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Plants, pollinators and people

Biodiversity

A garden is a habitat before it is a decoration. Plant in layers, leave the mess alone, and the birds, bees and butterflies arrive without being invited.

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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.

A garden is four gardens stacked

Life does not spread sideways, it stacks. Every layer you add feeds a different set of creatures — and a balcony can hold three of these four.

Canopy3 m and upShade, nesting sites and fruit for birds. One tree does more than a whole bed of annuals.Plant Drumstick, guava, curry leaf, custard apple
Shrub layer1-3 mWhere sunbirds feed and small birds shelter from kites and crows.Plant Hibiscus, tulsi, henna, night jasmine
Herb layerAnkle to kneeThe nectar floor. This is where butterflies and bees actually spend their day.Plant Marigold, chaulai, coriander left to flower, lantana
Soil and litterBelow your feetEarthworms, spiders, beetles and next season’s fungi. The layer everyone sweeps away.Plant Fallen leaves, straw mulch, no bare earth

Who you are actually gardening for

Four visitors decide whether your garden is alive. Learn what each one wants and you can invite it on purpose.

BeesOut from mid-morning. Need clumps of one flower, not a mixed border.Tulsichaulaicoriander flowerPlants that bring them →ButterfliesNeed two plants: one to drink from, one to lay eggs on. Most gardens only offer the first.Marigoldlantanalime leafcalotropisPlants that bring them →BirdsCome for insects first, fruit second, water third. A dish brings more birds than any feeder.GuavadrumstickhibiscusPlants that bring them →MothsWork after dark and pollinate as much as bees. Bright white light shuts them down.Night jasmineraat ki ranimoonflowerPlants that bring them →

Four things that work

Plant in threes
Pollinators find clumps, not single stems. Three of one plant beats nine of nine.
Keep a shallow water dish
Pebbles for footing so insects can drink without drowning. Change it every second day.
Leave the leaf litter
Fallen leaves shelter the insects that pollinate next season. Sweeping the beds bare undoes the year.
Dim the lights
Moths are pollinators too; a shielded warm bulb keeps them working instead of circling.

One year, four moves

  1. 1After the first rainsPut the tall thing in. A drumstick or curry leaf sapling planted in July is established before winter and needs almost nothing afterwards.
  2. 2August to SeptemberFill the nectar floor. Marigold, tulsi and chaulai sown now flower through the whole cool season, which is when pollinator numbers peak.
  3. 3October to FebruaryStop tidying. Leave seed heads standing and leaves where they fall. This is the single change that most increases what lives in a garden.
  4. 4March onwardsWater, and only water. Through the hot months a shallow dish, refilled every second day, matters more than any plant you could add.

Why it is worth doing

1 in 3Bites of food that depend on a pollinator
75%Of flowering plants pollinated by animals
8xMore insect species on native plants than ornamentals
4 hrsOf sun a nectar plant needs to be worth planting

Questions people ask

I have a balcony, not a garden. Is this pointless?
No. Three pots of one flowering plant on a fourth-floor balcony will bring bees within a season. Pollinators navigate by colour and scent, not by ground level.
Won’t I be inviting mosquitoes and snakes?
Standing water breeds mosquitoes; a shallow dish changed every second day does not. Leaf litter in pots and beds does not bring snakes — open rubbish and rodents do.
Are bees dangerous to keep near children?
Foraging bees on flowers are not defensive; they are working. Stings happen near hives, not near flower beds. Children are safer in a pollinator garden than near a rubbish bin.
Should I buy a bee hotel?
Plant first. An unfilled bee hotel in a garden with no nectar is decoration. Most Indian bees are ground-nesting anyway, so a patch of bare, undisturbed soil does more.
Do ornamentals really feed nothing?
Many double-flowered ornamentals have been bred until the nectar and pollen are unreachable or gone. They look like food and are not. Native single flowers are the reliable ones.

Plants that bring life in

Resurrection Fern (संजीवनी), Selaginella bryopterisResurrection FernसंजीवनीSelaginella bryopterisThe sanjeevani of the rocks — curls up bone dry, then greens again in an hour of rain.Tree Tomato (तमरिल्लो), Solanum betaceumJob’s TearsगुरलुCoix lacryma-jobiHard glossy grain used as food, as beads and as a brewing grain in the hills.Tree Tomato (तमरिल्लो), Solanum betaceumKodo MilletकोदोPaspalum scrobiculatumThe kodo of the Deccan and central hills — drought-proof and long-storing.Tree Tomato (तमरिल्लो), Solanum betaceumProso MilletचीनाPanicum miliaceumA short-season millet of the northern hills, sown when the season has been lost.Resurrection Fern (संजीवनी), Selaginella bryopterisSilver Fernचांदी फर्नPityrogramma calomelanosA white-backed fern that colonises damp walls and cut slopes on its own.Foxtail Orchid (द्रौपदी माला), Rhynchostylis retusaFoxtail Orchidद्रौपदी मालाRhynchostylis retusaThe kopou phul of Assam — hanging foxtail sprays, and the flower of Bihu.Foxtail Orchid (द्रौपदी माला), Rhynchostylis retusaLady’s Slipper Orchidलेडी स्लिपरPaphiopedilum insigneA pouched terrestrial orchid of the eastern Himalaya, cool-growing and slow.Foxtail Orchid (द्रौपदी माला), Rhynchostylis retusaBlue Vandaनील ऑर्किडVanda coeruleaThe blue vanda of Meghalaya — tessellated flowers, and protected in the wild.

Where to go next

Seasonal CalendarWhat to sow this month where you liveGrow at HomeMatch plants to the space you actually haveKids GardenButterfly counts and other things to try with children