Soil. Root. Canopy.
Welcome to the shade of trees.
A native tree nursery growing regional species in living soil — for Gujarat's semi-arid reality.
Native saplings · Living soil · Planting knowledge
Shade that cools a street by 10–15°C on a May afternoon.
Canopies that outlive every building built beneath them.
Roots that hold the earth, the rain, and the neighbourhood together.
The quiet abundance of a tree doing what it was born to do.
What we grow
Native Gujarat species in living soil. Saplings available from early 2026.
Who we serve
Corporates, institutions, farms, gated communities, urban retailers, government.
Where we are
Village Demai, District Aravalli. Delivery across Gujarat.
How to begin
Call us. We ask the right questions before we accept an order.
[ why trees ]
Living infrastructure.
Not decoration.
What a mature tree actually does — measured, celebrated, permanent.
A tree cools streets, filters dust, slows rain runoff, supports biodiversity, and stores carbon for a century. In Ahmedabad, where summers cross 45°C, a mature canopy reduces surface temperatures by 10–15°C, removes up to 2 kg of particulate dust annually, and intercepts hundreds of litres of stormwater. A tree is infrastructure that compounds every year it lives — and no technology replicates what it gives for free.
A tree planted today shades a grandchild who has not yet been born.
Roots that hold the earth together ask nothing in return.
Every native tree is a library of local ecology — and it runs itself.
The most generous thing a city can do is plant the right tree in the right place.
Abundance begins underground, in soil that no one sees.
The mistake in most greening programmes: trees treated as objects to be installed — planted, photographed, reported. A tree is a living system. Without the right soil and the right start, a plantation remains a ceremony, not a contribution.
Our work is informed by four field-based publications on trees, soil, food forests and custodianship. → niravmanubhai.com
[ what we offer ]
Native saplings. Living soil.
Two things, done properly, for the long term.
Currently in production: Native Gujarat saplings, two-foot polybag grade, grown in enriched planting medium at Demai. Available from early 2026. Knowledge shared freely with every order.
What we supply
Corporate & Business
ESG green cover, campus biodiversity, shade corridors, tree registers. For organisations that want to do this properly — not for a photograph, but for a canopy that performs for decades.
How this might look
A 5-acre campus installs 80 native saplings across shade corridors and a biodiversity pocket. Species selected for canopy speed, soil type, and maintenance ease. Living soil supplied for each pit. A tree register is established. Canopy audit at year one. By year five, the campus temperature at 3pm has measurably dropped.
Government & Municipalities
Avenue greening, riverfront biodiversity, sports complex landscaping, highway buffers. Ahmedabad is a city preparing for its moment on the global stage — the green infrastructure it plants today will be mature when the world arrives. We supply the species, the soil, and the knowledge to ensure survival rates that count.
How this might look
A municipal greening project for Ahmedabad's riverfront corridor plants 500 native saplings across a 2 km stretch. Species selected for flood tolerance, canopy density, and ecological value. Living soil supplied in bulk. A survival audit at six months identifies intervention points. By the time the Games arrive, a canopy is visible.
Urban Retailers
Native species at scale for plant retail, landscape contractors, garden centres. Consistent quality, correct botanical identification, honest growing conditions — the benchmark your customers deserve.
How this might look
A garden centre sources its native tree range from Demai. Species correctly labelled with Gujarati names, English names, and botanical names. Enriched planting medium sold alongside as a companion product. A repeat supply relationship is established ahead of the monsoon planting season.
Institutions & Campuses
Schools, colleges, hospitals, industrial campuses. Species for shade, safety, educational value, and low maintenance. A campus that understands its trees keeps them alive.
How this might look
A school installs ten native saplings, each labelled with its Gujarati name and ecological role. Students water them through summer. A simple care checklist is provided. Three years later, the trees provide shade for the morning assembly — and every student knows the trees by name.
Farms & Agricultural Land
Boundary trees, windbreaks, farm road avenues. Species that earn their place over a lifetime — improving soil, microclimate, and biodiversity as they grow.
How this might look
A farm near Mehsana plants Neem, Drumstick, and Karanj along its boundary. Windbreak effect measurable by year three. Neem provides natural pest deterrence. Drumstick yields within the first two seasons. The farmer has turned a boundary into a productive and protective asset.
Gated Communities
Compound greening, dust buffers, micro-climate cooling. We help communities plant what will actually grow here — and tell them what to do after.
How this might look
A housing society replaces ornamental exotics with natives. Amaltas for the entrance avenue. Jamun for the walking path. Spanish Cherry near the meditation corner. A tree register is established. The fragrance at Borsalli flowering becomes what the community remembers.
Individuals & Gifting
A native tree is the most enduring gift — for a birthday, a memorial, a housewarming. Something that grows long after every other gift is forgotten.
Indicative pricing
Two-foot saplings in polybag, grown at Demai. Bulk discounts for larger orders. Final pricing confirmed on inquiry.
Common natives
Rs 30–60
Neem, Drumstick, Karanj, Amla and similar hardy species
Flowering & canopy
Rs 80–150
Amaltas, Palash, Borsalli, Jamun, Mahuda and similar
Living soil medium
Rs 250–350
Per 5 kg bag · Demai Greens enriched planting formulation
Indicative timelines vary by site, soil, irrigation and care · Bulk project pricing on request · Government procurement: inquire about empanelment
Ornamental and flowering plants for indoor and patio use — available now in limited quantities. A subscription service for living plants in offices and homes is in development. These are the next branches of the same tree.
[ village demai ]
The nursery. The site.
District Aravalli, Gujarat. 100 km from Ahmedabad.
Not a warehouse. A living record of what grows in semi-arid Gujarat — how it establishes, and what the right preparation makes possible.
RO water. Drip irrigation. Shade net hardening. Experienced nursery hands who treat every sapling as an investment in the landscape that will outlast all of us.
Full story and infrastructure →[ selected species ]
Four from the native palette.
Growth timelines are field estimates under suitable soil, irrigation and care. Actual performance varies by site.
Limbdo — Neem
Neem
Azadirachta indica
Drought-tolerant, deeply shade-giving, naturally pest-repellent. Asks almost nothing. Gives almost everything.
Roadsides · Farms · CampusesUseful shade: 5–7 yrs · Mature canopy: 12–15 yrsGarmalo — Amaltas
Amaltas
Cassia fistula
Golden shower. Announces summer with unmistakable colour before the monsoon breaks.
Avenues · Campuses · InstitutionsFirst flowering: 4–6 yrs · Steady growth in prepared soilJambu — Jamun
Jamun
Syzygium cumini
Fruit, shade, wildlife. The purple fruit stains the tongue and the memory equally.
Campuses · Gardens · Community spacesFirst fruit: 6–8 yrs · Shade begins: 4–6 yrsSaragvo — Drumstick
Drumstick
Moringa oleifera
Most multifunctional tree in the farm setting. Edible, nitrogen-fixing, almost impossible to neglect to death.
Farms · Kitchen gardens · SchoolsFirst harvest: 1–2 yrs · Fastest native food tree[ tree care ]
What harms a tree — and what protects it.
Six things worth knowing before and after planting.
Most urban trees are not harmed by drought or disease. They are harmed by well-intentioned mistakes — quietly, continuously, years before anyone notices. This is what to avoid, and why.
Avoid
Burying the root flare
The point where trunk meets root must stay visible above soil. Mounding soil at the base slowly strangles the tree. "You tried to hold its neck and called it support."
Avoid
Mulch against the trunk
The mulch ring protects the soil — not the stem. Keep it 15 cm away from the trunk. A donut shape, not a volcano.
Avoid
Shallow daily watering
Surface wetting keeps roots near the top — vulnerable to every heat event. "Every morning a mug at the trunk. Six inches away — dry soil." Water deeply, less often.
Avoid
Topping
Removing the crown forces emergency regrowth using stored reserves. The flush of new shoots fools the eye. The tree is spending, not gaining.
Avoid
Paving the root zone
Fine roots decline for years before the canopy shows damage. The root zone extends well beyond the drip line — protect it during all construction activity.
Avoid
Girdling ties and wires
Tree guards, ties, decorative lighting left attached for more than one season. The damage is internal and invisible until the tree begins to decline.
[ soil & roots ]
The foundation.
Soil is the tree's second body. Feed it right from day one.
Most plantation drives fail not because of bad saplings — but because roots suffocate before the tree has a chance to grow. Urban soils in Gujarat are frequently compacted, alkaline, nutrient-locked, and biologically dead. The approach must begin with the soil itself.
Two soils. Same depth. Living soil on the left — roots threading, mycelium working, biology active. Dead urban soil on the right — nothing. A sapling planted into the right-hand world will struggle for years before it shows.
The enriched planting medium we supply shifts this equation from day one.
Enriched Planting Medium
Demai Greens formulation. 5 kg bags. Sustained-release. Designed for fast root establishment in dry, alkaline, semi-arid conditions.
- Organic compost — slow food for soil biology
- Leaf mould — structure and moisture
- Biochar — long-term carbon and pore space
- Mycorrhizal bio-inputs — root colonisation from day one
- Neem cake — natural pest deterrence
- Coarse grit — aeration in compacted sites
- pH buffer — for alkaline Gujarat conditions
[ who we are ]
The founders.
A writer who studies trees. An agripreneur who grows them at scale.
Co-founder
Nirav Manubhai
Writer, consultant, green infrastructure advocate
Student of trees, soil, arboriculture, and food forests. The knowledge behind this nursery is documented in four field-based publications. At Demai Greens: the knowledge framework and the conviction that green infrastructure done properly is among the highest-value investments a city can make.
niravmanubhai.com →Co-founder
Gaurav Patel
Agripreneur and seed production specialist
A decade of seed production through protected cultivation, working with Enza, Syngenta, and Bayer. A seasoned network of farmers across Gujarat. At Demai Greens: the infrastructure, the team, and the agricultural rigour that turns conviction into a working nursery.
The real hands at Demai.
Experienced nursery hands — agriculturists and trained custodians working under shade net, on drip irrigation, in a nursery designed around precision and respect for the sapling's most critical early days. They are the reason the roots are right before the tree leaves us.