I have visited Singapore several times over the last couple of years to visit friends who live there. Through repeat visits, I have been able to explore some of the more off the beaten track destinations. Today I will share details about Hort Park.
Hort Park – The Gardening Hub
So where is Hort Park located in Singapore? Hort Park is located in the southwestern area of Singapore and is part of the Southern Ridges. It is about a 25-30 minute car journey from downtown Singapore.
What does it offer? Hort Park is known as The Gardening Hub and provides a range of attractions, events and tours for both locals and visitors. Full details of what is on offer in the park can be found on the National Parks website.
The signage within the park is clear. Maps and directional arrows can frequently be found so that within the 9 hectares of the park you do not feel like you are ever lost.
There are too many aspects of the park to cover in one blog post or to see in one visit. This post will focus on three qualities I loved about Hort Park.
1) Themed Gardens
The walk around the park is broken down into themed gardens. They are Floral Walk, Balinese Garden, Butterfly Garden, Edible Garden, Silver Garden, Pitter Patter Potter Garden (for kids), Golden Garden, Lifestyle Garden, Native Garden and Therapeutic Garden.
I did not have time to see all the themed gardens and the kids garden was being redeveloped when I visited. Those that I did visit each exhibited a unique charm. Given my personal interest in edible spaces and therapeutic community growing spaces, I was particularly interested in the Edible Garden and Therapeutic Garden.
2) Aquaponics
I am interested in aquaponics, so it was delightful to find aquaponics in Hort Park. Just as we (I went with my friend and her two kids) arrived at the aquaponics one of the staff passed by and stopped to kindly provide us with an explanation. Having read the information board, we were shown where the fish tanks were, and the staff moved the lid, that protects the fish from the sun, so the kids could see the fish.
After seeing the fish, we went up to look at the vegetables that were being grown in the gravel.
The aquaponics is a great resource in the park for children and adults to see and learn more about aquaponics, a growing technique we will see more of in the future.
3) Edible Garden Cities
I am curious about how cities encourage citizens to grow food. Singapore takes a proactive and positive approach, and Hort Park is an example of this.
The park holds a regular Gardeners’ Day out which involves talks and activities for all the family to be involved with.
If you have not visited Hort Park then I do recommend it. I am looking forward to going again on my next visit to Singapore.
The address for Hort Park is 33 Hyderabad Road (off Alexandra Road), Singapore 119578. The opening hours are 6am to 10pm.
In my next post, I will be looking at the community gardening that takes place in Hort Park.
TRISH TRAVEL FOOD 