41st anniversary of The Times of India, Bengaluru: From expansive spaces in colonial compounds to finding space in apartment corners, city's ornamental gardens have changed over time

Time of India

9 hours ago

When Priya Mascarenhas relocated to Bengaluru as a newlywed nearly five decades ago, every house, big or small, had a garden. She distinctly recalls how roses blooming in the neighbourhood would leave her spellbound during her strolls.
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'My mother-in-law kept a lovely rose garden surrounded by a lot of flowering plants, bushes, and shrubs. For my birthday celebration, my husband surprised me with a bouquet of 200 red roses,' reminisces Priya, who has received accolades for her ornamental gardening.
Back then, the city had gardeners trained by the British. 'They were very good with their hands and did a good job with the manuring and pruning,' said Priya.
Priya's 150-year-old home in Richards Town now features a splendid ornamental garden spread across half an acre, offering an extensive array of heliconias, vines, water plants, roses, and shrubs, while Buddha statues add a zen vibe to the space. She particularly enjoys growing ornamental plants, with lantanas, monstera and verbenas being her most cherished varieties.
An avid gardener, Priya would get plants from all over Europe and South America while setting up her garden.
'Now we have better plants available in Bengaluru,' she said. For instance, she could easily arrange fresh Dutch roses to commemorate her husband's death anniversary recently.
Bengaluru's tradition of home gardens dates to the 17th century. Those gardens represented a unique fusion of British and Indian gardening practices, featuring diverse indigenous species alongside decorative foreign plants. Over the past four decades, the ornamental gardening scene has undergone a substantial transformation.
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Driven by the increasing number of plant nurseries and skilled landscape architects, the city marks a striking departure from the colonial-era British garden designs and now boasts meticulously maintained ornamental gardens that meet international benchmarks.
'There has also been a shift over time to more variegated plants. Those with pretty leaves, but no flowers, are much in demand these days. Unlike seasonal flowering plants, they look good all year, though they don't support other biodiversity such as birds and butterflies in the same way,' said Harini Nagendra, author of Nature in the City: Bengaluru in the Past, Present and Future.
Most of those trimmed hedge plants are also recent additions to Bengaluru's ornamental garden scene, added Harini, who is also the director of the School of Climate Change and Sustainability at Azim Premji University.
Amid the rise of multi-storey residential buildings with limited garden spaces, many are choosing to have ornamental plants, notes Radhika Srinivasan, a Bengaluru-based interior design consultant.
A wide variety of plants, including Queen Victoria Agave, Petunia, Star Cactus, Tangled Heart Plant, String of Pearls and Mother-in-Law's Tongue (commonly known as Snake Plant), enhance the beauty of Bengaluru's home gardens, complemented by well-manicured lawns and stone-lined pathways.
'In the aftermath of the Covid pandemic, people have developed heightened awareness about their surroundings. Indoor and outdoor ornamental plants enhance the aesthetic appeal of residential spaces significantly,' said Radhika.
Kunal Dammala, a 34-year-old software engineer at Infosys, fell in love with roses as they are easy to grow and don't require much sunlight. Kunal grows 60 varieties of roses on his 400-sq-ft terrace. 'Ornamental plants, in general, are excellent for landscaping as well,' stated Kunal, a huge fan of the foliage and flowering plants at the Kempegowda International Airport, Terminal 2.
Interestingly, Harini points out that even as ornamental spaces have incorporated exotic plants, native herbs thrive in home gardens across the city.
A growing trend involves setting up ready-made ornamental gardens. 'Grown-up plants that are 15-20 feet high are brought in and replanted in home gardens,' says Priya.
Anyone can maintain a flourishing decorative garden, including individuals who lack gardening experience or have limited time for plant care. Online platforms such as UrbanMali provide access to expert gardening services, including setting up new gardens, upkeep, and renovation of existing ones.
Individuals also frequently engage gardeners to handle essential tasks. Some, like Priya, however, prefer to do most of these tasks by themselves.
When scientists join hands
Bhuvana Sharma, a lead scientist at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms Indigenisation of Diagnostics programme (CCAMP InDx), has been associated with Gandhi Krishi Vigyana Kendra (GKVK) in Hebbal for the last five years.
She has done extensive studies on ornamental and indoor plants. Her research interests include developing superior quality ornamental plant seeds. 'Popular varieties include chrysanthemum, mosquitorepellent aloe vera, and various Vastu plants,' she says.
GKVK maintains a seed outlet where the public can purchase quality-verified seeds, including ornamental varieties. The seed project department conducts thorough quality verification, testing germination rates and protein content.
'We are also exploring the possibility of using ornamental plants for rangoli and fabric dyeing,' says Bhuvana.
There is a significant demand for Indian ornamental plant resources internationally and GKVK supplies seeds to many countries, including Dubai, Sweden, Japan, and Australia. Discussions are under way regarding a potential collaboration with Maastricht University in the Netherlands, Bhuvana told TOI.
Harini advocates planting trees in urban public spaces rather than creating ornamental gardens and prefers trees that require less water, making them a more environmentally sustainable choice for city landscapes.
'Ornamental gardens require significant quantities of water.
Scarce groundwater, often delivered through water tankers, are used to water them. Additionally, pesticides are widely used in ornamental gardens, making them environmentally unsustainable,' Harini explained.
Home gardeners, however, are increasingly opting for organic manure and insecticides. Many use harvested rainwater to nurture their plants.
Odette Katrak, an environmentalist and passionate gardener, follows sustainable gardening practices. 'I've six mini gardens. I water my plants with recycled water used for washing vegetables, fruit, pulses and rice. The gardens thrive on homemade compost, while I protect the plants using a natural pesticide solution prepared by mixing crushed garlic and chilli with water,' she opined.
Odette, who lives in an apartment, delights in the fragrance of her blooms while experiencing a connection with the natural world.