The Thiruvallikeni post office on Triplicane High Road is a breath of fresh air for visitors. A few employees of the post offices have been promoting gardening by converting unutilised space on the premises to grow ornamental plants and fruits.
Walk into the post office and the custard apple tree draws your attention first. There are over half-a-dozen tender fruits in the tree, sure to tempt every visitor.
“We have different fruit and flowering bearing plants. In fact, we stopped bringing new rose seeds as they often get plucked,” says D.S. Harikrishnan, public relations inspector (postal) and a garden enthusiastic.
According to the employees, it was in the last three years that they made better use of the post office premises after a few members showed interest in gardening. The premises spread over four grounds had very few plants in the compound. A few staff started getting seeds from their home and nurturing them around the premises. Later, they started tendering to plants in pots.
“We wanted to add more plants, so we made two rows for them and fenced it with iron poles that were lying unused. This we did after ensuring visitors had enough space to park their vehicles,” says Harikrishnan that they don’t use the Department’s funds to set up the garden.
Neem trees, lime, sapotta, mango, drumstick and banana are some of the plants that have borne fruit. A few varieties of chrysanthemums and leaves in different shapes are also grown.
“The fruits are shared among the colleagues. We have many visitors who take permission before plucking leaves of nochi and karpuravalli, which we are happy to share as we have them in plenty,” says C. Janardhan, a retired staff who often visits the post office to check on saplings he has planted.
Tending to the plants is simple, say the staff. The plants are watered by the gardener. The staff want to seek professional help to improve the garden further.
