If treating patients is her profession, gardening is her passion.

As you enter her Khasmahal residence, you will get an idea of her meticulous planning. For this nature lover, gardening is more than just a hobby.

It is a passion, and she pours into it all her creative energy, as she sees to it that her plants are artistically displayed, while also making the best use of the season, space, and sunlight.

It comes as no surprise that she keeps updating herself on her favourite subject through journals and magazines. And if you thought gardening is taken up only to unwind, then she would beg to differ.

Sumita, despite her busy schedule, spends on it at least half-an-hour daily and has designed her space into a picturesque lawn, a puja garden and kitchen garden. A zone that gives her, and those visiting it, moments of cool and comfort.

During her MBBS days, she could only dream of owning her personal green space, which, after her marriage to Dr Arun Kumar Guha, is now a reality. Sumita has given a distinct quality to her garden by using the concept of topiary that is a special art by which trees are cut and given a particular shape.

Apart from seasonal and foliage plants, an aqueduct beside two aquamarine ponds, consisting underwater lights, gives the garden an effect of an amusement park. A large mushroom shaped gazebo at the centre of the lawn, surrounded with a colourful hedgerow makes it a picture perfect scene.

My garden: My in-laws, in fact, started gardening and now I am patronising the heritage with a new outlook. I strongly believe in prior planning and hence I planned and divided my garden into three segments — a lawn, a puja garden and a kitchen.

I obviously did not want to disfigure the beauty of my lawn, therefore it is carpeted by Chinese Grass, which reduces the chances of fungal infection. I prefer open gardens. To give my drawing room an elegant appeal, I have used betel-nut plants, which have to be kept in the sun every three to four days.

Among my favourite flowers are various types of roses, hibiscus, and creepers. I use colourful Bougainvillaea for fencing, which appeal to many. For small ponds I use water lilies and lotus. But a huge Panthapadak brings me immense pleasure.

I love to travel along with my husband and also pick up herbs and flowers on my trip.

I got the cardamom and coconut tree from Kerala during one such vacation. Sometimes, I collect certain varieties from Haathibagan in Calcutta, and for commoner varieties, I visit the Jusco nursery. If one is alert, then natural treasure could also be found in the least expected of places. In my puja garden, apart from various seasonal flowers, there are trees of mango, jackfruit, chikoo, lemon (big variety), papaya and bel.

I am only free on Sundays and thanks to my gardener Dinesh, I am able to manage my garden well. I am rigidly a pro-natural person and don’t use chemicals.

I have developed a pit and use it for making the organic manure. I also use plants and kitchen wastes such as peels of vegetables and eggshells, apart from cow dung.

All these products, which can be easily decomposed, can be used as home made fertiliser in a couple of months.

“I strongly believe in touch therapy. Plants seem to be alive if they get the motherly touch,” said Sumita, smiling.

This season

After boiling the vegetables, the remaining water can be used as nutrient for the plants, as it is full of valuable minerals and vitamins.

Natural, organic fertilisers work really well for plants. Even kitchen wastes like peels of vegetables, eggshells, and of course, cow dung, can be decomposed and used as fertilisers.

As told to Smita Datta