Snails Attack!!!

Having a naturalist garden, not using pest control chemicals can sometimes cause a certain pest to multiply in large quantities. The gardeners neglect to remove snails from the garden brought a huge harvest of snails in just one morning. Not that we can eat them! But they damaged our Crinum asiaticum, obviously their favourite plant.

The best way to rid of them would be to physically remove them before they get mature enough to breed more. We did not want to put snail pellets on the ground since the garden is a favourite place for the sparrows and other birds to forage for seeds and bugs.

However to lure the snails out from their hiding places we decided to try the ‘beer trap’ method. Since we are not beer drinkers we substituted the beer with diluted vinegar and it works! Snails galore!

Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad

It has been our wish since the inception of Gardenasia, to interview the person who inspired us to create Gardenasia. Tun Mahathir Mohd. with his vision of Malaysia being a garden nation in year 2005, was instrumental in opening our eyes to the need for a regional tropical garden magazine.

With his relentless effort at making the country wake up to the fact that we are not beautiful enough in the urban environment, he went on to create agencies whose function is to landscape the cities and towns. A fine example of a landscaped development is Putrajaya, his pet project. With the beautification program going on and the need for plants and their suitability, we saw a need to dig up all the knowledge that is embedded in the institutions of higher learning and expose them to the layman as well as professionals in the industry of gardening.

Thus, we were very excited to come face to face with our charismatic leader, to pose questions directly, as we have not forwarded advanced questionnaires! As is common knowledge, although he has passed the baton to the present Prime Minister, Tun is still as busy as ever, still looking after the interests and affairs of the country, especially of those agencies that he built up. Our meeting with him is in one such organisation, the office of the Advisor to Proton, in Tower One of the Petronas Twin Towers. It is overwhelming to go up to the 86th floor of the Tower, and looking down on the Panoramic view of the city of Kuala Lumpur, it is a reminder to us of the achievements of Tun Mahathir over the period that he was Prime Minister. What are we doing here trying to ask him about something as mundane as gardening! But we know the subject is also one of his passions…

Swiss Garden

A few days in Bedford, England for a meeting gave me another opportunity to visit a garden. I was reminded however that the English weather can be quite unpredictable and the clear summer sky can any time turn dark bringing in the rain. So immediately after the meeting we packed up and drove out of Bedford towards the Swiss garden, which is only 1/2 hour away.
It was midsummer and although already late evening, the sun is still up and daylight thus extended. My friend, Jane drove slowly pass the oat, barley and rapeseed fields so that we can enjoy the view. The yellow rapeseed with the wind blowing through them reminded me of our paddy fields with the paddy ripening. For Jane, the paddy fields are more beautiful!

It was not difficult to locate the Swiss garden, as the signboards for the directions are adequate. We left the fields for another scenery, that of huge Mansions, with beautiful landscaping and gardens.The entrance to the Swiss garden is through an old wooden gate, not impressive at all and we wondered if it was worth the effort making the trip. We should not be too quick to judge however, as we opened the gate we were greeted with a view of a lane bordered by green trees which hid the view beyond. A tortoise slowly crossed our path as if to show that there is no need to hurry here. We felt an anticipation, the need to know what lay behind the trees.

Rooftop Garden

It is difficult to imagine an oasis amidst the concrete jungle of Singapore, but in the metropolis of one glittering, towering skyscraper after another, Garden Asia found just that.To be sure, what we found was nothing new. In fact, it was much like rediscovering an old friend after being away so long and finding comfort and ease in the familiarity of each other. Here, in the little city state of the Lion City, along the boutique-lined, mall-populated Scotts Road, we found The Grand Hyatt, Singapore.