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October 15, 2018

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Clinic for plants helps residents and beautifies the community

By Chen Huizhi | 00:01 UTC+8 October 15, 2018 | Print Edition

WITHERED potted plants left unattended in public areas of a residential complex have found new life in the Junxiang Community in Jiading District’s Nanxiang Town.

The community runs a “clinic for plants” that helps residents raise healthy plants and tends to plants when owners are away from home.

The 3-month-old residents’ initiative is part of Shanghai’s “beautiful villages” campaign, which encourages households in suburban districts like Jiading to beautify their surroundings.

The clinic is housed in a 50-square-meter garden at the entrance to the residents’ committee building at the crossroads of Baoxiang and Chenxiang roads. It replaced a former site littered with weeds, waste and animal droppings.

The clinic is now blossoming with roses, orchids, anthuriums and 50 other kinds of flowers and plants. It serves more than 2,000 households in three residential complexes.

While shared resident community gardens are common in other neighborhoods in Shanghai, this garden is unique because it was created by a local gardening company called Chengxin. The company was tapped to join the initiative by Cai Peiji, director of the community residents’ committee.

“We were looking for professionals, and only this company agreed to participate in what is basically a charge-free project,” Cai said.

Apart from offering free advice to residents, the company also sells its plants at below-market prices, according to an agreement with the residents’ committee. In return, the company gets free business space at the garden.

Sun Huihong, founder and director of the company, said advice still outweighs purchases, but he’s satisfied that the project will gradually bring in more business.

Some 100 community volunteers have joined the initiative.

The volunteers periodically patrol residential buildings for sick-looking plants in stairwells or public corridors.

One of the volunteers is 60-year-old Shen Huijuan, who ran a flower shop for 13 years before she retired.

“Most plant enthusiasts in the community are older people who are not as adept as young people at using the Internet to look for gardening tips,” she said.

She said the clinic is “treating” or looking after about a dozen pots of flowers at the moment. One of those who have benefited from volunteers’ advice is 64-year-old Lu Gende who did not know how much to water his plants.

“My orchids were almost withered when I found this clinic,” he said. “After 12 days, they had new life.”

Fertilizers and pesticides are given free to residents.

Cai said clinic advice will remain free, but fees will soon be charged for those who want babysitting for their plants while they’re away. Volunteers will be exempt from the fee.

The clinic is a part of the community’s new drive to promote the “beautiful countryside” campaign introduced in Shanghai in 2014.

Gao Jingli, president of the Women’s Federation of Nanxiang Town, which oversees the campaign there, said the plant clinic is unique in its effectiveness in community bonding.

“It’s not enough to just make one’s own home beautiful,” she said.

“By sharing our passion for a beautiful home, we can create a beautiful community for all.”

Metro


 

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