Yeongdeungpo-gu, Mapo-gu, Dongdaemun-gu, Seongdong-gu, and Others Engage in Various Activities for Garden City Development
Flowers are blooming all over Seoul.
As Mayor Oh Se-hoon begins his 8th term, the Seoul International Garden City Expo is being held to transform various streets of Seoul into gardens, while Seoul’s autonomous districts are also engaging in diverse activities to create a ‘garden city’ and a ‘city of flowers.’
Seoul City, led by Su-yeon Lee, Director of the Garden City Bureau, is busy planting flowers and trees along roadsides and other spaces to create a garden city in Seoul.
Meanwhile, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Mapo-gu, Dongdaemun-gu, and Seongdong-gu in Seoul are undertaking gardening education and other initiatives to establish themselves as cities of flowers.
Yeongdeungpo-gu Holds Garden Talk Concert Following Garden City Declaration
After creating the flower garden in Mullae-dong this past spring and declaring itself a ‘garden city’ and ‘city of flowers,’ Yeongdeungpo-gu (District Mayor Choi Ho-gwon) will host a session on the 19th at 4 p.m. inviting Su-yeon Lee, Director of the Seoul Garden City Bureau, to share Seoul’s garden policies with residents.
On the 21st and 28th, ‘Garden Talk Concert and Green Cinema’ events will be held at the Mullae-dong flower garden, featuring lectures by notable figures on garden themes, music, films, and experiential programs.
On the 21st, residents will have the opportunity to rediscover the value of gardens through music in nature during the talk concert. The event will feature ‘Jihae Hwang,’ a garden artist who won the gold medal three times at the Chelsea Flower Show?the first Korean to do so?and ‘Su-hwan Nam,’ Director of the Garden Promotion Office at the Korea Arboretum and Garden Management Institute, who leads the spread of garden culture in Korea. It promises to be a special time to explore the value of gardens in daily life and address related questions.
On the 28th, village gardeners trained at the Yeongdeungpo Garden Culture Center will lead the creation of ‘Our Garden’ together with residents, receiving expert advice from garden design to plant species selection. Anyone participating in the event will have the chance to be directly involved in the birth of another small garden within the Mullae-dong flower garden.
Additionally, on the 21st and 28th from 8 p.m., Green Cinema will be held in the garden to experience culture. On the 21st, the film ‘Flower Show’ (Director Vivienne de Courcy), depicting the great challenge of the Chelsea Flower Show, will be screened. On the 28th, ‘Poetry Written on the Land’ (Director Jeong Da-woon), telling the moving and resonant story of Jeong Young-seon, Korea’s first-generation landscape architect who created beautiful gardens from Seonyudo Park to Yeouido Saetgang Ecological Park and Gyeongchun Line Forest, will be shown.
Various cultural performances and diverse garden experience programs such as ‘Making Aquatic Plants’ and ‘Creating Natural Moss Frames’ are also prepared, making it a perfect outing for families to enjoy the garden.
Choi Ho-gwon, Mayor of Yeongdeungpo-gu, said, “We have prepared this so that residents can feel healing and relaxation in the garden,” adding, “We will continue to strive and support the completion of ‘Garden City Yeongdeungpo,’ where residents can be close to and share gardens, and where everyday life can become a garden.”
Park Gang-su, Mayor of Mapo District, is giving a greeting speech at the opening ceremony of the Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter Park Flower Path Garden.
Mapo-gu Completes Garden at Dohwa-dong Spring Summer Autumn Winter Park
Mapo-gu (District Mayor Park Kang-soo) held a completion ceremony on the 10th for the newly created ‘Spring Summer Autumn Winter Park Flower Path Garden’ in Dohwa-dong.
This park is a revitalized space for alleyway commercial district activation, transforming the existing Boksa Flower Children’s Park into a resting place where residents can enjoy culture, leisure, and relaxation. Although the original Boksa Flower Children’s Park is located in a residential area close to a subway station, its landscaping was unorganized and outdated.
Mapo-gu refurbished the old facilities and redesigned the park to become a resting place where residents can comfortably heal throughout the four seasons. The flower path garden was planted with 11,850 flowers of 15 species that bloom at different times each season, allowing visitors to enjoy the beauty of nature all year round.
Lee Pil-hyung, Mayor of Dongdaemun District (second from the right), joined gardeners in tending to the garden.
Dongdaemun-gu Gardeners Begin Garden Maintenance
Dongdaemun-gu (District Mayor Lee Pil-hyung) dispatched 16 gardeners from the 2nd class of Dongdaemun-gu gardeners to public garden sites starting mid-September to begin full-scale garden maintenance.
Since declaring itself a ‘city of flowers’ in 2023, Dongdaemun-gu has operated a gardener training program aimed at spreading garden culture and creating a sustainable city. This year, the 2nd class graduates completed 24 weeks of training from February to September 5. The 16 graduates will be dispatched to various sites within Dongdaemun-gu from mid-September to work alongside the 1st class gardeners in garden management tasks.
The 2nd class gardener training was a practice-centered professional program combined with theoretical classes. Trainees designed and created the ‘Neulggeot Garden’ and ‘Tteokjeon Rest Garden’ in a small green space in Jeonnong-dong, gaining hands-on experience in gardening.
From June to September, advanced training included site-specific practical exercises such as weeding and pruning at ‘Cheongnyang Dream Forest’ and ‘Cheongnyang-ri Charm Garden.’
In May and June, trainees volunteered at the Jungnangcheon Rose Garden and the Flower Field of Knowledge, and they plan to continue weekly volunteer activities from September through November.
Seongdong-gu Creates Small Neighborhood Gardens... Starts Gardening Education
Seongdong-gu (District Mayor Jeong Won-oh) is focusing on the ‘5-Minute Daily Garden City Seongdong’ initiative this year. Resident autonomy committees in 17 neighborhoods are creating ‘small neighborhood gardens’ so that anyone can cultivate and enjoy gardens close to their homes in daily life.
The ‘Small Neighborhood Garden’ project, selected in April as a Seoul City regional specialized resident autonomy project, reflects high resident demand for gardens and is being promoted in three areas: ‘Our Neighborhood Our Flowers Cultivation,’ ‘Seongdong Gardening Program,’ and ‘Growing Companion Plants.’
First, ‘Our Neighborhood Our Flowers Cultivation’ is being conducted in four neighborhoods: Wangsimni 2-ga, Seongsu 2-ga 1-dong, Songjeong-dong, and Yongdap-dong. Residents, including those from the neighborhood autonomy committees, will receive professional landscaping and gardening education and practice to create gardens themselves. They will select flowers reflecting environmental and cultural characteristics of their neighborhoods and receive education on effective garden management, operating as resident-participatory gardens.
The education will be held five times from September 19 to October 25, including two theory sessions and three garden creation practice sessions. On October 31, a performance sharing event will be held to celebrate the achievements of the garden creation.
Through this, Wangsimni 2-ga plans to create green spaces usable year-round as resting places for residents; Seongsu 2-ga 1-dong will develop flower paths and photo zones along walking trails; Songjeong-dong will create green spaces themed on the Mugunghwa (Rose of Sharon); and Yongdap-dong will establish a plum garden for all seasons. Particularly, utilizing small leftover spaces and habitual illegal dumping areas is expected to greatly improve urban aesthetics.
The ‘Seongdong Gardening Program’ is an educational program combining theory and field practice to learn the meaning and value of plants and gardening and to foster a healthy community culture. It is being implemented in 13 neighborhoods including Wangsimni Doseon-dong.
Starting with a group education session on September 9 titled ‘The Joy of Garden Activities,’ six sessions will be held, including neighborhood-specific practical training, ‘Decomposition Garden’ using food waste as compost for gardening, and a ‘Winter Garden Special Lecture.’
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