| Universiti Putra Malaysia

"Don't go to nursery without knowledge" - UPM Landscape Expert

By: Nurul Ezzaty Mohd Azhari

SERDANG, May 26 - Having a mini garden or landscaping at home will definitely offer beauty to one's residence.

A lecturer from the Department of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Design and Architecture (FRSB), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Assoc. Prof. LAr. Dr. Nor Atiah Ismail, advised the public to have knowledge before buying trees at the nursery as decorations for home interior.

“Before going to the nursery, we need to have the knowledge and look at the size of the space for the garden as well as the home interior because the outer and inner landscapes hold synergy.”

"We also need to identify certain trees that are not suitable for the health conditions of children or husband," she said.

Assoc. Prof. LAr. Dr. Nor Atiah said in general, bamboos are not suitable to be placed inside the house if there are family members who have asthma and to refrain from placing them next to the bedroom or living room.

“Make sure the tree has its own space because it will grow and produce branches. So, we need to remove it and place or plant it elsewhere.”

"The motivation for us to do gardening is to share saplings with neighbours because that is sharing knowledge and love with the neighbours," she said.

She said this during the interview at Selamat Pagi Malaysia on TV1 here today.

Regarding selecting fertilizer suitable for indoor plants, she said organic fertilizer is safest to be used.

"Use daily ingredients such as eggshells, onion skins, banana skins and rice water as fertilizer. Instead of throwing them in the garbage bin, put them at a tree or compost them to make organic fertilizer,” she said.- UPM.

SXETKAS~