Patch of Green

This is gonna be a short post because I'm just typing on my phone screen. I've been whiling away time, seated in a rocking chair on the porch, gazing at the grass in my garden. This vantage point envelopes me with gratefulness amidst some pangs of depression while waiting every day for news that doesn't come.

The rains have given our newly planted grass and ornamentals some good headway. It's been just a week since we had frog grass installed, and it's all looking green and thriving. Fingers crossed that not another typhoon as strong as Glenda would unfurl, this patch of land is looking good. 

I wonder why I waited so long to take up gardening. It was difficult having three dogs before but when we recently lost one, a Rottweiler, gardening kind of made up for losing Weiler (our dog's name). Also, maybe at the back of my mind, if I wanted the garden done, I would have to get a landscaper. And that's expensive. And so years passed and I just kind of resigned myself to how it was like before, with the mango and guyabano trees, palms, and some plants we've inherited from the first owner of the house. 

A week before typhoon Glenda hit many parts of Luzon including our place, I had just started shopping for plants and pots. I had already some planted out on the front yard and some inside. I like buying them small, not only because they're cheaper but more because I want to see them grow right before my eyes. This was a good decision I realized later as they survived the typhoon's strong winds and heavy rains. 

I didn't know that plants can be so expensive. Not to discourage those who are planning to start or spruce up their gardens, the cheapest I bought from Taytay (Rizal) market were three small plants for a hundred pesos. So if you have a big area, you'd need to invest a bit to start a garden. If you want to have an idea, here's a tally of the expenses I incurred: 

Soil - P3,500 - one elf truck
Garden soil - P50/sack

Frog grass - P80/square meter (sourced from Malolos, Bulacan)

Plants - P10 to P300 (very variable)

Clay or terracota pots - small: P50; medium: P125-200; big: P350-400

Labor - P500 per person per day

In Bulacan, you can get some small plants for only 10 pesos. At the popular gardens in White Plains, Quezon City, the cheapest you can get is 50 pesos. The hanging plants I bought from Taytay market were only priced at 3 for 100, in White Plains, it was sold at P80 per piece. Frog grass there is a whopping 300 pesos per square meter. Better to travel to Bulacan if you're buying in bulk. 

So far, my expenses haven't reached 20,000, but that excludes the expenses going to Bulacan because I'm lucky my in-laws are from there. :) 

Had I hired landscapers, it would have easily cost me 50k, maybe more.