Prague Botanical Garden
Photo: Horakvlado / CC BY-SA 4.0, modified.
Overview
The Japanese Garden at Prague Botanical Garden is a 0.67-hectare thematic garden in the outdoor expositions of the Troja botanical garden. The official Prague Botanical Garden page states that construction began in 1995 and that the garden was officially opened to the public in 1997. It combines a traditional meditation section with a plant-collection area focused on species from Japan and China.
History
Prague Botanical Garden itself was established by resolution of the Prague National Committee in 1968 and officially came into existence on 1 January 1969. The Japanese Garden belongs to a later phase of the garden’s development in Troja, when the outdoor expositions were being expanded and organised into thematic and geographical sections.
Construction of the Japanese Garden began in 1995 and it opened to visitors in 1997. The official garden description presents it as an outdoor exposition with two main parts: a serene mountain-landscape section with a tea shelter and pond, and a collection section presenting plants from China and Japan. The broader outdoor-exposition page also notes that the Japanese Garden includes both a traditional meditation section and a plant-collection section, and that a popular bonsai exhibition is held there annually.
The Japanese Garden is now one of the most recognisable themed areas of Prague Botanical Garden, alongside the Fata Morgana greenhouse, St. Clare’s Vineyard, Mediterranean plantings and other outdoor collections. Current Prague visitor material continues to list it as a Japanese meditation garden within the botanical garden’s public visitor route.
Design features
The garden is divided into two main sections. One section represents a calm Japanese mountain landscape, with a tea shelter, pond, water, stone and planting. The second functions as a botanical collection area for plants from Japan and China. Because the garden combines a contemplative Japanese landscape with a botanical collection role, it is best classified as a hybrid / mixed garden rather than as a pure tea garden or dry garden.
Garden elements
Buildings
Enclosures
Waters and islands
Stones
Other elements
Current status
Extant Japanese garden within Prague Botanical Garden in Troja. It remains accessible with normal botanical garden admission and is one of the garden’s named outdoor expositions.