Padam Singh has grown more than 1,000 plants across his Delhi home

Padam Singh’s Delhi terrace and verandahs hold more than 1,000 plants and trees, including over 400 fruit plants spread across about 40 varieties.

The 64-year-old retired additional income tax commissioner grows mangoes, guavas, berries, starfruit, custard apples, chiku, pomegranates, lemons and pineapples in pots around his home. He says he has not needed to buy lemons in years, and shares part of the harvest with neighbours.

Singh returned to gardening nearly a decade after his mother’s death in 2003, when he was 52. Over the following 13 years, he carried pots to the terrace, added soil and planted saplings himself. “I have single-handedly developed this garden,” he said.

Delhi’s summers, winters, pollution and water shortages have shaped how he tends the collection. Green nets protect plants in harsh weather, while drip irrigation helps manage water use. Singh also shares his gardening journey on Instagram under @padamsingh_irs.