Sights and sounds to soothe the senses<\/p>\n
Maria Endah Hulupi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Transforming an austere house into a pleasant, inviting home with
\na strong \"green\" element is a challenge of time and creativity.<\/p>\n
For young couple Ari and Agung, it was their dream to remodel
\ntheir house and small garden in Bintaro, South Jakarta, since
\nthey moved in eight years ago.<\/p>\n
Back then, the house was unwelcoming, with its small, dull and
\ndisorganized garden shut behind high fences.<\/p>\n
\"But for the first couple of years, things remained that way
\nsince we didn't have time to remodel the house as well as the
\ngarden,\" said Ari, a mother of two.<\/p>\n
Occupying 100 square meters on a 170-square-meter plot, the
\nhome did undergo minor changes two years after they moved in,
\nwith the addition of some artistic design elements and more
\nventilation.<\/p>\n
But it was not until Ari left her job five years ago that she
\nstarted making plans to transform the small garden into a living
\nhomage to her love of plants.<\/p>\n
Although from a family of devoted gardeners, Ari as well as
\nher mother and sister were unable to experiment much with their
\nhobby due to land constraints.<\/p>\n
But once she had the chance to experiment in her own home, Ari
\nfound it was not as easy as she thought. She turned to magazines
\nand books for reference and also inspiration in landscape
\ngardening.<\/p>\n
\"At first, I still made mistakes. I put plants in spots that
\nare not suitable for them to grow,\" Ari said.<\/p>\n
\"Several days later, they started to wilt and I had to replace
\nthem with new ones. It happened several times.\"<\/p>\n
During a period of trial and error, she started learning from
\nher own mistakes and soon enjoyed improved results.<\/p>\n
Encouraged by the progress, she started tending plants
\nindoors to fill the empty spots in the front and rear garden, as
\nwell as the space at the side of the house.<\/p>\n
Several months later, her patience and hard work paid off with
\nthe blossoming of three small gardens beautifully accentuating
\nher house.<\/p>\n
Some unplanned experiments yielded excellent results. For
\ninstance, in her front garden, a combination of red, yellow and
\norange frangipanis with a Balinese style decorative umbrella
\ngives a hint of Balinese nuance.<\/p>\n
\"Actually, we did not plan to have a Balinese-style front
\ngarden, we just planted some frangipanis and added a decorative
\numbrella that we bought when we went to Bali ... and it turned
\nout great,\" explained Ari, who also uses lesung (a traditional
\ncontainer) as a pot for the side garden.<\/p>\n
In the rear part of the house, there is a kitchen, a
\nterrace\/dining room and a tropical garden. Before the makeover,
\nthe garden had a pond with water cascading from the wall, but it
\nwas remodeled after one of their children was injured in an
\naccident.<\/p>\n
From the terrace, the owners can enjoy their meals while
\nrelishing the breeze as well as rich textures and colors of leafy
\nplants, neatly arranged in a bed and stretching along the sides
\nof the garden.<\/p>\n
A pathway was added on the space where grass does not grow due
\nto little sunlight. Later, a miniature pond made out of brick and
\nequipped with a pump was added at a corner to provide the
\ngurgling sound of rippling water.<\/p>\n
The soothing view of the garden and the sound from the pond
\nrelaxes the senses. \"It's sort of a therapeutic garden and the
\npond was specially built for that purpose,\" Ari said.<\/p>\n
Maintenance includes removing dead leaves, watering plants
\ntwice a day and adding fertilizer, depending on the type of the
\nplants.<\/p>\n
Her gardening success has drawn praise from friends and
\nneighbors. Some even came to her for advice or sought help to
\nredesign their gardens -- but she has learned to be selective
\nabout who she helps out.<\/p>\n
\"It's such a pity to find out that after all the hard work,
\nthe plants are not properly taken care of,\" she said.<\/p>",
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