Pooja Garden - The portal for a divine garden experience
Enjoy growing flowers and plants to bring in good luck, happiness, prosperity & peace into your home
Pooja Garden - The portal for a divine garden experience
Enjoy growing flowers and plants to bring in good luck, happiness, prosperity & peace into your home
Home Gardener in Bangalore
UrbanMali is a "friendly neighborhood gardener" community for all your gardening needs. Our professional gardeners help create, nourish and manage native gardens across Bangalore. Our service is 100% organic and native. We also help you find the right plants and get them delivered, right to your to your doorstep.
Home Gardener Services in Bengaluru
We have the best team of gardeners, horticulturists and landscape designers who create beautiful spaces for your home. Our goal is to turn your ordinary terrace, balcony or backyard into an attractive, functional and nature-friendly space. Our team of expert and skilled gardeners bring their innate knowledge to create and care for 5000+ gardens in Bangalore over the last 4 years.
Our founder Dr. Vandana Krishnamurthy won the "Times She Unltd Women Entrepreneurs Award" in July 2020.
Our founder Dr. Vandana Krishnamurthy won the "Times She Unltd Women Entrepreneurs Award" in July 2020.
5000+
Happy Gardens
Terrace, balconies, window sill and native home gardens.
2,00,000+
Plants Planted
Plants that are meant to blossom in your environment.
5000+
​Happy Clients
Clients turned gardeners who live, grow and eat sustainably.
55 Gardeners
Empowered
Mali's are the pillars of opportunity, livelihoods
Benefits of setting up an UrbanMali garden
Native & Indigenous
We build gardens that are good for the environment. Native gardens encourage local biodiversity - the birds, the bees and the butterflies.
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100% Chemical-Free
Chemicals are harmful in the long run. Our 5000+ gardens are created and maintained using natural farming and organic pest control techniques.
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Benefits of setting up an Urban Mali garden
Native & Indigenous
We build gardens that are good for the environment. Native gardens encourage local biodiversity - the birds, the bees and the butterflies.
Know More
100% Chemical-Free
Chemicals are harmful in the long run. Our 3000+ gardens are created and maintained using natural farming and organic pest control techniques.
Know More
UrbanMali on CNN Network 18's "Going Green"
Media Coverage
What Our Customers Say
Our Recent Blogs
FAQs
How a gardener helps us?
A Gardener can help you to:
- loosen the soil
- remove the pest
- remove the weeds
- keep the garden fresh
- keep it healthy
- keep it thriving
Regular watering can help the plant grow. You need to take care of some other aspects, like:
- keeping the pests at bay
- keeping weeds at bay
- ensuring that there's good aeration
- maintain drainage in the soil
What does a gardener do when he comes home?
A gardener would get a sense of the space and understand what are the tasks that they should take on. First, they would tend to the weeds, remove the weeds, loosen up the soil so that they could remove the weeds.
Then they will do trimming for plants that are overgrown. They will trim plants that have dried leaves and are looking a little withered. After trimming, they would ensure that they attend to any pest.
They will check to see if there is a bug infestation or an aphid infestation. They will use Neem Oil is to prevent them from affecting your plants.
If the infestation is a little too much, they would also use manual methods of removing the pests.
After the pest is being treated, they will cleanup the garden. Before leaving, they will spray the liquid fertilizer or Jeevamrutham. It helps in the nutrition level of the soil.
Who the gardener is? Who is this person?
Our gardeners are migrant farmers. A lot of farmers are migrating to the city because of agricultural debt or, failure in their crops. They come to the city looking for better job opportunities. These are the farmers that we empower to be city gardeners.
Are they trained in gardening in a city like Bangalore?
They are farmers. They understand working with plants, soil and nature. They're already well versed and skilled. They are born and brought up in a farm setting. They know farming better than any one of us.
We train them on how to communicate, how to work in the urban setting, how to be on time, and how to dress well.
How does the gardener set up a new home garden?
One of our project managers will visit your home and get a sense of what goes into the garden. The gardener with his team sets up the garden from scratch. They will get the materials on site, such as planters, soil, manure, cocopeat, seeds and saplings.
They will set up the garden by putting a rich mix of soil manure and cocopeat into the pots. Then they will plant the plants in the pots. Then they will clean up the garden. If it's a garden on the ground, then we get the soil ready with the rich mix of soil, manure and cocopeat. Then they will do the planting. Depending on the size of garden, their work varies between one day to almost five to seven days.
Can you take up small balcony gardens?
Yes, we definitely can. The average size of a balcony is anywhere between 10 to 11 feet by three to five feet. It can house at least 10 different planters.
With many apartments in Bangalore, balcony gardens is one of the most common garden types that we get. We can set up a garden in any kind of balcony.
What sort of other garden spaces do your gardeners work other than the balcony spaces?
You have balconies, terrace garden or rooftop gardens. You have Villa gardens, which is a front yard or backyard. We also have indoor gardens, for homes as well as office spaces.
What kind of skills do these gardeners have?
They know what good quality soil is. They know what healthy plants are. They know what good quality seeds are. They have ample experience having grown plants in their home towns or in their home farms.
They know exactly how to put together a garden and how to choose the best soil, plant the plants. They know how to ensure that drainage is is good enough or to take care so that the plant grows well. They know what the plant needs to be able to avoid a pest infestation or any kind of disease.
They are well versed with everything about plant health and plant biology. They have deep understanding on why a certain leaf is yellow. They know why there's white powder under the leaf. Their view and understanding on plants is rich.
What sort of training do you provide the gardeners?
We have training sessions where our trainers teach them about communication. We give them different scenarios wherein a customer would ask a question about a plant.
Customers may be a little aggressive. We teach them how to react in in those kind of scenarios. We also make them understand that in a city, it's different than working in a village or a rural area. We show them the conditions that are there in the city. We help them understand how do you respond to it.
We train them on punctuality. Most customers would want punctuality if you are choosing a four hour service from us. They would expect that the gardener is there at the beginning of those four hours. They want him to complete his entire extent within time. Punctuality is important!
Communication is key. A gardener needs to communicate with the customers on disease and pests or the health of the garden. We want to allow the customer to be a part of the entire service that we are providing and engage with the garden.
We also train them on personal grooming, hygiene and cleanliness.
How do you develop the personality, moral behavior? How to help avoid addictive tendencies of the gardeners?
It is challenging when they come to the city from a rural background. They also come with a lot of baggage, whether it is to do with financial problems or family problems. A lot of them come with the added stress that sometimes affects their work.
When there is a crisis we need to step in. Someone may have had a fight or a little aggressive with the customer. We always step in and talk to the gardener as well as the customer. We like to peace to prevail in our working environment.
Our gardeners are vulnerable to alcoholism and smoking. We have rigorous screening process to check for addiction. We send such an addicted gardener to be part of the de-addiction program in NIMHANS.
We go along with them and engage with the entire program for the gardener. We hit a brickwall if there is no personal interest from the gardener to to get out of the addiction. We let go of the gardener in such rare cases. It is very difficult.
Most gardeners come aboard the journey with us eager to become prosperous. They are keen to lead better lives for themselves and their families.
How about their excess desires, negative kind of thinking, stress and worries and anger How do you deal with it?
Fractal Entrepreneurship Foundation incubates us. Everybody learns how to have a healthy body and a healthy mind. Mental health and physical health are important for us.
We teach them Simplified Kundalini Yoga. They learn how to meditate and to introspect. Shri Vethathiri Maharishi has devised simplified introspection methods and processes. We learn to analyze thoughts. We learn to remove negative thinking and develop positive thinking. We learn to moralize desires, neutralize anger and eradicate worries. We get the gardeners to take part in these programs with their families.
Our gardeners meditate at least once a day. They have been able to take much benefit out of these processes.
What makes a good gardener? Whom do you define as a good gardener?
A good gardener is someone who is very passionate about gardening and do neat work. They're interested in learning about pests and diseases to make their work better. A good gardener has interest in developing himself as a good human. He wants to earn enough money so that they can be happy individuals and have a happy family.
Do you have a female gardener?
Yes, we do have about 1/3 of our gardeners who are female gardeners. They work in our large maintenance projects. They have one location. It's wonderful to work along with them. They are very connected to plants. They are very connected to the garden and they take care of them like their own children.
What do gardeners need, when they come to my home to set up or maintain my garden?
They don't need anything other than you opening the door for them. You can instruct them on what they have to do if you have any certain intentions in mind. They bring their tools along. They bring the spray, the required organic pesticides and fertilizers. Once you introduce them to the garden area, they will do their work and clean it up and have it fresh and ready for you.
So once they are in my home, tell me how does a gardener help to make my world beautiful?
He helps in improving the health of your garden. A healthy plant produces flowers and fruits. A healthy garden makes you feel happy. Connecting with nature itself is a positive association.
If you have a garden that is wild or not growing well with a lot of pest infestation, it does tend to make you feel sad. Having a regular gardener come over can help improve the health of your garden.
Our Gardener will ensure that your vegetable garden produces different fruits and vegetables.
How often do I need a gardener?
It depends on the size of your garden. If you have a balcony garden, having a gardener come over once a month is more than enough. If you have a terrace garden, once a month to once in 15 days would also be good enough. If you have a large garden with a front yard, a backyard, and a terrace garden, then have a gardener come over once a week.
How many hours does a gardener work in a space like a small balcony that I have?
Our typical slot is a four hour slot. We have a morning slot and an afternoon slot. The morning slot starts at nine o'clock, and the afternoon slot would start at two o'clock. Nine to one and two to six is when they would do their garden work.
Why is a gardener important for us? Can't I live without a gardener?
If you're passionate and knowledgeable about gardening, then that's great. It is the best thing that you can do for yourself and your garden. If you don't have the time, or you don't want to put in the effort, then hire a gardener. It is the easiest way to ensure that your garden is healthy and happy. Having a gardener come over and touch your garden is important. The gardeners ensure that there is nothing harming your plants. You plants must get everything that they need to be healthy and full of life.
How much does a gardener cost?
If you would like an one time service, a gardener would cost you 900 rupees for a four hour service. If you need an eight hour service, that is two slots, that would cost you around 1800 rupees.
Do you charge per hour? How much does How much does a gardener cost per hour?
We don't have an hourly slot. A gardener can do two garden maintenance shifts in a day. If we have them employed only for hourly slot, then they remain unengaged for the rest of the hours in the morning. Their livelihood goes down. Hence, we have four hour slots from our experience with different sized home gardens. Four hours is good for once in a month visit for a balcony, for example.
How much tip I must give your gardener?
We don't encourage you give the gardeners any tips. We give them higher pay compared to in other gardening companies in Bangalore. We give them health insurance. We pay for their PF savings. We ensure that our gardeners are happy. We teach them meditation techniques and ensure that their health is fine. We support them in many ways. We would discourage any tips.
How much do you pay a gardener?
A new gardener would get about Rs.15,000 to Rs.16,000 a month. A senior gardener would get about Rs.20,000 to Rs.22,000.
Do I need a garden designer?
From our experience most people want to have a simple garden space. They want a few pots, some pretty plants, or a vegetable plant. For that, you don't need a garden designer.
If you have a large space and want a designer garden then you would need a designer to design your space. We have designers and botanists as part of our team. We have landscape architects who will help you get your dream garden come to life.
What does a garden designer do that a gardener cannot do?
A garden designer would put in specific aspects like a pathway, seating, and lighting. Those are the things that you need some technical knowledge about. A gardener can do a very rough version of it but if you want it designed, that is a job of a designer.
How a gardener helps us? What is the difference between a landscape architect and a garden designer?
A landscape architect is someone who has studied architecture and decided to take on landscape architecture as their field of interest. They study design, but they also study plumbing, electrical, the specifics of spaces, and dimensions. A garden designer can learn everything that a landscape architect has learned. It wouldn't be specific and they wouldn't have a qualification to their name. But a garden designer can, with constant experience be able to design a space as good as a landscape architect.
You mentioned that you have garden designers. Is it worth getting a garden designers from you? Why?
Our garden designers understand nature. They are people who create spaces that are sustainable, spaces that are designed in the way that it pleases the eye. It's not straight lines and linear structures. It is organic. It plays with different aspects of plant structure, height and texture. Our designers take inspiration from a forest. They design your garden to be a cozy, green and vibrant space.
Do you offer services of a Flower Garden Planner or a flower garden designer?
There are many seasonal plants in India. We rotate these different plants based on the different seasons of the year. We set up seasonal flower gardens and with the planner for different parts of the year in which plants grow best.
I am an avid gardener. Can your gardener come home and offer expert tips for me?
Sure! We have a garden consultation service. We visit your home. We also have a virtual consultation session. You can send us videos of your space or we can join a video call. You can show us your garden and show us the health of your garden and ask us any questions you want. Of course you sign up with us and we hold your hand until you're able to figure out and help your own garden come to life. We have virtual garden consultation for balconies, terraces and larger gardens as well. But if it means that we do have to do a site visit to ensure that we are understanding everything, then we do visit the garden as well. We will give you the consultation to ensure your garden is healthy.
How does your home gardener deal with weed seeds from germinating?
Our gardener will come home and mow the land, or till the soil. There is a chance that there are some weed seeds in the soil, that may come to the top and start germinating.
If there are weeds, seeds, or even weeds in your lawn they are going to crop up from time to time. When it grows a little taller, the gardener would be able to remove it by hand. If it is tiny, it's hard to see these weeds. Before the lawnmowing, the gardener would sit down and pull out all these weeds from the lawn. If your lawn has way too many weeds, and it's more weeds than the lawn, then not much can do about it. You may have to either keep it like that or be able to re-lay a completely new lawn.
Do you deal with annual weeds or biennial weeds that germinate once in a while? How do you deal with that?
In India, the monsoon time is when weeds crop up. You try and remove it, but the weeds would still come up. Our gardeners would attend to it. This is one of the activities that they take on a lot more frequently during the rainy season than any of the other trimming or pruning activities. Whenever the weeds crop up, the first thing that we have to do is removing weeds. There are many weeds that are not harmful at all. It doesn't mean that if you have a garden full of weeds, that means your plants are not going to be healthy. It's your take on how you'd like to deal with it. It could affect a lawn as well. When it comes on the lawn, we have to remove the weeds regularly.
How do you or gardeners deal with aggressive weeds?
When there are some weeds that keep coming up, some of the times the organic methods that we use are using rock salt or regular salt. When you keep putting salt in that same location, the weed stops coming up there. Rock Salt has worked for us to keep weeds at bay.
That's the real trick to winning the battle with the weeds.
Yes, but if you have a container garden, mulching your garden would prevent weeds from coming up. The sunlight doesn't go to the base the of the soil. Even the little weeds that do germinate will not have enough sunlight to grow. Mulching your garden is very important, not only for the soil health but also to keep the weeds out.
Can you send gardeners or do you send gardeners to help with community garden program? Let's say in an apartment complex.
Yes, we do have landscape maintenance or larger community gardens that we maintain. We do a site visit. We understand how many gardeners need to maintain the space. We send in a proposal after which we start off. Over time we are able to get the garden health back to normal. We look at activities like new planting. Community gardening is definitely something that we love to be part of.
Does your gardener bring herbicide that can deal with all kinds of plants from grasses to broadleaf plants?
Yes, we of course. We use organic herbicides like neem based product. So we have neem cake and cake that we use to prevent any kind of weeds that come up in the garden.
What categories of plants do you plan in my home garden?
It depends on what you like. We can set up:
- vegetable garden
- flowering garden
- herb garden
- indoor garden
- tea garden
- butterfly garden
- community garden
- bees and birds garden
- pizza garden
- chutney garden
- vertical garden
- dye garden
- clay garden
- educational garden
We've been able to understand what people want, research and put it into practice for many years. We've come up with a large number of themes. Depending on what you would want, we can create it for you.
Are your gardeners trained in setting up and maintaining these varieties of themes of gardens?
A large number of the plants used in these gardens are native plants. Our gardeners, being farmers themselves, are well versed with these native plants. They have seen these plants growing around their farms and in the forest. They understand what they need and how they grow. Our gardeners are all well versed. If they are not well versed with these plants, we do give them a training. We make them understand the different aspects of the plant from flower color to height and the way it spreads. They learn along the way.
My kids and I love beautiful flowers. Does your are gardeners know how to plant and maintain them?
Yes. The most popular garden is flower garden. There are a variety of flowers. We have different native flowers that grow. They are pretty hardy plants. Our gardeners know very well how to grow these plants.
Do they also offer pruning schedules for my flowering garden?
We would prune plants any time in the beginning of summer or after summer and before the rains. All our gardeners know this and they keep it in mind when they are pruning gardens. We avoid pruning gardens in the peak of summer or even during the winter season. The plant is dealing with so many different stresses. Our gardeners are well versed with this. They will prune your garden according to the seasons and also the requirements of the plant.
How do your your gardeners prevent rotting of plants or flower buds or flowers from rotting?
Rotting would happen when:
- the water in a container is too much
- you have overwatered the garden
- the drainage in the container is not good so the water is not draining out too well
The rotting will start from the roots and then move up to the stem and then all the way to the flower. One of the early signs of rotting especially of the roots would be a fungal infection on the leaves. As soon as you see the fungal infection or the white powdery appearance under the leaves we know that it's fungus. We have to check the soil and see if water is draining out well. If the water is not draining out well, the first thing is to ensure that the drainage hole gets opened out to allow for all this excess of water to come out. Sometimes we would even need to remove the plant media, dry out and only then put it back into the pot. Our gardeners know about fungal infections and the the ways in which they arise in plant gardens.
Do you have small wispy flowers that you can give for my balcony?
There are different types of wispy flowers in the native plant category. When project managers come for a site visit, they will carry a catalog with them. It shows you different plants, different categories from herbal to medicine to seasonal. You can have a look at the catalog and decide which plants you'd like to go in for.
Do your gardeners and your garden Setup and Maintenance process follow environmentally sound gardening practices? How do they do that?
Yes, we are always conscious about being sustainable. It is one of the prime reasons that we use native plants. Native plants are organic. It doesn't need any chemical pesticides and fertilizers. They also don't need too much of watering or even manpower. The amount of water that goes into these gardens are less. If you didn't water your garden for three days, it will still know how to survive.
We plan the gardens in such a way that the sunny plants are in a sunny space. We keep shade loving plants in a shaded spot. We're not wasting too much of resources to provide light or even deal with a plant that is not growing too well. We use recycled containers. We use organic soil and organic manure. We use cocopeat. They're all strong environmental practices.
Can a gardener work during Covid-19 lockdown?
During the lockdown we prefer our gardeners not to work because they have to enter your space. It is a threat for them and you. After the lockdown, we follow all precautions. Our gardeners sanitize their hands before and after. They wear masks. They ensure that they maintain safe distance from you while they work.
Do you have a COVID-19 Resource Center for your Malis? Are they trained for COVID-19 situations when they visit home?
We are very conscious of the gardeners' health and the places that they go to and people that they meet. Our gardeners are vaccinated. Most of them have received both doses of the vaccine. Apart from this they ensure that they maintain social distance when they enter your home. They are always wearing their mask. They are always sanitizing before coming and after finishing their job in the garden.
Let customers speak for us
My family and I love the Pooja plants as we get so many flowers every day. We adorn our Gods with these flowers
Amazing bunch of plants that can dramatically improve and strenghten digestive health.
