The F.Y. B.Sc. Skill Enhancement Course (SEC) Botany students of St. Joseph Vaz College were taken for a field visit to Amboli Forest Garden as a part of the SEC Botany curriculum on 10th October 2023. The students were accompanied by Dr. Maria Cineola Fernandes (Asst. Prof. in Botany) and Mr. Allan Jose Almeida (Asst. Prof. in Botany).

The group departed from the college at 8:30 am to visit the Amboli Forest Garden. The students and teachers were guided by Mr. Rahul Chavan, a certified guide and local from Amboli. We reached Amboli at 11.00 am.

The visit aimed at increasing the understanding about the different features of a garden and correlate it with the theoretical knowledge.

The Amboli Forest Garden housed a water garden, avenue plantations and a green house. Different features of a garden were observed like paths, pergolas and drives. Crotons (Codiaeum variegatum) were grown on either side of the paths as hedge plants. An area in the garden was demarcated for a park having playground structures likes swings and slides. Different garden adornments like garden seats, statues, lanterns/lamps were maintained at the garden. Water gardens were made having surface flowering aquatic plants like Nymphaea sp. and Nelumbo lutea. Different types of frogs and toads were observed around the water gardens. Rhaphidophora pertusa, a climbing plant was observed in the wild using the trunk of the Memecylon umbellatum as a support to climb thereby helping to understand the use of coir sticks/supports for climbing plants when grown as house plants.

The group also stopped at the Amboli waterfall and the ghats to observe the diversity of plants found in the nature. Plants like Strobilanthes callosa, Impatiens acaulis, I. balsamina, Begonia crenata and Gnetum ula were observed growing on the ghats.

Through this field visit, the students noted and learned about the different features of gardens and garden designs. The students were also made aware of the ecological distribution of plants and their interaction in the environment. The students were back at college by 5:45pm.