Alyia Krumbiegel has created a beautiful garden as a tribute to her great grandfather who spent most of his life in India as a landscape architect.
The 61-year-old resident of Surrey has been working hard to visit Bengaluru, known as the garden city of India this year to walk again in her great grandfather’s footsteps.
Her garden consists of French marigolds, one of her great grandfather’s favourite flowers as well as blue passionflowers which are very popular in India and a big coconut tree, creating a little paradise in her back garden.
Alyia has also won awards for converting a disused yard into a thriving garden between her workplace and another shop.
She is the great granddaughter of Krumbiegel, a German botanist and landscape architect who is credited for his work in bringing trees from all over the world to India.
Some of the places where his work is well recognized and looked after include Bengaluru’s famed Lal Bagh Botanical Garden (where he was Superintendent), Mysuru’s Brindavan Garden, the Botanical Garden at Ooty.
He was known for picking avenue trees of the city and planting them so that the city had blooming trees all through the year dotted along busy roads in the city.
She said, “When I go to India later this year, I want to walk again his footsteps and spend time in certain parts of the Lalbagh. I also want to visit Delhi where he worked even at the age of 90.”
She added, “I am going to get my own rickshaw driver there because I love sitting in them and really do want to visit Nandi hills. My goal is to make the next flower show, an annual show held in the city about life after the pandemic and sustainability.”
Alyia has been a close network of friends and nature activists in India who keep her informed on new projects in the city that could lead to cutting of trees etc. Alyia said, “Even though we are thousands of miles apart, I feel like we are neighbours.”
Recollecting her first trip to India she said that she felt at peace. “I felt like this where I should and over time realised that there is no other nation with people with such big hearts.”
She added, “I have made sure that my grandparents know everything about him and hope that one of them will carry on his legacy because that is what he would have wanted.”
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