Botanic Gardens

This is one of my favorite place to be, especially during the early mornings because the gardens will be filled with park goers walking their dogs. With furry four legged creatures and greenery all around, its definitely a great way to start the day. The best part of all is that it is free! If you’re visiting Singapore for the first time, you should most definitely pay a trip to visit our Singapore Botanic Garden which is the only tropical garden to be recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Botanic Gardens has won numerous awards

  • In 2008 it won the Michelin’s three-star rating
  • In 2012, it was awarded Garden of the Year , International Garden Tourism Award by the Canadian Garden Tourism Council.
  • In 2013, it was ranked Asia’s top park on TripAdvisor’s Travelers Choice Awards.
  • In 2015 it was recognized as a UNESCO heritage site

Source

History of the Gardens

The 150 year old garden was first established by Sir Stamford Raffles in Government Hill, on 1822 on Government Hill. He was avid fan naturalist and wanted to carry out experimentation on cultivation of valuable crops such as nutmeg and clove. The gardens was first established for the purposes growing of economic crops such as vegetables, fruits and spices. Additionally the gardens was purposed to become a site for research and preservation of native flora and fauna species.

Lithograph of the experimental gardens on Government hill(source)

Only in 1859 did the botanic gardens begin to bear resemblance to the garden we recognize today. It was converted into an ornamental garden and space for leisure when handed over to the government and the Singapore Ari-horticultural society took over a 23 hectare piece of land in Tanglin from Hoo Ah Kay (a businessman) and oversaw the development. That was how the botanic gardens ended up at its current location in Tanglin! Under the care of the colonial government, the gardens assisted with research and conservation of economic crops such as sugarcane, cotton and rubber. One of the pioneering directors of botanic gardens was Henry Nicholas Ridley. Some of his achievements include:

  • Perfected the rubber tapping technique which involved making incisions of the tree bark to obtain latex . The gardens then became a major supplier of rubber seeds in the 1900s.
  • Went on expeditions to other regions of the world and brought back exotic plants to be cultivated in the gardens
    • This was how the orchid hybrid, Vanda Miss Joaquim was imported into Singapore and later became our national flower.
    • Funfact: Singapore is the only country to have a hybrid as her national flower

Singapore’s national flower, Vanda Miss Joaquim. Source

Eventually, post-independence, the Singapore government decided that the gardens would be purposed to become an institute that provides botanical and horticultural expertise to support our “Garden city” vision introduced by Mr Lee Kuan Yew. The botanic gardens had the botanical knowledge to green our streets and was thus tasked to head the tree planting programs during the early phases of Singapore’s garden city movement. Aside from that, the School of Ornamental Horticulture was established in 1972 to train professionals to be competent in horticulture and green landscaping. As part of the garden city vision,  the government wanted to set aside more parks for recreational use and therefore the Botanic gardens was further developed to enhance its appeal towards visitors. A new lake was added, an orchid enclosure was built, the Sundial gardens were established and even a mini-waterfall was featured!

Orchid Garden(top left) Swan Lake (top right) Waterfall (bottom left) Sundial garden(bottom right)

Botanic Garden’s today

The botanic gardens plays an important role in recreation, conservation, education, research and advisory of Singapore’s biodiversity.

Image created by blog author, Isabelle Lim using Canva. 

  • Recreation: To provide top notch facilities for the enjoyment of the public. The garden works towards enhancing visitor experience by improving horticultural displays and programs.
  • Conservation: The National conservation Branch formulates policies on nature conservation and represents ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) in international matters concerning biodiversity and conservation.
  • Research and advisory: The gardens lends its expertise to support green projects in Singapore. It has a deep knowledge of plant taxonomy, Orchid breeding and micro propagation and the government taps upon these strengths.
  • Education: The School of Horticulture provides programs on landscaping management and design to equip professionals with the technical skills for the greening of Singapore. Aside from that these programs ensure practitioners also gain a deep theoretical foundation of tropical horticulture.

The 82 hectares garden can be divided into 3 core regions, Tanglin, Central and Bukit Timah. Its main gate is found at the Tanglin entrance, featuring attractions such as the Swan Lake and the famous white gazebo known as the Bandstand. The central core is home to a wide array of botanical attractions such as the Palm valley, Symphony Lake and Ginger Garden and was developed to be a tourist zone. Lastly the Bukit Timah region is popular with parents because it has the Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden which is Asia’s first children’s garden! To instill a love for nature and engage the senses of the young ones, this play area features interactive educational exhibits, a maze garden as well as a water play section! The Bukit Timah core serves as the educational zone of the gardens and houses the plant resource Centre as well as the plant nursery.

Image created by blog author, Isabelle Lim, featuring Swan lake, Bandstand, Symphony lake, Palm valley and Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden

Housing more than 36,000 plants from over 6,544 species, the gardens is also home to 44 heritage trees, some of which are more than a century old. If you’re interested to find out more, click here to view the Heritage Tree walking trail which brings you across some of Singapore’s oldest trees such as the Penaga Laut tree, which is more than 100 years old as well as the Tembusu tree which is featured on the back of our $5 note!

Penga Laut Tree (left) Tembusu Tree (right)

Image created by blog author, Isabelle Lim using Canva

Other noteworthy sites to visit and activities to embark on include:

  • The National orchid garden shocasing over 1000 species of orchids and 2000 hybrids bursting with color in four separate zones; summer, autumn, winter and spring.
  • Walking guided tours organised by volunteers are held every Saturday. These educational tours lead you to explore different aspects of the garden such as the Rainforest, Orchid garden, Heritage trees and allow you to gain a deeper appreciation towards nature.
  • SBG Heritage Museum serves as an educational site featuring artifacts that depict the gardens rich history. Get a glimpse of plant specimens, botanical paintings as well as photographs which date back to the 19th century when the gardens was still in its early days. Guided tours also also organized weekly, so be sure to check out the schedule here!

The garden is open to visitors from 5am to 12am daily and entrance is free! So what are you waiting for, head down today and enjoy the luscious beauty this UNESCO Heritage gardens has to offer. Something you might find useful for your visit would be this interactive guide produced by the Straits Times which brings you to 15 must see spots at Botanic Gardens.