Gathering of world's most beautiful gardens

The Korean Garden, a traditional garden with Korean-style pavilions, is located inside the Arboretum at the Suncheon Bay Garden Expo slated to open on April 20 in Suncheon, South Jeolla Province. / Korea Times photos by Yun Suh-young

By Yun Suh-young

Tulips in the garden at the expo

Muscari in the garden at the expo

When visiting Suncheon, the Suncheon Bay Garden Expo 2013, which will run for the next sixth months, may be worth saving time for.

The international garden exposition will be held in Suncheon from April 20 through Oct. 20 under the theme, “Garden of the Earth,” which symbolizes Suncheon Bay preserved as a natural garden. This is the fourth international garden expo in Asia since the first was held in Osaka, Japan, in 1990.

The exposition, hosted by the Korea Forest Service, South Jeolla Province and Suncheon City, and promoted by the Korea Tourism Organization, will be held in an area stretching over 1.1 million square meters. The expo is expected to create an added value of 679 billion won and attract about 4 million visitors worldwide.

The expo will feature 84 gardens from 23 countries. This includes traditional gardens from 10 countries— The Netherlands, China, France, Japan, Germany, Pakistan, Spain, Italy, Britain, and the United States.

There will also be thematic gardens by artists from all over the world who were selected to build gardens representing their culture through a public contest.

Among them is the work of Korean artist Hwang Ji-hae. Her garden, “The Pathway of Lugworms,” was inspired by Suncheon’s wetlands, she said.

Hwang is an award-winning garden artist who won top prizes for two consecutive years at the Chelsea Flower Show in Britain in 2011 and 2012 with her works “Hae-woo-so (traditional Korean toilet): Emptying One’s Mind” and “Quiet Time: DMZ Forbidden Garden.”Hwang’s garden is built next to an artificial lake built by American landscape architect and designer Charles Jencks.

There’s also a “Dream Bridge” connecting the separated expo sites, designed by installation artist Gang Ik-joong who designed the Korean Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo in 2010. The walls of the 175-meter bridge built with 30 container boxes exhibit about 140,000 artworks by students and children around the world.

On the other side of the Dream Bridge lies the Arboretum which includes the Korean Garden, the Garden Tree Experience Center and the Rhododendron Center. Inside the Korean Garden are three sub-sections — the Royal Garden, Scholar’s Garden and Wish Garden.

For all ages and seasons

The expo will be more than just an environmental experience for visitors as it is also educational for both students and adults.

The International Wetlands Center will offer information about the birth and development of the wetlands focusing on “living ecology.”

The Medicinal Herb Center will exhibit traditional healing ailments in a 160,000 square-meter garden for visitors to get a hands-on experience about the cultivation of such herbs.

At the Children’s Garden, familiar cartoon characters will greet children, who are free to run around the garden without having to worry about getting lost.

Also, throughout the expo period, performances will be held in and outside of the expo site. Twenty-two performances are scheduled each day.

Because the expo venue is incredibly large, a driverless PRT (Personal Rapid Transit) track has been set up and these monorail-style cars that carry up to six people in each car will take visitors from the Garden Expo site all the way to Suncheon Bay.

Last but not least, flowers are planted along the grass across the entire expo site so the expo will be not just a “garden” expo but also a “flower” expo. For local visitors in the region, this may be a better choice than going all the way to Everland to see the tulips.

The expo opens at 9 a.m. and closes at 7 p.m. Closing time will be extended to 9 p.m. during summer.

Entrance fees are 16,000 won for adults, 12,000 won for teenagers and 8,000 won for small children. A 20 percent discount will be applied to a group of more than 30 people.

For more information, visit www.2013expo.or.kr.