First planned and laid out during the dalavaiship of King Hyder Ali, the garden was later managed under numerous British superintendents before Indian Independence.

It also served a social function as a park and recreational space, with a central glass house dating from 1890 which was used for flower shows.

At that time, Sira was the headquarters of the strategically important southernmost Mughal "suba" (province) of the Deccan before the British Raj.

[2] The Lalbagh gardens were commissioned by the 18th century; over the years, it acquired India's first lawn-clock and the subcontinent's largest collection of rare plants.

An Agricultural and Horticultural Society had been formed with William Munro, an army officer and amateur botanist in charge of the Bangalore chapter.

The Society wrote to the Mysore Commissioner, Sir Mark Cubbon, requesting charge of the Lalbagh garden.

Cleghorn and Jaffrey, superintendent of the Madras Agri-Horticultural Society looked at various sites for a horticultural garden and found that Lalbagh suited their purpose despite being located at a distance from the Cantonment, the British centre of the city.

Under Cubbon's orders, Lalbagh was made into the Government Botanical Garden in August 1856 and a professional horticulturist was sought from Kew.

Cameron had the additional support of the Maharaja of Mysore who was appointed in 1881 and introductions included Araucarias (A. cookii and A. bidwilli), cypresses (Cupressus sempervirens), topiaries made from Hamelia patens.

[6] In 1890-91, a central bandstand and the glasshouse (for flowershows) made with iron pillars cast by Walter Macfarlane and Company of Glasgow were added.

Cameron also helped introduce commercial crops like cabbage, cauliflower, turnip, radish, rhubarb, celery, and kohlrabi.

[10] The foundation stone for the Glass House, modeled on London's Crystal Palace was laid on 30 November 1889 by Prince Albert Victor and was built during the time of John Cameron.

[4] The Horticultural Department decided to close Lalbagh Botanical Garden on Saturday 21 March 2020, in order to avoid public gatherings in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

[12] In the third week of May the government allowed parks to be open only from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.[13] The COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the Lalbagh flower show on Independence Day in 2020.

With an intricate watering system for irrigation, this garden is aesthetically designed, with lawns, flowerbeds, lotus pools and fountains.

The northern gate is a fairly wide and big road leading to the Glass House and serves as the primary entrance.

This monument has been designated by the Geological Survey of India on the Lalbagh hill which is made up of 3,000 million-year-old peninsular gneissic rocks.

[25] With an increasing pressure to serve as a park and social space, much of the garden has been converted into walking paths and lawns.

Many tree have been trimmed or cut down to make way for public amenities or due to perceptions that falling branches may threaten visitors.