• July 19, 2020

This Keralite from Dagenham in London has turned his 150 metre backyard into a spectacular garden with flowers, veggies, herbs

This Keralite from Dagenham in London has turned his 150 metre backyard into a spectacular garden with flowers, veggies, herbs
By A Staff Reporter

LONDON July 19: It is not about what you have but it is all about what you do with it. Shibukumar Gopalan, an avid gardening enthusiast had his love towards nurturing plants from his early age.

He always toyed with the dreams of having a beautiful garden. However, he had only a garden which was 150 metre long. But then he didn’t stop there. He knew that with proper planning he could work out wonders.

He had a script to the whole layout. His gardening logbook notebook helped him to keep track of the plants he grow along with Dot Grid journal paper for his garden design plans.
Today he boasts around more than 150 flower pots with some prized blooms which offers a breath-taking experience for anyone visiting.
Shibukumar’s passion towards his plants is so much that on certain days he ends up spending the whole day cutting and pruning and nurturing.
Before moving onto gardening Shibukumar was a professional chef for top hotels such as Taj Malabar in Kochi, Holiday Inn in Goa, Carnival Cruiseline Ship US, Paramount Imperial Hotel in Devon, Brasserie Blanc in London, JP Morgan.
Shibukumar’s garden has around more fifty twenty species of plants ranging from Lilly, Hydrangea, Jemanthi, Orchid, Gladiola, Sinia, Petunia Dalia Roses. He has more than 20 variety of roses, six different types of Lillies, hardy Fuchsia, different types of Hollyhock, pransy, African marigold, different types of geraniums, montbretia, garden verbena, seven different types of dahalia, begonia, sweet william, wood lilly/ tiger lilly, ten different kinds of gladioli, petunia, edging lobelia, daisy, six varieties of hydrangea, jasmine, wintercreeper, corn poppy, his favourite paniciled Hydrangea, clematis, jade plant, four types of evergreen azalea.
Shibukumar also grows vegetables in a way which doesn’t lose the beauty of the whole garden. His garden has vegetables like tomatoes, red spinach, beat root, garlic, onion, bush marrow, runner beans, butternut squash and fruits such as apple, plum, grape, cherry, strawberry and herbs like thyme, basil, oregano, mint, curry leaf and rosemary.
Wife Reshmi, who works as an accountant, says: “I love his passion for gardening and me and our daughter too enjoy the beauty of it. He treats all the plants like his own children so he’s generally against the idea of plucking flowers. Occasionally he plucks some flowers as an offering to God for our little Pooja place”.

Shibukumar’s daughter Aiswarya says:  “My dad is very passionate about gardening. He often starts at 6am and stays late until the evening. He’s also a keen carpenter, all the stands are built from scratch in order to fully encapsulate the beauty of each plant”.

Shibukumar and Reshmi is from Chirayankil in Thiruvanthapuram in Kerala. The family are settled in Dagenham in London.

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