A circular arch framing some of the many bonsai in the Jurong Gardens
This is the second of four pages on Singapore, the next two have images of its modernity in style and architecture, but first, by way of contrast, a page showing how much Singaporeans value nature within the confines of their city state. The streets are heavily planted, building surfaces are rarely raw, but there are also three special areas where plants come first: the Botanic Gardens, the Gardens by the Bay, and the
Jurong Gardens.
This latter complex, which is currently being greatly enhanced and extended, previously offered landscape design examples from both China and Japan centred on the large
Jurong Lake,
the water being set-off with pavilions, trees, parkland and more formal gardens in the styles of those two countries.
Latticed windows in the wall on either side of the round entrance
Bonsai,
each branch assiduously trained
Wall with lotus finials and a protective lion
A garden in miniature with its explanation
Traditional rocks, modern sculpture and bonsai
The careful placing of stone and plant, the hallmark of the
Japanese Garden
The parkland with familiar planting of trees, but less familiar placing of rocks
Here a large vertical rock has recumbent rocks beside it, and the bonsai are confined to pots
Flowers play a much lesser role in these oriental gardens than we are used to in the UK
A gazebo style pavilion providing seats for humans, while rocks stand patiently alongside
Flowering trees and rock garden (right)
Leaving the gardens for a couple of pictures which
show the space given to trees in the city
(and to familiar double yellow lines)...
...and the epiphytes they support in the stable warm climate Singapore enjoys
Small turtles swim in the lake...
...but it is a pleasure the children are not allowed - part of Singapore's rather rigid social laws
Two 'pagodas' with a purely secular purpose
Pavilions arranged as a cloister around a pond
The vermillion splendour of pavilions around the lake
Reflections doubling their value
Formal entrance gate with bonsai and stones
The last word goes to the epitome of the Oriental garden:
rock, tree, and carefully tended shrub beside water The next page stays in Singapore and shows something of the opposite end of the tranquility scale - the area a little futuristically called 'Downtown Core', where skyscrapers leap next to tiny cafes.
The last page had aspects of Singapore's diversity
To the 'park' that is Hoàn Kiếm Lake in central Hà Nội
Logan Gardens in southern Scotland have some of the trees seen in Singapore
