Seoul Botanic Garden
Olga
5 hours ago
One of the attractions that I think is a must-see in Seoul is the Botanical Garden.
The Seoul Botanical Garden was created to introduce native plants and horticulture of 12 different cities from around the world. It integrates a botanical garden and a public park, and the area is the size of 70 soccer fields.
Before entering the Botanical Garden, there's a large park with a variety of trees and plants. Beautiful themed installations have recently appeared here, making for a wonderful photo opportunity!
There are beautiful photo zones inside the park. Some appear immediately upon entering the grounds.
The Botanic Garden consists of an outdoor garden that recreates a traditional Korean garden using native plants, and a greenhouse showcasing plants from 12 cities across tropical and Mediterranean regions.
In alignment with the concept of "Garden City, Seoul," which is based on the fundamental concepts of emptiness, connection, ecology, and sensibility, Seoul Botanic Garden aims to establish itself as an attractive green landmark by serving as a venue for plant cultural exchange that offers special experiences and relaxation.
The Garden is especially beautiful in late spring or summer, when the trees are already covered with green foliage and there are many flowering plants around.
One of the most beautiful places in the park is the pond in which many lotuses bloom.
It's wonderful to stroll along the paths among beautiful trees, bushes, and flowers on a hot day. There's a huge variety of plants here, many of which are quite rare. For example, Seasonal Garden displaying plants that represent each time of the year where visitors can appreciate the beauty of blooming, maturing, and scattering. Healing Garden is a space exhibiting medicinal plants widely used in the East and West, offering a healing experience for body and mind.
There's also a rose garden, but when I visited, the roses were just beginning to bloom.
One of the most beautiful places in the park is Meditative Garden - a space to explore the Korean garden philosophy of borrowed scenery and harmonious placement of pavilions within the surrounding landscape. It features a recreated traditional Korean garden with a hanok-style pavilion where you can sit and enjoy the surrounding beauty.
Besides a leisurely stroll through the outdoor garden, a visit to the greenhouse is a must. It's a hidden gem, and from its appearance, it's not immediately clear what treasures lie within.
You can enjoy the gardens of 12 cities around the world that have developed unique plant cultures shaped by Mediterranean and tropical climates.
Immediately upon entering the greenhouse you find yourself in a tropical zone. Here are the regions near the equator with average monthly temperature above 18°C, where half of the world’s biological species are distributed (Vietnam, Indonesia, Brazil, Colombia).
The tropical climate is beautifully recreated. The room is stuffy and humid, surrounded by moss and water running over rocks. It feels like you're truly in a tropical forest.
The lake looks very beautiful and realistic, and you can take beautiful photos near it.
After enjoying the tropics, you can go to another climate zone. This is the Mediterranean - a region where summers are typically dry with little cloud cover and high temperatures but winters are mild with high rainfall. Thanks to abundant sunshine in summer, crops such as grapes, olives, and cork are cultivated.
Here are presented a variety of plants from Spain, the USA, Uzbekistan, Italy, Greece, Australia, Turkey, and South Africa.
This hall features beautiful photo zones that recreate the authentic atmosphere of the country. For example, a Spanish and Greek house and garden.
The greenhouse also regularly hosts themed flower exhibitions. I visited the hydrangea exhibition. It was simply magnificent! Beautiful hydrangeas of various species and colors were everywhere.
There are benches everywhere, so you can sit and enjoy the beauty. I really liked the Roman-style courtyard with a fountain, surrounded by hydrangeas.
The greenhouse also has a second floor, which serves as a walkway around the greenhouse. You can look down on the plants and examine the enormous trunks and crowns of the tall trees in detail.
Overall, I highly recommend visiting the Botanical Park. Here you can enjoy the beauty of nature and see a wide variety of plants from all over the world in one place.
