Grand garden to enhance Vikas Soudha beauty

Grand garden to enhance Vikas Soudha beauty

BANGALORE, DHNS:

A landscaped garden with fragrant plant varieties and ornamental trees as its highlights in a 11,000 sq mt area around Vikas Soudha-- the Vidhana Soudha annex-- is in the process of finalisation. Estimated at Rs 70 lakh, the thrust of its design and layout are to blend with the green space of the Vidhana Soudha.

A senior official in the Department of Horticulture said work on the project is likely to start in March with a three-month time frame for completion. The department is only awaiting clearance of the ongoing construction related activities from the space allocated for the garden, he said.

Large expanses of lawns (9,000 sq mts in total) with hedges, flowerbeds and ground covers interspersed with royal palms along the medians are envisaged in the plan. While the Vidhana Soudha lawns sport Bermuda grass, the Vikas Soudha lawns will sport Mexican grass. The cost difference between the two varieties is about Rs 6 per sq ft, the Mexican variety being on the costlier side, the official said.

About 25 varieties of ornamental trees figure in the plan. They include Mellingtonia hortensis, Michelia champaka (sampige) Saraca indica (Seetha Ashok), Amhertia, Cassia magenta and Bromenia gradiceps. Among the fragrant varieties are Murraya, Magnolia, Manoranjini, Parijatha and Jasmine. Almost all these varieties are available in nurseries of the Horticulture Department and the need to procure them from private firms may not arise, he said.