and laundry drying area

b 2.Privacy… so we need to plant some hedges. However we never want the hedges to block our view towards our neighbor.

c 3.Pleasant View from inside and outside the house.

ccc4.And of course a Low cost maintenance garden.

Then we put our idea into a sketchy diagram. It helps us to visualize the space that we plan for the garden. Both of us actually good in graphics . But the plan never drawn out properly…hehehe

Site Preparation

The next step is checking the soil condition. It’s sandy and need to be treated with proper soil mixture. (Replace with topsoil is the most recommended)But the difficult part is to remove all the unwanted debris. There was many other thing underneath the ground rock, roof tile, floor tile and etc . In this kind of situation we do need a proper tool. It will save your time and energy to do garden activities.

Plant selection

Then we went to the nursery and started to buy plant that suits our plan. Most of plant that we chose was semi shaded type due to the sun orientation as the garden received early sunlight only at 10 am in the morning. But some plant like bougainvillea and heliconia were selected due to its hardy character and the flowers. Licuala grandis and Plumeria rubra (medium size plant) selected as the anchor element in the garden. We also bought Juniperus chinensis planted inside the large pots and place it at the corner of the garden. Costus marginata and Costus Woodsonii were both planted under Licuala grandis, so it can grow well under the big leaves of the palm. Cordyline, Costus marginata, nerium, and Hymenocallis speciosa were added as the main shrub that creates the hedges along the garden. Both of my Bougainvillea planted inside big pot and place near the column of the house (The idea is to train the plant to climb the structure and create natural tunnel effect). To give the garden a little bit of tropical image we used Plumeria rubra as an accent plant and place at the focal point of the garden. Lastly to conclude the garden, we planted zoysia grass with some stepping stone …and it actually added more value to our garden.

The garden has become the best co partner’s work with my lovely wife. Although it is just a small garden, but we really satisfied with it.

We love our trees-
Cinnamomum Inner usually showing the red leaves and making along the street cheerfull.

View toward the house. Combination of Rheo discolor, Clerodendron, Bougainvillea and Juniperus ( both in pot ).

Manage to plant Costus Marginata and Hymenocallis that always flower.

Hymenocallis speciosa. - One of the best .

View from inside the house - Top urn planted with bougainvillea ( still work out ). Licuala grandis provide shade to the plant underneath such Costus woodsonii and Clerodendron sp.

View from inside .

Garden view. I've planted Loropetalum chinensis inside Pots. This plant provide nice small red flower and dark red leaves to create contras effect in the garden.

Razin's mini playgound

Razin in grey..