Natural Habitat

Mumbai-based landscape architect Kunal Maniar is behind some of Alibag’s most spectacular gardens, including this seemingly natural private oasis, which surrounds a landmark contemporary house.

- Rajashree Balaram

I dislike gimmicks in landscapes, no matter how pretty they may seem,” says Kunal Maniar. One of India’s leading landscape architects, Maniar admits his skills come at a premium as much for what he can do to a patch of land as what he won’t. We are standing in the middle of a 30,000-square-foot garden that he has designed around an extensive sea-facing villa in Alibag. Though there is more than enough room to go overboard with all kinds of garden exotica, Maniar has made it an unconventional story of minimalism, all nurtured over a span of two years. It helped that his design ethic was in sync with the clients’—Naivedya and Ananya Agarwal— pithy brief: “keep things natural and free-flowing”.

“I have always been partial to landscaping that is organic, indigenous and natural. Plants arranged in strict geometry and symmetry don’t excite me,” he says. For Maniar, landscape design is not primarily about the spectacular possibilities of horticulture as it tends to be with many practitioners of the art. “Nature does not grow things in measured uniformity, does it? Instead, there is a beautiful symbiosis and integration of elements. I strive not to interfere with that grand design and find it thrilling to collaborate with it.” The conspicuous absence of excessively manicured foliage around the property speaks volumes; there are no potted plants, carefully trimmed hedges or contained bunches of colourful blooms. Any subtle hints of colour are limited to the white bougainvillea vines that cascade over the retaining walls, and the trees of white frangipani planted towards the back garden.