South Asia
Gardening in India
The monsoon organises the whole gardening year.
The numbers that decide your year
- Growing zones
- Arid to tropical monsoon to alpine
- Last spring frost
- January in the north, none in the south
- First autumn frost
- December in the north
- Rainfall
- 300–3000 mm, monsoon dominated
The local challenge
Pre-monsoon heat, then a month of relentless water.
Rules worth knowing
Some states restrict borewell irrigation, and rainwater harvesting is mandatory for new buildings in several cities.
How people actually garden here
- Charbagh courtyards
- Terrace gardens
- Kitchen gardens
- Temple planting
Native to this country
Plants that evolved here. They ask least of you and give most back to local insects and birds.
Reliable in this climate
Introduced rather than native, but proven in these conditions. Each links to its full encyclopedia entry.
Seasonal jobs
Open the calendarThe calendar reads your device clock and orders every job for the northern hemisphere.
The printed guide
The India Gardening Guide
300 pages written for this country alone: its soil, its frost dates, its rules and the plants that reward the effort. Everything on this page, expanded and in your hands.
- Gardening around the monsoon
- Terrace and rooftop growing
- Shade and evaporative cooling
- The Indian kitchen garden
- Charbagh geometry, modernised
- Regional monsoon calendars
€9.95300 pages · PDF download