Sumita Gupta & her passion for terrarium gardens

Sumita Gupta, 47, a resident of Indirapuram, Ghaziabad is a nature enthusiast who creates beautiful terrarium gardens. A terrarium garden is similar to an aquarium, but it is for plants instead of fish. It is made in just about any glass container and is planted to look like a miniature garden or forest enclosed in a little world.

“I always had immense love for plants and flowers since I was a child. During childhood, we used to live in huge quarters and bungalows which were quite spacious and I used to plant trees and small plants in our home”, says Sumita. Her father was a mining engineer in Coal Field, Central Government. Sumita always had plenty of space to plant new saplings and trees in and around her house. “When I was a kid, my father used to bring new plants, seeds for me, he knew how much I loved them. The first thing I used to do after waking up was to plant those seeds in my garden”, Sumita added. Her family always cherished her love for her plants and encouraged her.

After getting married, she moved to Delhi and her passion for plants stayed with her. She started planting new plants in her home but she did not know that much about them. Eventually, she became a part of the Horticulture Society in Delhi and learned a lot about plantations, manuring, organic ingredients. “I used to attend meetings, competitions and shows of Horticulture society. I even participated in many competitions and won many prizes from Horticulture society,” Sumita added.

However, after moving to Indirapuram, it became difficult for her to keep a garden because of a lack of space. This is when she started making plant terrariums. She has been making terrariums for the last 7 to 8 years and has won many prizes in the Horticulture flower show for different categories such as flowering plants, miniature plants, green plants and more. “I have won almost 15-16 trophies per year from Horticulture Society’s shows”, Sumita added. She has a variety of plants in her home, from green plants like bonsai, cactus to vegetable plants. She uses kitchen-based manure and cow dung.

Terrariums can sustain on their own with proper attention from your side. Knowing when and how to water and selecting the correct types of plants can take your terrarium garden a long way. It is necessary to keep the conatiner clean, prune the plants when required and get rid of dead leaves to avoid growth of fungi. 

She does not make terrariums for money but because it gives her happiness and peace. She gifts them to her friends and family. “I take care of the plants as my children. I am hardly able to keep track of time when I am surrounded by them," Sumita added. Currently, she has almost 200 plants in her home.

Apart from being a nature enthusiast, Sumita also does yoga and follows a healthy lifestyle. She has a YouTube channel where she shares healthy recipes and also teaches Yoga to people of all age groups, free of cost.