My Balcony Garden Makeover

I have been super busy lately but as I had promised....
 here is an update on my garden makeover. I easily get bored of the same look and scorching summers was the another reason to rearrange my garden. Gardening is joy, it's a way to rejuvenate your senses. If you love gardening too then click the link below to check out some amazing gardening tools and accessories that I bought few days ago.

• Click here to buy gardening tools and accessories at best prices.
• And few more here
• Buy some amazing Budhha figurines here.

Now back to my garden makeover. I rearranged all my pots and planters and idea was to save my plants from scorching sun, so I covered the part of my terrace which gets maximum sun with grass mats that were lying unused and arranged all my pots alongside it. This way all my plants were happy to get only mild morning sunlight. In the center I created zen corner and placed all the tall plants at the back and smaller ones in front row. That way it appears like a lush green small jungle.

I couldn't resist and spend my evenings here. How about having some masala wali tea here :)

Now I want to add some flowering plants here to make this place look little more cheerful. 

My obsession with Buddha.....!!

Here are some fresh blooms. 

One morning my yellow fairy lilies gave me this beautiful surprise :)

Here is how my balcony garden looks now. 

It looks astounding when sun sets and my plants gleam in soft glow of sun. 

Reflection of setting sun on glass door is a way too beautiful sight to be missed. 

I love spending time here in this sanative environment. Warm glow of sun, chirping of birds, fresh air and soothing sound of temple bells all these are always so uplifting and heart warming that it makes me forget all my woes.

Have you seen my garden earlier. If not you can see here.

This below picture is how my garden looked earlier. Not bad huh!

So what do you think of new face of my garden. Please share your views.
You can follow me and check out some more images of my home and garden on Instagram here.

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Rock To Rocking Rock

Last weekend I gave my garden TLC after almost 10 months. Which is very very long time and unusual for me to stay away from my garden. Well, after spending few hours there in my garden re- potting, manuring, pruning and dead heading, not only my garden looks neat, clean and reinvigorated  now but it was a soothing and therapeutic for me too. 

When I was re-potting a plant, I found a rock in soil and the very next moment I wound up all my gardening work, got the rock on my desk and began playing with my imaginations. 

Though there are lots of inspiration available on various sources on internet for rock painting but what satisfies me the most is when I paint my own imagination. I thought I will make a bird then I though a flower then peacock was in my mind but then I saw a butterfly in my garden and that's where I drew my inspiration from.  

Painted butterfly in vibrant colours and gave background a mottled effect that I learnt from my mother when I was child. Whenever I paint I always think of her :)

Then the top of the rock was looking little blank and my butterfly was lonely too. So I painted everyone's favourite frangipani flower and on the other side of the rock painted some tiny yellow flowers. 

Now it was time to bring it back in the garden and see.....
it has added charm to my garden.

So what if my dwarf Ixora has stopped blooming, I can add colours this way :)

Now can someone please give me some more rocks and pebbles. My hands are still itching to paint more...!!

Would love to hear from you. Did you like my painted rock. 

Stay tuned to know what's exciting coming next.

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DIY Ideas For The Weekend

Here are some DIY ideas for you to give your garden a makeover this weekend. Go through the links for a complete post.

Create a Zen corner:

A very quick way to create a zen corner in your garden, click here to know how you can do that.

Paint hanging baskets:
Paint all those hanging baskets in some vibrant colour to add charm in your garden. Click here to know how I did it.

Make a pot full of happiness:
Paint a pot (any kind of pot) and place it in your garden. It will sure add some drama there. Click here to see how I made one for my garden.

Make a bird house:

Summers are already here and it would be great if you could give a home to some birds, and please don't forget to keep bird bath in your garden. Click here to learn how you can make bird house at home. 

Paint balcony walls: 

To give your balcony garden a face-lift, you can paint one of the walls of your balcony. You can choose Madhubani, warli or any other Indian art form to give personal touch to your garden. Click here to know how I painted my client's balcony walls. 

Make some accessories:

You can make some garden accessories by your own like mushrooms, duck and ducklings, turtles, butterflies and bird nest too. Don't you believe that, then click here and here. 

Hope now you have a fair idea to give a complete makeover to your garden. Choose any of these DIY ideas as your weekend project and don't forget to share your work here :)

Have a creative weekend folks!!

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Hanging Baskets In My Small Balcony Garden

I had always wanted hanging baskets in my balcony garden, but I couldn't find big wrought iron hanging baskets with coir lining here in Pune. So I bought these plastic ones. I didn't like their dull colours though, so I painted them in vibrant colours.

I planted Money plant, Jade, 9 O'clock, Purple Wandering Jew and Singapore Daisy in some baskets, that my mother had given me and sowed seeds of Virginia Stock and Nasturtium in two baskets, that my mother-in-law had given me. I was desperate like a kid, who just wanted seeds to sprout the moment they were sown. I wanted to see, how my baskets will going to look when they will be full of foliage and blooms. And slowly it happened.........

Kid in me was so happy to see some blooms and Virginia Stock sprouts, that were filling the blue basket.

And finally the day arrived when I saw 9 O'clock, Nasturtium, Singapore Daisy and Virginia Stock blooming and Money plant & Jade thriving and spreading cheer in my small garden. This was the sight I was waiting for. It was so heart warming to look at these baskets.  

Some close ups.........

And some different angles.........

And Purple wandering Jew has become the main attraction in the garden for its lovely purple leaves and the way it's covering the basket.

But now because of cold weather Nasturtium has died :( and 9 O'clock plant has stopped blooming. 

Waiting for Spring to arrive now.

Have a great weekend ahead dear all!!

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Quick Way To Beautify A Garden!!

How was your weekend dear friends, mine was super hectic with lots of work assignments in hand and son's studies, I didn't even realized and it's Monday again. I did so many things in past few months, some DIY projects, paintings and few more exciting things. I added some elements in my balcony garden last month and post about it was lying in draft since then. My husband is a great support, because of him I was able to meet all the deadlines and got time to publish this post. 

Sharing some tips and images of my garden with you. A corner in my garden was looking a little dull and I wanted to cheer it up without spending much time.
First have a look how it was before. Since long time the arrangement had been like this and I got bored of looking at it. I wanted to rearrange and add something.

This is what I did..

I am quite happy with the look (at least for a few months). Now if you want to create this look in your garden, follow these easy and simple steps:

1. Take a clay/plastic plate. Plate because you will place Buddha on it.

2. Put soil and manure in the plate.

3. Sow seeds or if you have saplings you can plant them (I did both). Plant only on one side of the plate, as on the other side you will place Buddha. 

4. Place Buddha figure on the plate. Club together pots of the same size and place the plate on the center (where you see the void).

5. You can place small colourful pots on the edges of two adjoining pots, like I did. I placed orange watering can and coconut planter too. 

6. Arrange the pots in a way that all the taller plants should be on the back side and smaller ones and creepers should be in front.  

Here is closer look of the corner....

Plants I planted in the plate are very lovely. They are almost in five shades. I don't know the name of this plant, if anyone of you are aware what this plant is called, please tell me the name.  

I always wanted a Zen corner in my garden, so that I can spend my evenings there doing some creative work or writing a blog post. Now I love looking at this corner, it's serene!! Sometimes I place different flowers on Buddha figure I enjoy peaceful moments that I spend there :)

Take a tour of some beautiful gardens and read more about gardening (Click here).
Hope you liked this quick and easy way to beautify a garden. Stay tuned for more such ideas!!

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Beautiful Balcony Garden!!

First let me share some exciting news for all my lovely readers. I know you all love decorating your homes, so here is a chance to win gift voucher worth Rs.3000/- for more information click here.

I have a wonderful guest today on my blog, Smita Srivastava. A food blogger who is equally enthusiastic about gardening. When I stumbled across some beautiful images of her small balcony garden, I couldn't help and asked her to send some more lovely images.

Smita Srivastava is the food blogger behind the fun food blog Little Food Junction . She started her career as a graphic designer after completing her masters in advertising design but fun foods, cooking & photography was where her true calling was. Struggling to interest her daughter in eating, she began to transform plates of food into colorful animals , people and pictures to liven up mealtimes. Her designs worked so well that she started her blog, Little Food Junction .

Simplicity , healthy and easy to make has always been her mantra for all her recipes and food designs. Her works have been featured on several newspapers and sites of great repute Her book – Fun food for Fussy Little Eaters ( published by Ryland Peters & Small, London) is available worldwide ( on Amazon, Flipkart, Barnes & noble etc )

As I said she loves gardening too.....

 So here some eye candies for you from Smita Srivastava's balcony garden

Well that's a nice way to add pop of colour and so much character in a small balcony garden. Beautiful accessories and lovely planters, is what that can change look of garden.

Balcony garden that is filled with lot of character. Don't you love that cute tiny ceramic hut.

Look at those lovely mushrooms.... gorgeous isn't it.

I just loved her collection of beautiful  ceramic planters in different shapes and colours.

And here's a wonderful zen corner in her Indian balcony garden. A perfect place to unwind.

Smita inspired me to do so many things in my garden, I am all set to add some character in my garden. Tell me what do you think of her beautiful garden.
Check out more gardening ideas on my blog click here

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