Compass Travel Vietnam
Bringing mud to the terrace to grow lotus
Loved by lotus, Phuong Thao bought mud, dragged her husband to the terrace, and planted 60 pots, of which there are many rare varieties such as Bach Ngoc and Bach Tuyet thousand-petal lotus.
The lotus garden planted in 2017 by Ms. Bui Phuong Thao, 31 years old, in Vung Tau City has nearly half perished due to a busy time taking care of small children. In early 2021, taking advantage of the help of grandparents to look after their grandchildren, the couple decided to renovate the terrace garden of nearly 100 square meters.
She divided the garden into two zones. The upper area has more than 40 pots of roses, the lower area includes nearly 60 lotus pots and guns. The young couple put a small table and chair on the terrace to watch the sunrise in the morning, watch the sunset in the afternoon, and sometimes admire the rainbow. “To have a green terrace like this is a journey,” she said.
Where Phuong Thao lives, there is no mud, no field land (which can be soaked into mud), so it must be purchased completely. The way to the terrace is a small iron ladder attached to the wall, just one person up and down.
Every weekend, Thao is downstairs shoveling mud into buckets to tie a rope for her husband to pull up. Mr. Manh Que and her husband climbed the small steps to bring dirt and mud to the terrace from the second floor. Large pots that do not pass through the door must be pulled from the neighbor’s vacant land.
Before Tet 2022, they twice repaired the ladder to be wider and safer to make it easier to get to the garden.
Ms. Thao cut the drums, and plastic containers to make planting pots, bought more round pots without holes T58, T68, round cement pots, and Aquaponic plastic drinks to grow lotus, to avoid affecting the concrete floor.
Every corner on the terrace is utilized. Each pot is like a miniature pond. “The terrace is like a dry concrete block like a new shirt. I thank my husband for having to go on a long business trip, but when I come back, I have to take on all the hard work so that the whole family can have a garden like this. now,” she said.
Going to the garden to take care of plants and flowers is a way to help her avoid postpartum depression caused by staying at home too much and overcome the long days of separation.
To plant trees on the terrace, according to Ms. Thao, waterproofing is a prerequisite. If you want to have big, beautiful flowers, you need enough sunshine, good mud, pruning old leaves, fertilizing, and paying attention to pests and diseases for timely handling.
Growing lotus on the terrace is the most difficult to prevent wind because it is easy to shake the root and damage flower buds. “If you want to limit this situation, you can use a tarpaulin to block the wind and make a frame for the tree,” she said.
Her lotus garden currently contains a number of species such as Red Phoenix, Red Flag, Emerald, Juwaba, Ultimate Thousand Petals Lotus, Coconut Milk, Dragon’s Blood, Bloom & Heathy, Bach Ngoc, Snow White..
The greatest joy of the 31-year-old woman is to expand the fresh space for her family.
Not only collecting flowers, but Thao’s terraced lotus garden also harvests tubers, enough to make nutritious food for the family and sell to lotus lovers on social networks.
“I don’t do business from this lotus garden, but the orders I get give me more joy and motivation to nurture my passion,” she said.
Bringing mud to the terrace to grow lotus
vinlove.
Source: vinlove
