Duffel Bag Spouse Travels
arboretum in Daegu

Why Families Love the Daegu Arboretum: How to Make the Most of Your Visit

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Daegu Arboretum leads the country as the first eco-friendly park built on a former landfill. City officials transformed nearly a square mile of waste into a thriving green space. Today, the park features more than 1,000 varieties of trees, wildflowers, cacti, and medicinal herbs. Visitors can stroll past bonsai, ponds, fountains, and shaded groves of bamboo and fruit trees. Several walking trails and grassy areas invite families and friends to picnic and enjoy the park’s changing seasons.

Daegu Arboretum stroll
They look like they are strolling, but it started to rain and they are actually hauling ass. lol

Daegu Arboretum–An Eco-friendly Reclaimed Landfill

Spend a day at the Daegu Arboretum. It’s a reclaimed LANDFILL that until recently stored more than 4.1 million tons of garbage. And like Suseong Lake, its a very popular place for locals and just one of the reasons I like living in South Korea. Developers left the site untouched for ten years before construction began. Today, thousands of native tree roots actively compost the remaining waste. Locals now gather in the space, once considered unusable. They learn how to protect the environment, share a picnic, or sip coffee as they stroll from one end of the park to the other.

Daegu Arboretum map
It looks like it’s in the middle of a forest, but it’s really on the outskirts of the city of Daegu. The first reclaimed landfill was made into an eco-friendly park in South Korea

A large map greets visitors at the Daegu Arboretum entrance, just across from the parking lot. Paper guides sit nearby for added reference. Not only do visitors learn how plants support our lives, but they also discover each plant’s role in the evolving balance of nature. While most of the information appears only in Korean, visitors can still understand the layout and main features.

The plants in the Arboretum are arranged in 23 sections according to their species. So visitors can understand the plants and how they benefit our lives and the roles they play in the evolving nature of… duh… nature.

Daegu Arboretum purple flowers and Duffelbagspouse
Who doesn’t love the color purple?
Daegu Arboretum bamboo grove

I am quite fond of bamboo. And I was happy to stroll through the grove of this very fast-growing and renewable wood resource.

Daegu Arboretum hanok house
In this episode of HGTV’s Hanoks International…
Daegu Arboretum under the arbor
Lifelong friends who met in Germany years ago, now in South Korea… the US Army is a small world.

Cacti House

The Daegu Arboretum houses more than 1,000 species of plants, including giant cacti, vibrant flowers, medicinal herbs, and native trees. Staff members also lead ecology programs designed for students and young children. Because of these efforts, environmental experts now recognize the Arboretum as a successful model of ecosystem restoration.

Inside, visitors can explore exhibits featuring videos, botanical art, and interactive displays. Although translations remain limited, staff members answer basic questions and guide hands-on experiences for guests of all ages.

Daegu Arboretum Landfill cactus garden
Daegu Arboretum cacti house
Those ARE NOT ottomans.

We totally enjoyed the cacti house. There were some very unique plants in there. It’s located near the entrance and the bog swamp, medicinal herb garden, and coffee nook. We went the last week of March. You could get a hot dog and a cup of coffee but not much else inside the park. I am sure there is more food available during the warmer months.

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Unbelievable… this is a mature tree… in a pot.

The Bonsai Garden

There is a bonsai garden at the Daegu Arboretum. However, during cooler weather, they are stored indoors until the summer. When the weather is mild enough, they are placed outside on the upturned kimchi pots. You can only wonder how they get those trees to grow in a pot.

I suggest you drive to the Daegu Arboretum and which is stroller and wheelchair accessible. Hours of operation: January-April, September-December 09:00-18:00; May-August 08:00-19:00. The park is located at 342 Hwaam-ro, Daegok-dong, Dalseo-gu, Daegu, South Korea.

Stacey, nightlife, Daegu, South Korea

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Comments (55)

  1. I love the idea of recycling our environment to get the best out of our beautiful planet. It looks like a wonderful place to spend an afternoon.

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  2. That’s amazing that it’s a reclaimed landfill turned into a beautiful piece of earth. Lots to see here.

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  3. The place turns to be so beautiful! Kudos for the team who made these happen. I hope they can transform many landfills soon!

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  5. I want to live here!!! It’s so very enchanting and beautiful. It’s fascinating to see trees of that size indoors.

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    1. Jazz get your ticket. SK is still an affordable place to visit, much more so than its neighbors Japan and China.

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  8. I can stay in that arboretum the whole day. It’s such a beautiful garden to admire all the beauty nature has to offer. South Korea is in my bucket list.

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    1. I love bamboo. Its such a strong but renewable tree. I had bamboo floors installed in my home and it made all the difference.

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  11. Wow! That place is beautiful. My husband and I also planning to live there someday when we start traveling. We’re also checking that place out. I love to hear that you’re sharing this post to military spouses out there.

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    1. Its a great place to jump off to the rest of Asia and its still affordable and accessible to anyone who wants to experience the culture.

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    1. My girlfriends said she could smell the garbage, she couldn’t and if I hadn’t told her she wouldn’t have said that.

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    1. Its such a small country, its a great idea because they didn’t have a plan in place to deal with pollution back then.

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  15. What a beautiful idea! There are always ways to restore nature to the way it was meant to be! Lovely place!

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    1. We have to take care of the planet, right now its the only one we have, can I get an Amen?

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  17. I am really amazed by the commitment of South Korea on it’s nature and history. I would love to visit someday. It’s so beautiful there!

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    1. They are making strides. The old and new overlap in so many ways. Some of which make this place hard to understand, but under it all, its a beautiful culture and the people are warm and inviting.

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    1. Thanks David. The city has a lot of parks and they play a huge role in the culture.

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    1. Looking forward to going to the largest bamboo forest in South Korea in a few weeks. It is a stunning backdrop.

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    1. Me too. We have to protect the land under our feet better than we have. Where else are we going to go if we don’t?

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  21. It looks like a pretty cool place to visit. I love that they chose to maintain it as well instead of developing it into a commercial site with buildings. It’s really beautiful.

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    1. The South Koreans are very conscious of their public spaces, its integral to their culture.

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  23. I didn’t know you could do that. Reclaim I mean. The aerial view is so beautiful, I can’t even believe it.

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    1. Yup you just cover over the trash with a few layers of earth and plant trees and plants. It works the same way a compost work over time, pressure and heat. Its going to be the way forward for some places. They have also reclaimed land from the sea in much the same way.

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  24. As an avid gardner I find this SO fasanaiting and truly amazing. I enjoy touring our local botanical gardens and nature trails. I plan to see if any of our area landfills have commeted to a plan such as this.

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    1. Thats a great idea and I highly suggest it as a way to get more municipalities to invest in green initiatives.

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    1. I love bamboo too. I am looking forward to a trip down south to a very large bamboo forests.

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    1. Make sure you Google your own area and see if they have done this locally, so you can visit and support green efforts.

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    1. Me too. Make sure you research your own area. We tend to overlook things in our own backyard and there are probably some great self guided or organized walking tours.

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    1. Hi Robin Sue make sure you check and see if they have reclaimed spaces in your area. Its a great way to support green initiatives.

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