A very nice shophouse!

Yesterday, I was gallivanting in the town area after I went to Arab Street to get some decorative items for my work at HortPark. As I walked along, a pretty shophouse unit located in Bali Lane caught my attention. It is almost impossible to miss it as one travels along the main road.

This shophouse unit is currently occupied by a branch of HANA fashion (Singapore) and its address is 21, Bali Lane, #01-01, Singapore 189857. If you are in the area, do pop by to appreciate the good work and excellent example of shopfront landscaping and decor.

 

The striking, pink-coloured facade of this shophouse unit was probably modelled after the European-style. When I passed by on Saturday, what grabbed my attention was the nicely planted exterior of the second storey. There are three full length, white-framed windows on the second level that stood out against the pink and white contrast.

Outside each these white windows, there were two planter boxes, one was located mid-way, probably at chest height, while another was situated at the base. The planting scheme was simple and repetitive. Colours that were featured were few and they included only pink, red and green, which blended well with the look of the facade as a whole.

Green colour was contributed by the plants grown inside the window boxes. They featured the lush foliage of impatiens and anthuriums. Within this bold patches of green, there are dainty dots of pink which were the blooms of the impatiens grown inside the lower planter boxes and spathes of the flamingo flowers growing inside the upper planter boxes.

There were two hanging baskets of a darker pink rhizomatous begonia  situated on the two extreme ends of the shophouse unit. The two begonias are so well-grown that their growth has draped over the rims of the container to become round spheres!

Red was conferred by some red-foliaged flame violets that were grown between the spaces of the bottom window boxes. The designer was clever to break this monotony of red and added some interest by squeezing in a bit of green flame violet between the red flame violets.

There were two non-living components in this tasteful display of live plants which were contributed by two round wreaths containing several pink roses. They did not look out of place but a plant-lover would certainly hope some live plants can take their place.

The shopfront located on the ground floor were also decorated with plants that were grown inside pots with roughly one uniform colour that was brown. This is a good move as different coloured pots can make a display look cluttered and distracting.

The owner used mostly tropical plants that are commonly available. The most prominent plant to the eye would be the stately specimen of frangipani, located on the lefthand side. To offset the height of the frangipani and to add different heights and layers to the planting, one can see two planter boxes containing Moses in the Cradle with their attractive purple leaf undersides and various other houseplants with interesting leaf shapes and textures.

Because it is still Chinese New Year, there were two pots of four seasons lime plants trained as standards that flanked both sides of a broad path leading to the shop from the road. The use of standards is also well thought of, as four seasons lime shrubs trained in other forms will actually mar the European feel and look of this display.

Back to my old house at Geylang Bahru…

The first day of the Lunar New Year, to most Chinese, is the day that is reserved for visiting one’s close relatives. For my family, we gathered at our eldest Aunt’s place for a Lunar New Year lunch at Geylang Bahru. My paternal extended family all once lived there and it was the place where I grew up. I attended the kindergarten nearby and had my primary school education there. Now, it is only my Eldest Aunt who is still living there and being able to visit the place where I grew up brought back a lot of fond memories.

I moved out of Geylang Bahru in 1995 and 14 years have elapsed and the place has changed so much. It underwent upgrading and an extensive face-lift that rendered the entire environment that is almost foreign to me now. The playground with a sandpit where I used to play in has disappeared and the area that used to house it has been turned into a miniature park that was lush with greenery. I saw a lot of golden penda (Xanthostemon chrysanthus) and black olive (Terminalia molineti) trees being planted in this park, which were popular landscape trees a few years ago.

I was quite happy to note that during the entire upgrading project, the Kolam Ayer Town Council did not remove some of the trees that were planted in the area. I was happy to see the two yellow flame trees (Peltophorum pterocarpum) that saw me grow up are still growing so healthily between Blocks 55 and 56!

The Yellow Flame trees have grown so tall that their canopies have now overshadowed the windows of the 5th floor unit where I used to live in Block 56! The full length windows that my old apartment used to have allowed much direct sunshine into the grow area where I used to grow edible plants that love the sun so much. I guess that is no longer possible right now since the trees have grown so tall that they block off the much needed sunshine!

The Kallang River located just next to the point apartment blocks had also been transformed into an idyllic riverside park. Both sides of the river have been intensely planted which are totally different from the boring concrete riverbanks seen in the past.

The project that transformed the Kallang River banks is an ABC (Active, Beautiful and Clean) waters programme spearheaded by the Public Utilities Board (PUB). The name given to this new riverside park is the Kolam Ayer ABC Waterfront. The transformation took place in April 2008, which was just barely a year ago!

The Kolam Ayer ABC Waterfront is part of the Park Connectors Network which is under the care of the National Parks Board (NParks). I really enjoyed my time walking along the length of the Kallang River whilst enjoying the trees and lush greenery that was planted along the path. At various intervals, there were extended platforms that allow one to get near the water that was flowing in the river.

Along the path, one can see dense but creative mixed planting which involved numerous specimens of the weeping tea tree (Leptospermum brachyandrum) and black olive (Terminalia molineti) trees together with colonies of lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus), aromatic pandan (Pandanus amaryllifolius),  Calathea lutea, purple fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum ‘Rubrum’) and both the green and variegated forms of the Spanish reed (Arundo donax).

The usage of the purple fountain grass and both the green and variegated forms of the Spanish reed was particularly extensive and are planted on two sides of the walking path. Both plants with their grassy foliage tend to give one the impression of walking in the ‘wilderness’.

Near the middle of the park, one can get to see two interesting gadgets that enable one to interact with water. One is the waterwheel which harness the kinetic energy of flowing water to do work. There is a chair that was placed ahead of the wheel where one can exercise his/her legs to drive the peddles to work against the resistance of moving water.

Near the water wheel are three Archimenes screws which can be used to bring water up onto the river bank for irrigation purposes. There is a steering wheel-like device where one can turn to channel water up from the river. As the name of this device suggests, it is the creation of the famous mathematician, Archimenes. One can use it to enlighten our kids about his immense contribution to mankind.

Further down the path, one will encounter a bridge-like structure that is very much like a boardwalk we encounter at Changi beach, albeit on a smaller scale! From one side of the riverbank, two rigid bridges extend outwards into the river and are connected to a  floating deck that will rise and fall according to the tides. Like what its signboard says, it is really an ideal venue for morning exercises and holding functions on a fair and cool day.

As one reaches near the end of the Kolam Ayer ABC Waterfront, he/she will encounter the Kolam Ayer Bridge which one can walk across to enjoy the greenery that is planted on the opposide river bank.

Besides growing plants for greenery and aesthetic purposes, they also offer shelter for the different types of wildlife that live in the riverside environment. Thoughtfully selected plants are grown in some parts via a series of terraces that extend downards the slope of the river bank. As high tide commences, the water level rises, and as it recedes thenafter, some of the waterborne pollutants get filtered away by the soil beds held by the terraces. Cleaner water is then returned back into the river.

Another interesting point to note about the planting is that riparian plants are chosen for planting along the river banks of Kallang River, which is one of the rivers in a network that channels water into the Marina Reservoir. Riparian plants, as mentioned on a signboard, is a group of plants that are able to tolerate periods of flooding that is brought about by the rise and fall of tides.

They are used to prevent erosion of soil from the riverbank, as well as, for the authorities to access the change from of water conditions from one that is brackish to freshwater with the progress of the formation of the Marina Reservoir. The presence of plants along the riverbank also help with the cleansing and filtration of river water that will feed the reservoir. In addition, the use of riparian plants also confer a more naturalistic look to the riverside landscape. One very common plant that was used along the Kolam Ayer ABC Waterfront was the beach morning glory (Ipomoea pes-carprae).

Dr Easaw Thomas’ Graden on the Business Times

Dr Easaw Thomas’ amazing garden was featured in the Business Times about two weeks ago and thanks to Cheow Kheng, I now got a copy of the article where I am now able to share with those gardeners who are keen in planting trees in their gardens.

Read on to find out what inspired Dr Thomas to plant 200 forest trees in his garden…

Article originally published on the Business Times Weekend
Saturday/Sunday, September 6 to 7, 2008
by Cheah Ui-Hoon
Why pay for a sculpted Japanese garden when you can DIY with local greenery?

Secret Garden

When you’re rebuilding or renovating your home, the question of what to do with your garden is usually answered by the landscape architect you hire. Sculpted trees. Check. Exotic plantings. Check. Weekly visits by gardener. Check. Do it yourself. What?

Easaw Thomas’ decision to DIY has turned his home in Wilby Road – dotted with good class bungalows turned into palatial homes – into a tropical jungle, and is a lush testament to his green thumb as well as one person’s effort to address global warming and conserve local, indigenous plants. Today, he wakes up to a low maintenance, equatorial rainforest garden that’s has been left to grow pretty much on its own.

“The burning of forests in Sumatra was a wake-up call which made me want to do something about the environment,” shares Dr Thomas, 63. To him, this was the only way to create an environment that would reduce the greenhouse effects – because of the great volume of carbon dioxide that rainforest trees absorb from the atmosphere.

“Singapore is also losing a lot of its native plants and trees,” he adds, so he makes it a point to pick plant varieties which are indigenous like syzygiums with its colour leaves (the red jambu tree belongs to this family, for example). “You have to take the context in which we live – we can’t be having Japanese gardens or temperate ones,” he points out. “Out context is one that favours an equatorial rainforest-like garden because the plant themselves grow better and they blend in with the surroundings.”

With these ideas in mind, Dr Thomas drew up his own design for his Wilby Road garden in the late 90’s that would be created around his existing 1930s house, open courtyard and pond. When the garden was done, some 200 forest trees towered around the 26.000 sq ft compound, layered with shorter fruit or flowering trees, followed by ground plants like ginger flower plants. “The other thing I wanted to have was some fragrance in the garden so I picked trees like the Michelia chempaca,” he rattles off, before showing you the variety of wild plants he picked from the jungle rather than commercial nurseries.

The garden is less than 10 years old, but it looks like the house was built within a decades’ old tropical forest. The house adds to the credibility – a 30’s style single-storey original wing and a newer, curved bedroom block that was virtually carved out of a hill on his land. The top of the hill slope serves as its roof – way before rooftop gardens became vogue. The rooftop garden has tea leaf bushes and flowering trees, and giant yam plants with their elephant ear-shaped leaves – which birds had seeded, says Dr Thomas, since he doesn’t recall planting them. The garden gets weekly visits from a few hornbills, in fact, a stamp of approval, if you wil;, for the natural rain forest eco-system he has created.

The Sengs’ Corridor Garden

Mr and Mrs Seng are very keen and supportive members of my community garden at Serangoon North. I paid their home a visit some time back after Mrs Seng told me how nice some Costus species and some other plants that I have passed her some time back have grown. The Sengs’ apartment is one that is located along a corridor and because they do not have a balcony, they could only do their gardening along this public walkway outside their home.

Corridor gardening has always been a challenge to apartment dwellers who love gardening. Security is often a problem as pots of nicely-grown plants can get stolen or damaged by greedy and inconsiderate neighbours. Besides that, the lack of light and overly windy conditions can limit the choice of plants that can be grown.

The corridor where they grow their plants is very well-lit when I visited them and during certain times of the year, they told me the area can receive direct sunshine for almost half of a day. Hence I was not surprised to have noticed that many light-demanding flowering shrubs that their neighbours grow, such as the Bougainvillea, are flowering profusely.

Costus ‘Green Mountain’ – Look at the big lush leaves! The plant’s obviously happy and very well-fed! The plant even flowered successfully when it is grow inside a container.

Another healthy and robust-looking spiral ginger (C. arabicus ‘Variegata’) from me that started off as a small baby that emerged from a stem-cutting.

Look at the juicy and succulent-looking sand ginger (Kaempferia galanga) plants that are grown inside a long trough! It is an unlikely plant to find in a Chinese home! I have seen this plant mostly being grown by our Malay friends.

The few pots of yam plants are also doing very well. Despite the fact that they are full sun lovers, the plants grown in this corridor garden where light is available for half a day or less are colouring up very nicely. The purple plant is Colocasia esculenta ‘Black Magic’ while the bright green one is Xanthosoma ‘Lime Zinger’.

Some of the passionfruit vine trimmings from the community garden were also taken back home by the Sengs where they have planted in a large flower pot. I was amazed with the rate at which the vine in their care grows. It has reached the ceiling already and it surely helps to disguise the ugly-looking drainage pipe it is now climbing on for support.

Another plant that is not commonly seen being grown inside a container and in a corridor garden is the Job’s Tears (Coix lacryma-jobi). The seeds have a very hard shiny seedcoat and are made into jewellery. They are also used in Traditional Chinese Medicine as well. Mrs Seng love this plant a lot and growing it fondly reminds her of the days where she lived in a kampong where this plant was growing in large numbers in her backyard.

New Community Garden at Serangoon Constituency

This morning, I was at the neighbourhood park at Tai Hwan Terrace to attend Hwan Gardens Neighbourhood Committee’s Family Carnival. One of the events that took place during the carnival was the opening of the community garden located in the park. It is good to see that more and more Singaporeans are taking up community gardening.

Mrs Lim Hwee Hua (Senior Minister of State (Finance & Transport) and Member of Parliament for Aljunied GRC) was the Guest-of-Honour for the event and accompanied by Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, a fellow MP for the same GRC, who was the special guest.

Mr Yeo (left) and Mrs Lim (right) unveiling the plaque to officiate the opening of the community garden.

Similar to most other community garden opening ceremonies, one of the things that must be done is the planting of a tree by the Guest-of-Honour.

A closer look at the plaque.

The community garden – the plots are shaped like the petals of a daisy flower that encircled the central circular plot where the Guest-of-Honour’s tree was planted. The stem of the flower served as the path.

As most of my friends would have expected, as the ‘gardening advisor’ of Serangoon constituency, how can I not be present? At the carnival, I was there to give advice to residents who may face problems with their plants at home as well as to promote the gardening hobby.

I was given some booth space to set up a corner for this but I am always more comfortable to be near my friends from the Community in Bloom (CIB) of the National Parks Board (NParks). This is because we have been long time collaborators who share the same aim, that is to promote the gardening to the masses. During such events, it is always a nice time for me to catch up with the dedicated and professional staff at CIB, namely, Cheow Kheng and Shirley. Today, I got to meet Simon Longman too.

As I had been busy lately with work and work related to the upcoming Singapore Garden Festival (SGF), I only could find time to do my posters late last night (or early hours of today’s morning). On one of my posters, I stuck a couple of photographs taken at my community garden and a newspaper article onto a piece of plastic corrugated board. On another are several articles that I have penned for the Serangoon newsletter written on gardening. I also took the opportunity to advertise the Singapore Garden Festival as well.

On the table, I showcased three interesting plants, namely, the elephant yam, some airplants and a butterwort. Many people are fascinated by the butterwort as the harmless looking plant had never been expected to be carnivorous in nature. I also introduced the trio to Mrs Lim as well as Mr Yeo when they did their visiting to the booths of the participating agencies.

The poster display boards where my posters as well as those of the CIB were put up.

On the table, we laid out the information brochures of the CIB for visitors to take, as well as, the three interesting plants that I brought along.

Me (far right) with Cheow Kheng (second from right) introducing the CIB programme and my trio of interesting plants to Mrs Lim and Mr Yeo while Benedict and John looked on (They are chairmen of two Neighbourhood Committees in the Serangoon Constituency).

A photograph with Cheow Kheng and my Residents’ Committee chairperson, Claire.

My Residents’ Committee chairperson, Mdm Claire Ng, also got a chance to meet Cheow Kheng at the carnival. During their course of conversation, I heard the exchange of compliments and praises from the both of them for the work I have done. Many thanks to that really, as I am just following my passion and mission to promote the gardening hobby. I am also very grateful for the support and advice that they have given me.

Visit to Irene’s Garden

The rain had subsided by the time we arrived at Irene’s Garden on Saturday afternoon. This was my second visit to AsianOne.com’s Editor’s garden and home, together with me were Mark, Shireen and her cousin. We also met up with Irene’s husband, Ronnie, is the writer of the celebrated book – A Gardener’s Log. They have been great hosts and I must say we all truly enjoyed the visit. I hope I can visit again.

Irene’s garden is a two-time winner of Singapore’s Best Home Gardens award and I think the garden deserves the awards. It is mature tropical themed garden that has been planted intensively with heliconias, gingers, bamboos, aroids, palms and tree. There are ponds and statutes that have been placed at various strategic locations to make the garden complete. It took Irene and Ronnie 17 years to reach what they have today.

A unique signboard (not made in Singapore) that welcomes the visitor.

Irene’s trademark plant – the climbing pothos vine (needs ID) that plasters itself onto walls and tree trunks.

When you turn right from the main gate, the garden path leads you right into a tropical garden paradise.

After the wooden swing, the visitor gets to see the tranquil pond with kois swimming inside happily.

The flight of stairs that brings one up to the wooden deck.

The view from the wooden deck, up above.

The garden is built around the house where all the plants have been planted on both sides of the paths which encircled the house. Towards the back of the garden, there is a narrow brick-lined staircase that brings visitors up to a wooden deck where they can be entertained when the weather is fair. The path then turns around and leads visitors into the kitchen. On the other end of the kitchen, one can sit and relax inside a small wooden hut located just outside. Further, there is another staircase that leads down to Irene’s little plant nursery with a handsome stand of black bamboos on one side, providing the much-needed shade for some of the plants. Before we exit to the main gate, we are greeted by three georgeous specimens of the Weeping Tea Tree.

The garden at the back of the house.

The path down from the other flight of stairs that is flanked on one side by the stand of black bamboos.

The weeping tea tree.

Cheow Kheng’s Tropical Paradise

I had this rare opportunity to have been invited to view Cheow Kheng’s garden last Saturday after my talk at Bishan Community Library. Cheow Kheng is my good friend, advisor and collaborator from Community in Bloom, NParks.

Cheow Kheng’s garden is located in his apartment’s patio. His apartment is one of the rare 52 units in Singapore that has this special, open area. When I passed by his housing estate when I was younger, I always nudged my parents that they should buy a similar unit if we decided to move. I have always yearned to have a patio as that not only gives me the space but lots of sunlight required to grow a number of plants.

Now let’s start by looking at what’s inside Cheow Kheng’s garden… The picture below shows the view from his study room – it is a forest of lush greenery. It would be such a pleasing and relaxing sight to be able to witness such a view after some desk work!

Below is another view of the garden… Cheow Kheng has some orchids, bird’s nest fern, tall-growing ornamental, palm and fruit trees, rose bushes, bamboo costus and an interesting bauhinia vine. All are grown in large pots. Mrs Ng told me that despite the heavy large pots used to grow these plants, the high winds that the patio sometimes experience, can actually topple everything.

Go vertical! An innovate and space-saving way of growing orchids and ferns.

Cheow Kheng’s famed mini-roses. They have been featured on NPark’s garden blog, Garden Voices before.

A potted, dwarf banana plant. Despite its shredded foliage due to exposure to wind, the plant manages to produce fruits.

A closer look at the bunch of banana fruits still developing on the plant.

One of Cheow Kheng’s pride and joy. A six-year-old chiku tree grown in a large pot that never fails to have fruits on the plant.

Developing chiku fruits on the tree. Mrs Ng revealed these fruits attracted fruit bats to them despite the precarious location of their patio garden, that is 23 storeys high!

An unlikely candidate for growing in a highrise patio – fiddlewood tree (Citharexylum spinosum) – a lovely West Indian native tree grown for its attractive foliage and highly fragrant flowers. When the tree is in bloom, its fragrance will fill the entire interior of the apartment.

An tall, elegant but unidentified fish-tail palm that has been with Cheow Kheng for several years.

A closer peek at the leaflets of the fishtail palm to aid identification.

An uncommon, but unidentified bauhinia vine climbing up its support.

The newly emerged leaves of this bauhinia are bronze in colour.

The most prominent feature of this yet to be identified bauhinia is the pointed ends of each leaflet. The bauhinias I have seen have rounded leaves!