Biodiversity
A garden is a habitat before it is a decoration. Choose native plants and the birds, bees and butterflies arrive without being invited.
Indian cities have lost most of their native undergrowth to lawns and ornamentals that feed nothing. Native plants carry the right nectar, the right leaf chemistry and the right flowering time. You do not need land: three native plants on a balcony measurably increase the pollinators in a street.
Four things that help immediately
- A shallow water dish with pebbles, so bees and birds can land.
- Stop spraying. One pesticide application removes the predators that were controlling your pest for free.
- Leave the leaf litter. Sweep paths, not beds.
- Dim the lights. Moths are pollinators too.
Four things that work
Plants for pollinators
Indian Water FernअजोलाAzolla pinnataA floating fern that fixes nitrogen — fertiliser and fodder that grows itself.
Naga Tree BeanतरुआParkia timorianaYongchak — long flat pods eaten across Manipur and Nagaland.Wild AppleबनसेबDocynia indicaA north-eastern hill fruit, sour and used for pickle and jam.CheuraचिउराAesandra butyraceaThe Himalayan butter tree, giving cooking fat and an enormous honey flow.Bamboo Shoot Speciesबांस करीलDendrocalamus hamiltoniiThe north-eastern shoot bamboo — fermented shoots are a regional staple.
Curry Tree Wildजंगली कढ़ीMurraya gleneiiA wild relative of the curry leaf from peninsular scrub forest.