Jeollanam-do's 29th Private Garden 'Saesil Garden' Opens to the Public

A Private Family Garden Nurtured Over Three Generations
Saesil Garden Opens in Yeongam, Embraced by the Natural Beauty of Wolchulsan Mountain

Yeongam Saesil Garden was officially opened to the general public on the 22nd. Photo by Jeonnam Province

Jeollanam-do announced on May 23 that Yeongam Saesil Garden, the 29th private garden in the province, was officially opened to the public on May 22.

The opening ceremony for Saesil Garden was attended by Park Jongpil, Director of the Environment and Forestry Bureau of Jeollanam-do, Yoon Jaekwang, Deputy Governor of Yeongam, as well as about 100 local residents.

Saesil Garden is a family garden cultivated in their hometown village by three generations: the late grandfather Jeong Gukchae, father Jeong Hyeonjong, and grandson Jeong Seojin. It is the first registered private garden in Yeongam and is located in Saesil Village at the foot of Wolchulsan Mountain in Yeongam-eup. The village has long been called Chogok (Grass Valley) and Jogok (Bird Valley) due to its abundance of birds and silver grass. More than 30 species of birds inhabit the garden.

The garden covers an area of 14,634 square meters and houses 400 varieties of tree resources. Since 1960, the family has exchanged and collected maple, camellia, and plum trees from places such as the Kurume Agricultural Experiment Station in Japan and Chollipo Arboretum. Grandfather Jeong Gukchae personally brought scions from Japan and propagated them through low grafting, making the garden home to the original Korean weeping maple trees.

In addition, visitors can observe around 2,000 species of various plants, including magnolia, crape myrtle, citrus, pomegranate, and Nandina, as well as mosses such as feather moss, frost moss, and pine moss, and rare plants like Myeon-nyeoncheong.

Notably, the garden features four themed gardens: the Maple Moss Garden, Camellia Rock Garden, Plum Garden, and Welcome Garden. Among them, the signature Maple Moss Garden is a space designed with flowing water, life, and moss. Koi carp, introduced from Japan, are bred and raised directly by the garden owners. Around the pond, visitors can observe ground cover plants such as feather moss, frost moss, pine moss, and Myeon-nyeoncheong.

The Plum Garden boasts about 200 varieties of weeping plum trees, allowing visitors to enjoy beautiful plum blossoms in early spring against the rocky peaks of Wolchulsan Mountain.

Inspired by the village name 'Saesil', the garden offers a birdwatching program where visitors can observe species such as the red-headed tit, varied tit, and great tit. There are also various hands-on programs for locals and visitors, including making terrariums with native plants from Wolchulsan and ecological activities using the native freshwater turtle Nam-saeng-i.

Garden owners Jeong Hyeonjong and Jeong Seojin said, "The highlight of Saesil Garden is the Moss Garden, which features koi carp that we have raised since introducing them from Japan around 1970. We are delighted to present a garden that has been lovingly cultivated over many years as a representative garden of our hometown," adding, "We hope to make this beautiful garden, embraced by Wolchulsan, a space for mutual prosperity with local residents."