Padam Singh cannot remember the last time he bought a lemon.
That is because outside the rooms of his Delhi home, fruit grows almost everywhere. Mangoes, guavas, berries, starfruit, custard apples and even pineapples fill pots across his terrace and verandahs.
Over the past 13 years, the 64-year-old retired additional income tax commissioner has turned every available corner of his home into a thriving garden. Today, he tends to more than 1,000 trees and plants, including over 400 fruit plants across 40 varieties.
And he has done it in the middle of Delhi, where scorching summers, water shortages and pollution can make keeping even a handful of plants alive a challenge.
A childhood love he found again
Padam’s relationship with plants began long before this garden took shape.
He grew up in a small village in Muzaffarnagar, where his mother taught him to love plants and care for them. Gardening remained close to him through the years, but after she passed away in 2003, that connection faded.
Work took over, and his garden gradually became barren.
Nearly a decade later, at the age of 52, Padam returned to gardening.
He started small, adding plants around his home. Soon, one pot became many. He carried pots upstairs, filled them with soil, planted saplings and tended to them himself.
“I have single-handedly developed this garden. Lugging pots on the terrace, adding soil, planting trees in the pots. At present, I have 1,000+ trees, of which there are over 400 fruit plants,” he says.
Mangoes, guavas and pineapples in pots
Today, stepping into Padam’s home feels far removed from the concrete outside.
His collection includes mangoes, guavas, berries, starfruit, custard apples, chiku, pomegranates, lemons and pineapples, many of them growing in large pots.
The harvest also travels beyond his own kitchen.
Padam regularly shares fruits with neighbours, and some plants produce enough for his household through the year. Lemons are one example. He says he has not had to buy them for years.
For him, growing food is closely tied to the larger environment around him.
Living in Delhi means dealing with pollution as part of everyday life. Filling his own surroundings with plants became his way of creating a healthier, greener space within the city.
How he keeps 1,000+ plants alive
Maintaining a garden of this scale comes with its own challenges.
Delhi’s extreme summers and winters, water scarcity and pollution can all affect the plants. Padam has gradually adapted his methods to keep them healthy.
Green nets help protect the garden during harsh weather, while drip irrigation allows him to use water more carefully. Over the years, he has also learnt which plants thrive in different parts of the house and how much care each one needs.
What began as a return to a childhood love has now become part of his everyday routine.
Passers-by often stop to look at the greenery surrounding his home. Neighbours receive fruit from his harvest. And Padam continues to add, tend and experiment with plants wherever he finds space.
In a city where many homes are surrounded by concrete, his 13-year journey shows how much can grow from one terrace, a few pots and the willingness to keep planting.
For anyone hoping to create a fruit-filled garden of their own in Delhi, Padam is also happy to share what he has learnt along the way. He can be reached at @padamsingh_irs on Instagram.
