Mała Japonia
Overview
SIRUWIA, also called Mała Japonia, is a Japanese-style visitor garden in Przesieka, near Karpacz and Jelenia Góra. The official site presents it as a colourful Japanese garden with streams, ornamental shrubs, tree collections and attractions for families. It is promoted as a Japanese garden in the Karkonosze Mountains and is often described as the highest-situated Japanese garden in Poland, at around 600 m above sea level.
History
The garden’s own history states that its origins go back to the 1980s, when ponds and the first oriental plantings appeared on a wet meadow. It was first imagined as a family recreational plot and later as an agritourism garden area, before being developed more deliberately as a Japanese garden. The official history says that only “kilkanaście lat temu” / several dozen? no, in Polish usage here effectively a dozen-plus years ago, the owners decided to create a garden guided by a defined idea and began looking for inspiration.
Design features
The garden combines Karkonosze mountain scenery with Japanese-inspired garden compositions, streams and waterfalls. Visitor and tourism sources describe it as about 1.5 hectares, with seven ponds, streams, several waterfalls, a bonsai collection and a rich ornamental plant collection. It is especially associated with rhododendrons and azaleas, with reports of around 3,000 rhododendron bushes in more than 80 varieties.
Garden elements
Bridges
Buildings
Enclosures
Waters and islands
Stones
Other elements
Current status
Extant private visitor garden and Japanese-themed cultural attraction in the Karkonosze Mountains. It is open to visitors seasonally / commercially and includes a Japanese garden, bonsai collection, exhibitions and family attractions.