Ladakh plants and planting

[Margaret]

Can anyone offer advice or help on creating a garden for a school outside Shey in Ladakh? The Druk White Lotus School (See http://www.gardenvisit.com/garden/dragon_garden_dwls_druk_white_lotus_school ) is being created by volunteers and sponsors, with no other funding. It is in a Buddhist part of India, known as Little Tibet. The buildings have won many architectural awards for sustainable design but they stand in desert, freezing in winter (-35C), warm  in summer (+35C), always sunny - but with very little rain (<100mm/year). At present the only plants on a 10 hectare site are in small beds near the buildings, watered by hose pipes. Work on a sustainable irrigation system will start in 2013 and the aim is to create a sustainable landscape and garden. The water will come from a dynamic aquifer (supplied by melt water). The vegetation will be indigenous plants  and food plants. The problem is that Ladakh scarcely has a nursery trade. So it is very difficult to obtain seeds or plants. A plant nursery is being established on the school site. Can anyone help with information on plants, propagation and planting in Ladakh - or comparable high altitude deserts (eg the Mustang area of Nepal).

[Susan Band]

I know it is the other side of the world but Denver botanic gardens has been promoting desert planting for for a number of years. It probably deals with similar conditions. They would be your best bet for information about high desert planting.  Panyoti sometimes comes on the forum he could probably point you in the right direction for finding advice for your project.
Also Rokpa, a Tibetan charity sends students to Edinburgh botanics to study setting up a nursery in Tibet for native medicinal plants, maybe if you contact their team you could find out about some of their solutions to problems.

Susan

[Stan da Prato]

Macplants have been involved with ROKPA especially Claire McNaughton

[Margaret]

Thank you very much for the suggestions - and for the link to Rokpa's work on medicinal plants on http://www.rokpa.org/gbr/en/projects/tibetan-areas-of-china/tibetan-medicine/preservation-of-ttm/

I've bought some lovely plants from Macplants over the years. Glad to hear that they are involved.