She tends her plants with passion
Jun 20, 2008
A garden speaks to you, through its flowers and beautiful foliage and in return, you are supposed to embrace it by caring for and taking time to enjoy the plants, says Lydia Butagira, a gardener in Nyamitanga, Mbarara.
By Harriet Birungi
A garden speaks to you, through its flowers and beautiful foliage and in return, you are supposed to embrace it by caring for and taking time to enjoy the plants, says Lydia Butagira, a gardener in Nyamitanga, Mbarara.
She says, like her children, whom she brings something whenever she returns home, so it is with her garden. She cannot remember a time she has travelled with her husband on diplomatic missions and has not brought one or two plants back home.
“Many of my plants are from countries that I have visited. Each tells a story of where I got it and why I did,†Butagira says.
A gardener since the 1970s, she grows plants from asparagus that has become the venue décor plant at any function, granular, orchids, roses and philodendrons, her favourite sweet-smelling gardenia, to any ornamental plant you can think of. Her garden is really endowed.
“I want my plants to have a natural look. So, other than leave the trees naked, I dress them by growing climbers in containers at their feet. The result is an ever green and cool garden,†she explains.
To ensure that plants do not compete for nutrients and later become stunted, Butagira mulches the garden with grass trimmed from her lawn. She also came up with a pattern of pruning the plants that she says has worked wonders. She prunes her rose garden in mid-October and other plants in March and April to help them preserve water they take in during the onset of the dry season.
An born artist, Butagira says one does not have to worry about how to make a garden attractive. Any containers in the home that may look useless can be beauty-enhancers. Old bathtubs, buckets and plastic plates can be used as containers.
But before you put the plants in the containers, you must ensure that there are enough holes at the bottom to drain excess water, stone particles to allow aeration and manure to nourish the plant, advises the gardener.
“A well-tended garden is gratifying and will make you feel welcome in a home,†Butagira says.
A garden speaks to you, through its flowers and beautiful foliage and in return, you are supposed to embrace it by caring for and taking time to enjoy the plants, says Lydia Butagira, a gardener in Nyamitanga, Mbarara.
She says, like her children, whom she brings something whenever she returns home, so it is with her garden. She cannot remember a time she has travelled with her husband on diplomatic missions and has not brought one or two plants back home.
“Many of my plants are from countries that I have visited. Each tells a story of where I got it and why I did,†Butagira says.
A gardener since the 1970s, she grows plants from asparagus that has become the venue décor plant at any function, granular, orchids, roses and philodendrons, her favourite sweet-smelling gardenia, to any ornamental plant you can think of. Her garden is really endowed.
“I want my plants to have a natural look. So, other than leave the trees naked, I dress them by growing climbers in containers at their feet. The result is an ever green and cool garden,†she explains.
To ensure that plants do not compete for nutrients and later become stunted, Butagira mulches the garden with grass trimmed from her lawn. She also came up with a pattern of pruning the plants that she says has worked wonders. She prunes her rose garden in mid-October and other plants in March and April to help them preserve water they take in during the onset of the dry season.
An born artist, Butagira says one does not have to worry about how to make a garden attractive. Any containers in the home that may look useless can be beauty-enhancers. Old bathtubs, buckets and plastic plates can be used as containers.
But before you put the plants in the containers, you must ensure that there are enough holes at the bottom to drain excess water, stone particles to allow aeration and manure to nourish the plant, advises the gardener.
“A well-tended garden is gratifying and will make you feel welcome in a home,†Butagira says.