Ideal plants for Puttenahalli Lake

Letter from Chaula

On Fri, Jun 25, 2010 at 5:17 PM, General Manager - Coconut Lagoon <chaulam@cghearth.com>wrote:

Hi Usha,

Just saw the picture of your lake with Manu again. Actually , it is not so bad at all. It just needs to be done with an eye to now make it as natural looking as possible eventually. It does look like an artificial lake at the moment.

Do take a look at the picture I am attaching herewith. The black line is where you plant trees / plants that will grow in water and have branches that will protrude above as well as the reeds etc that you need.

The red is where you plant trees that bear fruit and being as close as they are to the water’s edge the fruit will fall into the water.

The purple is where you have to cover the granite with a surface as close to nature as possible. To me the laterite stones or even rough cut rocks could be layered unevenly with small pot like structures where you could plant the water plants into mud filled into these pots made by you’ll. After that when the water fills up the granite area which is still under the water will be covered with the roots / soft branches of these plants. Water grass , reeds , hyacinth that can easily be controlled in these small pots / troughs could give you a natural look from the surface besides allowing micro-organisms to flourish to support the fish too. Is this making sense?

Planting on both sides of the embankment means planting in the black and red areas.

Giving some clay at the bottom of the lake will probably help the plants hold their ground better – this would aid plants which are planted a little away from the embankment but are still part of the whole landscape. You could even have some dead tree trunks standing up at various places in the lake to give lovely perching venues for the birds. Bamboos would do very well too.

I see a nice central raised portion too – this should be extended slightly so that it gives an island kind of look. Here plant tall trees and whatever plants are bird friendly and then take away the bridge to it. Donot do anything further except ensure water is provided – some sort of long distance irrigation system – leave it to you. This will be your sacred grove and the vegetation will stay untouched and invite the birds to a safe haven.

It is foolish to expect the birds to feel safe with mankind who are so rough and care a damn about them , so the outer walking path etc will be a green pathway and fresh and lovely to walk , but the sacred grove will be the home to the birds that you want visiting. That way , you have both and both are also happy.

I have a good feel of this project – oh, did I tell you – I an intuitive too !!!!! hahahahaha I know it will be worth every effort. Don’t give up .

Have fun !

Chaula