Lalbagh Botanical Garden all set to get a makeover

Bengaluru's premium lung-space, the Lalbagh Botanical Garden is all set to get a makeover. The botanical garden is getting ready for a butterfly park, a taxonomy garden and a fragrance garden where endangered flora and fauna, species endemic to the Western Ghats will thrive along with fruit-bearing trees that will attract birds.

A master plan for the project prepared by the Horticulture Department will be implemented soon in the 25 acres set aside in the premises. “The empty land around Lalbagh Rock is been identified for this project, after consulting the naturalists and environmentalists,” said M Jagadeesh, Joint Director of Horticulture (Parks and Gardens).

“The 240-acre botanical garden has close to 900 genera and 2,500 species of flora which may attract butterflies. We will rear butterflies in the laboratory and release into the park where their food source of around 400 plant species will be grown,” he added.

The horticulture department had consulted the Kerala Forest Research Institute, which has constructed a similar garden in Nilambur. Two acres will be an open air butterfly park that will have shrubs, herbs, climbers and other trees.

The project also includes a taxonomy garden and a fragrance garden -- a space with fruit-bearing trees and plant species that are endangered and are endemic to the Western Ghats that will lure birds that depend on specific plant species.

“In two acres we will plant rare saplings from the western ghats, we have already started to collect the saplings,” explained M Jagadeesh.

“Horticulture department will collect 125 endangered species and plant them in one acre. Around 175 different kinds of fruit-bearing tree species will be planted which will be a perennial habitat for birds in Lalbagh,” he added.

The total cost of the project is estimated at around Rs 75 lakh. Presently, there are two butterfly parks in the city. The Butterfly park in the Bannerghatta Biological Park and the one at Doraisanipalya Jallary Reserve Forest, off Bannerghatta Road.