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Kyoto Botanical Gardens

Kyoto-botanical-gardens

Kyoto Botanical Gardens are located north of the city.

There are thousands of plants and many different areas to discover within these gardens which are one of the oldest in Japan. Founded in 1924 and displaying 12,000 plant species from Japan and other countries, you can wander through garden areas of Roses, Bamboo, Hydrangeas, Japanese Iris, Lotus and European style plants.

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Hakone Botanical Garden of Wetlands

Boardwalk running through the Hakone wetland forest

Hakone Botanical Garden is unlike any other Botanical Garden we have visited. Once you enter the wetlands it is easy to forget this area was once rice paddies. The layout and planting design have been done so well, it is hard to believe they were man-made, and you are not walking along trails in a natural wetlands area.

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Happo-en Garden Tokyo

View over a gate into Happo-en Garden Tokyo

A Tokyo garden worth visiting

Happo-en Garden in Tokyo was a place we were keen to visit.

I had read several articles describing Happo-en as a quiet garden of great beauty. As it was walking distance from the Teien Art Museum, we combined it with a look at the Institute for Nature Study (an area of indigenous vegetation) and easily had our day planned.

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Japanese gardens to visit

Garden in Japan

Choosing which gardens to visit in Japan was one of the most exciting and frustrating parts of planning our trip to Japan. We have included a list below of some of our favorites.

Having careers in horticulture and a life-long interest in plants both in their natural environment and in gardens, it is not surprising our first overseas trip was to Japan. This is a country immersed in gardens – a country where gardens are an important part of everyday life.

A love of nature is evident in the smallest house block in Japan where a tree or shrub carefully pruned and shaped might include other elements such as water, moss or stones, creating a place of peacefulness and beauty. Or the unexpected public garden discovered amongst city buildings, beautiful parks immaculately maintained and Botanical gardens. Many temples and shrines also include stunning gardens worth visiting in their own right.

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Teien Art Museum Garden

Pruned and supported Pine iat Teien Art Museum

We were eager to see some Japanese gardens. One of the first days spent in Tokyo started at the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum garden. The driveway leading in was lined with trees, Azaleas, Camellias, ferns and pruned shrubs. A verdant planting of layers and textures.

In front of the Museum the drive circled an oval bed, covered with lawn and plants manicured into low mounds. It was a stunning sight, a garden of pruned shrubs setting off this Art Deco building which was the former residence of Prince Asaka.

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Japan is unique

A cloud-pruned shrub at Onshi-Hakone Koen

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In Japan, beauty is everywhere you look. Kindness from a stranger, a small vase arrangement left in the bedroom of our Kyoto house, cloud-pruned trees and shrubs on every street.

Cloud-pruning is not wide-spread in Australia. Plants are usually high-priced, available to be kept in pots or as a garden specimen. It was overwhelming to see pruning using these methods as standard practice.  Trees, shrubs, private and public gardens, street trees.

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