Bengaluru’s Lalbagh Botanical Garden is set to open a 2.5-acre outdoor mist garden in about a month, creating a cool, moist microclimate for orchids, ferns and air plants through a network of nearly 300 foggers.
The project is being developed by the Karnataka State Department of Horticulture on either side of a natural valley near Lalbagh’s Double Road gate. The area receives rainwater flowing from the Lalbagh rock and already contains several large and small trees, with nearly half the site covered by natural shade.
Unlike conventional mist gardens, which are generally built inside covered structures, the Lalbagh facility will remain open to the sky. It will use the existing tree cover, natural shade and artificial mist to recreate conditions similar to a tropical evergreen forest. The garden will include nearly 200 varieties of shade-loving plants sourced from Thailand, China and different parts of India.
Dr M Jagadish, Deputy Director of Lalbagh, said the site would feature more than 50 varieties each of orchids and ferns, in addition to air plants. These plants will initially be introduced on tree trunks and branches, where officials expect them to establish over time.
The fogging system will have lines rising to about 12 feet around the trees, with 12 to 13 nozzles releasing fine mist. Sprinklers will be used separately to irrigate the plants and lawns. The garden will also include pearl grass, lawns and around 40 large natural stones, all of which have already been placed across the site.
According to the Horticulture Department, ground preparation, sprinkler installation and stone placement have been completed. The project has been inspired by a mist garden in Singapore, but the Lalbagh version is being developed as an open-air facility rather than within a covered enclosure.
The department expects the remaining work to be completed in approximately one month. Once operational, the garden will add a specialised plant habitat and a new visitor attraction within one of Bengaluru’s most established public parks.
