Journalism of Courage
It’s a spectacular flowering tree,but Chandigarh has very few Ashoka trees now; the real Asoka is also called Sita Ashok in the city. This picture was taken near the Sector 33 Terrace Garden gate,where a few of these trees stand in all their eternal beauty. Clusters of orange-red flowers,in contrast with the deep green leaves appear during March and April. The leaves are also deep red as they appear. The tree is Indian and has religious appeal,as its is dedicated to the God of Love,Kama Deva. Buddhists also revere it,as lord Buddha was born under this tree. Group planting in a park will give the best effect of this semi-spreading tree.
Please tell me the name of the avenue tree on the road dividing Sectors 17 and 18?
Manjit Kaur,Chandigarh
It is Kusum and the technical name of the tree is Schleichera trijuga.
I have a two-year-old kinnow plant. It has borne many flowers. As the plant is young should I retain the fruit?
Mukesh,Chandigarh.
I can understand your curiosity,but let us think about the plant too. It is like a child,bearing a baby and you would not like to have a plant with poor health or kill it prematurely. First,let the plant grow healthy and this will not be possible if you push it to have fruit at a young age. You can leave two or three fruits and taste them and remove all the other flowers.
When is a good time to plant raspberry? Where can I get its seed? How should it be planted?
Avtar Singh,Mohali
Avtar,you are a bit late. But get some ripe fruits from the market and sow the seeds extracted from these. Later,when the seedlings are about four to six inches high,you can transplant them at one-and-a-half foot on either side.
Please tell me a desi method of measuring liquid chemicals for spraying.
Surjit Singh,Mohali
It is better to use some scientific measure as the less or excessive use of chemicals than recommended may have adverse effects. But for your information,the lid of a small bottle (200 ml) is roughly equal to five ml and that of a litre bottle is about 10 ml. A teaspoon full is five ml and a tablespoonful is 10 ml.
You can mail Dr Green your gardening queries at satishnarula@yahoo.co.in
