“They told me I was crazy”: an investment of 40 million! Meet Asghar Ali from Pakistan – he turned his home into a mini forest for his mother | Today’s news
More than a decade ago, mother Mian Asghar Ali shared a simple wish with her son – to have a garden around their house. And what started with a single tree in 2016 has since grown into a labor of love.
Today, their six-marla home in Pakistan has been transformed into a mini forest with more than 5,700 trees and plants. It’s not just a garden, but a living tribute to a mother’s dream that her son continues to nurture.
Asghar, a resident of Pakistan’s Punjab province, planted the first sapling in his house built on a 0.037-acre plot in Punjab’s Pattoki in 2016. At the time, Asghar wasn’t sure if he would even be able to fulfill his mother’s wish for a small plot of land on which the house stood. He even tried to convince his mother that there was not enough space near the house to create a garden and that such plans were pointless.
“But seeing her disappointed face gave me the passion to start it. It was in 2016 that I bought about 50 plants, placed 10 inside the house and 40 along the outside wall. Since then I have been adding more gradually,” Asghar said in a BBC Urdu video story.
In the BCC video, Asghar is seen explaining how he planted trees on doors, walls, curtains and the entire house to fulfill his mother’s wish. “People used to call me crazy, but today when they visit and see my little port, they appreciate my work and look at us with respect,” he says.
So far, Asghar has spent more than PKR 40,000,000 on the project and spends more than PKR 30,000 every month to maintain the greenery. Costs include the cost of seedlings, soil and tools, as well as the ongoing maintenance required to keep thousands of plants alive and healthy year-round.
“Ever since our house went viral, people have been coming to see it from afar. Initially there wasn’t much lighting, but now I’ve installed lights throughout the house so it’s the same day and night,” he says.
People called me crazy, but today when they visit and see my little port, they appreciate my work.
Asghar said he used specific plants that thrived in the sun and were resistant to extreme winter frosts, so he didn’t need to cover them like traditional nurseries. In the video, he says the daily routine includes two to three hours of watering and tending to plants after Fajr (Dawn) prayers.
Asghar says he aims to grow 10,000 plants and try to create a Guinness World Records title.
