After her mother-in-law’s passing, Meerut-based Surbhi Yadav,  slipped into depression, spending hours in a room filled with ancestral bottles, jars, and lanterns—all prized possessions of her mother-in-law.

To honour her memory and to help herself out of a dark space, Surbhi, 30, channelled her creativity to transform these items into beautiful planters.

She then started adding plants to these planters, kickstarting her foray into gardening in April 2023.

“Lack of oxygen was one of the major reasons for my mother-in-law’s death. I wanted to ensure that oxygen levels don’t reduce in our house henceforth. That’s how I started growing plants,” says Surbhi.

She wanted to do so sustainably, choosing low-maintenance plants and growing them from plant cuttings.

Over the past year, her terrace has been enveloped in green, with over 300 plants, including bougainvillaea, hibiscus, and various species of palms like areca, sago, and doum.

The garden also boasts vegetables like tomatoes, brinjals, spinach, methi (fenugreek), green beans, and green chillies.

Surbhi also shares that nearly 99% of her plants are grown in DIY planters or existing ones already at home.

Old lanterns, unused cooking pots, plates, and even a hanging fan grill have been repurposed as planters.

“Gardening got me out of a dark place. I slipped into depression and would spend hours overthinking. My plants pulled me out of it and have made me a happier person,” she shares.

She also shares tips through her YouTube and Instagram channel, called @chalocreativitykaren.

The fertility of the soil is maintained through organic methods, such as homemade compost, cow dung manure, and bio enzymes. Only vermicompost is purchased externally. Over the past year, Surbhi has been turning her kitchen waste into compost and making bio enzymes at home.

The pièce de résistance of the garden is a hanging planter of turtle vine made from 15 plastic bottles and an old fan, which belonged to her mother-in-law.

Here is how you can make a DIY hanging planter out of an old plastic bottle:

1. Cut a rectangular portion in the middle of the plastic bottle.

2 Paint the bottle using your favourite colour.

3. Make four small holes above and below the cut—two on the left and two on the right.

4. Insert a thread through these holes.

5. Add some potting mix, sow some seeds, and hang your planter.