Nowon-gu Biseokgol Hyugadun Selected as '2023 Beautiful Garden of Korea'

Since 2019, creating story-filled 휴가든 in neighborhood living parks and apartments using idle spaces! Recognized for contributing to urban garden culture expansion... 'Biseokgol 휴가든' wins Eoullim Garden Award! Reflecting the history and symbolism of nearby parks with 'Chungui', decorated with shaped stones, pine trees, and diverse plantings

Nowon-gu, Seoul (Mayor Oh Seung-rok) announced that ‘Biseokgol Hugarden’ in Wolgye-dong has won the Harmony Garden Award at the 2023 Korea Beautiful Garden Contest.

Hosted by the Korea Arboretum and Garden Management Institute, the ‘Korea Beautiful Garden Contest’ was held to discover beautiful public gardens nationwide and to promote a garden culture that fosters communication among neighbors. A total of 45 gardens across the country applied, targeting public gardens accessible to everyone, and seven outstanding gardens were selected. Among them, ‘Biseokgol Hugarden’ located in Wolgye-dong, Nowon-gu, received the Harmony Garden Award.

‘Biseokgol Hugarden,’ a 165㎡ (approximately 60 pyeong) garden within Biseokgol Park, was highly praised for its small but clear storytelling and for contributing to the spread of urban garden culture by nurturing village gardeners and creating and managing the garden together with residents.

Biseokgol Hugarden was established in July this year in connection with the ‘Choansan Healing Town Development Project.’ The project site, Wolgye-dong 46-3 area, has the Choansan burial mounds designated as national cultural heritage, but residents had experienced inconvenience due to illegal dumping and unauthorized farming. In response, the district renovated Biseokgol Park through facility improvement works and installed a Hugarden where neighbors can communicate.

In particular, the garden reflects the history and symbolism of the park’s stone relics such as Muninseok (literati stones) and Mangjuseok (guardian stones) by arranging moss-covered stones and natural rock formations harmonizing with the pine forest, and planting uniquely shaped pine trees. A story was also embedded there. Drawing on the historical significance of the noblemen and eunuchs resting in Choansan, two paths were connected into one to symbolize ‘loyalty and righteousness’ transcending social status.

Additionally, 20 large trees, 200 shrubs, and 6,100 herbaceous plants were planted so that residents using the park can rest and enjoy various seasonal flowers.

Since 2019, the district has been promoting the ‘Hugarden Creation Project’ in neighborhood living parks and vacant apartment spaces, creating 27 Hugardens to date. Notably, 10 gardeners trained through village gardener education have actively participated in the creation and management of Hugardens. Biseokgol Hugarden is no exception. The resident-led Hugarden project, driven by locals familiar with the area and who love their neighborhood, resonated more deeply with residents, which was recognized.

Currently, village gardeners manage 15 Hugardens established in parks. These include ‘Satgatbong Park Hugarden,’ which embodies a pure scholar’s garden in harmony with nature; ‘Onsu Park Hugarden,’ designed as a windmill garden reflecting the hill-shaped park’s characteristics; and ‘Hannae Park Hugarden,’ which expresses the urban sensibility of busyness and rest by installing a car.

Oh Seung-rok, Mayor of Nowon-gu, said, “I am very pleased that our efforts to decorate neighborhood parks and vacant apartment spaces with residents as if they were our own gardens have been recognized,” and added, “We will continue to operate the Hugarden project to gradually expand spaces where residents can communicate and heal.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.