Gardens by the Bay

The main logic when planning the park was that the green areas belong to all the citizens. And relaxing on the park’s trails was their right. The park is now a part of the national strategy of bringing together natural and urban areas. They managed to set up a model example of sustainable development and nature preservation in urban centres while simultaneously providing excellent opportunities for education, entertainment and outdoor recreation.

In the shade of artificial trees

I found the park near one of Singapore’s most famous modern buildings, the Marina Bay Sands hotel, the top of which reminds of a giant ship beached on top of three columns. One of the paths leading to the park goes through the hotel’s underground gallery and then crosses the bridge that is part of one of the city’s thoroughfares. The pedestrian bridge offers the most beautiful view of the park’s most prominent part featuring giant trees. These artificial trees are called Supertrees and are said to be an example of a fusion of nature and modern technology. Up to 50-metre-tall concrete columns are enclosed in a frame of stainless steel. Using this, the trees are turned into vertical gardens, abundant in attractive tropical plants. These plants conceal the artificial interior with a host of technical gadgets that are necessary for the park’s smooth functioning. The construction had been environmentally friendly and sustainably oriented to a large extent ever since its beginning. The trees therefore imitate natural functions of plants: the solar cells installed in the widespread branches are used for harnessing electric energy, and the collected rainwater is used for watering the plants and replenishes wells. The columns are also used to cool the water that is used for the cooling systems, and the plants attached to the trees’ construction clean the air and produce oxygen. These artificial trees also absorb the moisture and cool down its surroundings. There are 18 trees in total, and two of them are connected by a bridge underneath their boughs, which is reminiscent of a suspended footbridge. You can climb up to the bridge using a lift, though there’s an entrance fee. The trees come to life at the first sign of dusk, thousands of little lights lighting up, making the park look like a scene from an alien planet. The Garden Rhapsody music and light show only add to the atmosphere, attracting numerous visitors each evening.

Record-breaking greenhouses

The park is home to over a million plants, and the most attractive ones grow in the two greenhouses. The larger one, Flower Dome (1.2ha), was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest column-free greenhouse in the world. It’s 38 metres tall and replicates Mediterranean climate with temperatures ranging from 23 to 25°C and a 60 to 80% humidity. There are seven theme gardens in the greenhouse. Visitors can therefore walk among various flower beds and an olive garden with olive trees reaching around 100 years and still bearing fruit! This was achieved by changing the temperature during the year, imitating winter. Then there’s also palm tree-lined and eucalyptus-lines avenue, a bamboo forest and a group of majestic baobabs, the heaviest of them reaching 32 tonnes. The central part of the greenhouse can be adapted for various flower shows.

The nearby Cloud Forest greenhouse is 42 metres tall, but is smaller by area. The temperature in this greenhouse is similar, but the humidity is higher, reaching 90%. A high-altitude tropical forest stretches under the transparent dome, simulating the conditions at an altitude reaching from 1,000 to 3,000 metres above sea level. Similar conditions can be found on the adjacent Borneo island or in South America. The central part is an artificial mountain with a waterfall, falling down 35 metres deep, and its walls are full of attached plants. The most impressive parts are the bromeliads, lianas, tree ferns, palms, orchids, clubmosses, anthurium... You can climb up to the top of the waterfall using a lift, and if you want to get back down, you can use the attractive scenic spiral path.

Greenhouse managers co-operate with numerous botanical gardens and universities from around the world. National explorers grow new hybrids of dahlias and other flowers. They also study how artificial conditions affect the plants, their growth and their development.

The two greenhouses and Supertrees are connected by themed gardens. Some of them display Singapore’s colonial past that was marked by various ethnic groups. Walking underneath the nutmeg trees, I discover that a century ago these trees used to grow in the area that is now the most attractive shopping street known as Orchard Road, due to their valuable nuts.

The park also prides itself on the first floral clock in Singapore.