Bamboo forest, cherry blossom, pond ripple – guided tour in the japanese landscape garden part of the Botanical Garden
One of the pride and joy of our Botanical Garden is the Asia Garden, a garden area modelled on a Japanese landscape garden, with a small pond, decorative rocks, a tiny but real bamboo forest and the must-have cherry trees, now in bloom. But what is a landscape garden, and why is a cherry tree in bloom a must? What is the function of a landscape garden in Japan and what are the aspects of designing one? Is it just the plants that make a Japanese landscape garden a landscape garden, or is somethingelseneeded to call a garden a Japanese landscape garden? On this walk, we’ll not only learn about the past and present of landscape gardens, but also about the plants found in the Asian Garden: what makes cherry blossom so spectacular, when you can see bamboo in bloom, and what gives Japanese maples their beautiful red colour. And through a Japanese folktale, we will also understand why landscape gardens are important in Japanese culture.
This guided tour is recommended for those who are interested in Japanese culture and botany, and who are not afraid of dragons (Japanese, not Hungarian seven-headed) in folktales.
The guide is Judit Mokos PhD, ecologist, who can’t count on one hand the number of landscape gardens she has visited in Japan.
The walk will last about an hour and a half and will be outdoors, so please dress accordingly.