Garden scheme blooms

Since 2005, 480 community gardens have sprung up under NParks' Community In Bloom programme
Cheryl Faith Wee Straits Times 18 Mar 12;

About 20 enthusiastic gardeners in Clementi made headlines last week with their 30-year-old 'illegal' garden on state land. But there is no need for keen gardeners here to break the law.

There are about 480 community gardens under the NParks Community In Bloom scheme. Public and private housing estates, educational institutions and organisations such as hospitals can apply to start a community garden under this scheme.

Since it began in 2005, about 50 new gardens from 100 sq m to 300 sq m have sprouted each year.

NParks gets budding enthusiasts started by helping to choose a good location for the garden. Factors such as the amount of sunlight and water sources are considered. It also offers advice on the design of the gardens and suitable plants. But the upkeep of the plot, including funding, is the responsibility of the community gardeners.

Those who think their gardens are worthy can also apply for the Community In Bloom awards which are held once every two years. The first awards were given out in 2006. A panel, made up of individuals from various organisations such as the Singapore Gardening Society, will judge which gardens deserve platinum, gold, silver or bronze awards.

Special awards and cash prizes of $1,000 are also given out. They are the Best Community Garden, Best New Garden and biodiversity and environment awards.

According to NParks, the number of platinum-standard gardens doubled in 2010 as compared to 2008. The judges will start making rounds for this year's awards soon. Meanwhile, here are some of the more impressive gardens.

Green selling point

Seamstress Salamah Ahmed, 60, can still remember the taste of the first crop of lady's fingers harvested from the community garden in Punggol Coral two years ago.

She boiled the crisp, young vegetables and ate them dipped in sambal chilli.

There was enough to fill up one NTUC plastic bag and she distributed the rest to about five other gardeners. She had cultivated the vegetables from seeds over about two months.

But fresh ingredients for her kitchen are not the only perks of helping out at a community garden.

She says: 'I like to feel the soil between my fingers. Being in the garden also gives me inspiration for embroidery for the sarong kebaya and baju kurong garments I make.'

Every morning before heading to work, she spends two hours watering the plot, which is about two-thirds the size of a basketball court.

The garden was started by a group of Punggol Coral residents in 2005 and received the Community In Bloom gold award in 2008 and a platinum award in 2010.

Within the plot are features such as an overhanging structure with dangling passionfruit, paved pathways made from recycled tiles and four small ponds containing water lilies and goldfish.

There is also a wide range of fruit, vegetables and plants such as papayas, kai lan and orchids.

Little wonder then that it needs tending by over 10 gardeners. Mr Joseph Lim, chairman of the Punggol Coral Residents' Committee, took charge of the garden last year.

But there is also a self-appointed leader, Mr Lim Keng Tiong, 69, who spends at least four days a week at the garden, from about 8am to 5pm. He has been doing so for three years. The retired contractor fondly calls it his 'office job' and takes it upon himself to delegate tasks such as weeding and pruning.

Almost every week, children from the nearby childcare centre My First Skool at Edgedale Plains visit the plot to learn about plants. A group of elderly people from the neighbourhood also meet there regularly to chit chat and have a meal.

Retired nutritionist Eunice Lo, 69, bought a five-room flat in Punggol Coral eight months ago because of the garden. She was worried that her 60-year-old pots of bonsai plants would not fare well in the move from her bungalow home to an HDB flat. However, her fears were put to rest when she found a new home for her bonsai in the community garden.

She says: 'I have had them since I was nine years old when I started gardening and they are very precious to me. I picked the sunniest spot in the garden for them.'

Taxi drivers call it Orchid Street

The road sign says Bedok Ria Crescent, but to some taxi drivers, the road is known as the 'orchid street' because its roadside plots are full of the flowers.

About 10 households in the private estate decided to plant orchids in those plots in 2008 so they could take part in the NParks Community In Bloom programme.

Housewife Helen Tan, who is in her 40s, says: 'Some cab drivers even circle round to have a second look at the orchids or they get out and pinch the flowers in disbelief to see if they are real.'

The neighbourhood's obsession with the flower started with Madam Tan, who is known to her neighbours as the 'orchid lady' because of her lush collection of orchids, some of which are displayed on the trees by her front gate. She spends up to $1,000 a year on fertilisers and new plants.

Her neighbours decided to tap Madam Tan's expertise and plant the flowers too. More than 20 different species of orchids are now thriving on the plots along the road. The estate received a Community In Bloom gold award in 2010.

Besides trying to outdo gardeners in other estates, friendly competition also exists between neighbours.

One of the gardeners, housewife Wong Juat Fee, 65, says: 'I eye the other orchids in the neighbourhood and see which ones I do not have. Sometimes, I get tempted to buy more or I wait for the orchid lady's flowers to bloom so that we can transplant some of her 'babies' to my garden.'

Maintenance of every roadside plot costs each household about $300 a year. And in return, each household is treated to the sight of orchids from their living rooms and bedrooms.

Almost every morning, commercial pilot Kevin Tan and his wife, housewife Doreen Tan, who are both in their 50s, walk out their front gate and are greeted by the pleasing fragrance of orchids.

Different species emit scents at different times of the day and Mr Tan says jokingly: 'We considered planting a combination of species so that we could get a different scent at all hours of the day.'

A haven for butterflies

Retired businessman Victor Oh, 63, has stage-four prostate cancer and is going through a divorce. But when he steps into the Tampines Changkat butterfly garden for several hours in the morning and evening, he forgets his worries.

Mr Oh, who lives with his 23-year-old daughter and has another daughter in her 30s, adds: 'The fluttering of the butterfly wings relaxes me.'

The garden, which was launched last November, is the brainchild of Tampines GRC Member of Parliament Irene Ng. It was built from scratch by the Tampines Changkat town council with help from butterfly expert Khew Sin Khoon, who published A Field Guide To The Butterflies Of Singapore in 2010.

While the Tampines Town Council has hired contractors to water the plants every morning, a butterfly garden interest group of about 82 members helps with maintenance such as loosening the soil. They meet every Saturday morning at the 120 sq m enclosed garden.

The head of the interest group, delegates sales manager Suzana Ahmad Dawan, 54, also checks on the garden every day and sends a daily 'report card' to the town council.

So far, the 10 varieties of plants such as lime and ixora in the garden have attracted a population of about 50 butterflies of seven different species. The leaves of the plants in the garden are teeming with butterfly eggs, caterpillars and cocoons.

Besides keeping an eye out for the creatures in the butterfly garden, the interest group also learn nifty tricks such as putting a drop of sweat on your finger to attract butterflies to land there.

A member of the group, 25-year-old Koh Wei Qi, who works in the Esplanade's box office, says: 'I am still mustering the courage to touch caterpillars and butterflies. But I like to watch them from afar.'