Vilnius has its own Japanese garden: you can visit it starting today

The garden will be free and open to all Vilnius residents and city guests. Briefly but clearly noted by the Vilnius city municipality.

“Finally: Vilnius has its own Japanese garden!

True Japanese gardens take decades or even centuries to create, but there is always a beginning. Starting today in Vilnius Japanese garden, which I am sure will live here for centuries. The weekend promises great weather – if you stop by, you will find it at Žalgiris, Linkmenų and Lvivos streets. intersections”, writes R. Šimašius.

The garden site used to be 5 hectares of unused land. The city municipality decided to turn it into a Japanese garden with Japanese plants, which can be admired while walking along the newly established paths. By the way, this will be another place in the city where Japanese cherries – sakura – will appear.

“What will you find in a Japanese garden?” Such gardens are characterized by a dry river, sakura, Japanese bridges, a water cascade, a path on the water, Japanese carp, a children’s playground and even a hill symbolizing the Mount Fuji.

And it’s even better that we have created a long green connection in the city, which you can try on foot or by bike: starting from the Baltoji tilto meadow, travel along Linkmenų Street, past the Japanese Garden, then through Neries Senvagė Park all the way to Oz Park. This route can create a serious competition for the monopoly of the quays of Neris.

The garden is already open – visit. Like other similar gardens, we will lock and protect them at night”, writes R. Šimašius.

“We won back the space for the people of Vilnius, which was an almost impassable sabbatical a few years ago,” says the outgoing mayor of Vilnius, Remigijus Šimašius. “It is clear that now this place will be discovered not only by those looking for the shortest connections between the city center and the northern part.”

“This project in Vilnius is unique. Equipped with all the requirements of a traditional Japanese garden, this place will attract not only the surrounding residents, but also the guests of the city. Visitors will be able to feel and get to know the landscape management traditions of various nations”, said the newly elected mayor of the city of Vilnius. Valdas Benkunskas.

Today, the journey along the green link to the Japanese Garden can be started in the Baltoji tilto meadow, after reaching the Japanese Garden through Linkmenės Street, then continue the journey through the already popular Neris Senvagė Park, and there is still more to come. Oz Park.

An avenue of 20 Japanese cherry trees will share the attention of visitors with nearly 700 other new trees planted here and preserved old mature trees. New massifs of greenery together with shrubs create cozy inner garden spaces and at the same time separate them from the intensive surrounding city infrastructure – buildings and streets (the garden was established at the intersection of Lviv, Linkmenų and Geležinių Vilko streets).

Families will definitely like the garden: there is a children’s playground, lighting, and video cameras for everyone’s safety. There are many benches, other small architectural elements, and drinking water fountains for refreshment. The buildings of small architecture are designed according to the principles of Universal Design.

Information stands will help you recognize and understand the elements of a traditional Japanese garden – a hill symbolizing Mount Fuji, huge stones, dry rivers, etc. – evergreen plants and other details will make this place attractive in all four seasons.

The pond in the center of the five-hectare Japanese garden can be viewed not only from afar, but also by walking on a pontoon bridge. Bridges will also lead over waterfalls, cascades, fish pools and dry rivers.

“This project required careful and responsible work: after all, the space had to be arranged according to the requirements of a traditional Japanese garden. Our goal is to create a comfortable and pleasant place to live in Vilnius, and such spaces allow residents to spend more quality time. I am happy to see the result and I believe that the garden will be enjoyed by its visitors as well”, shares Karolina Sakalauskaitė, director of the Finance Department of the Vilnius Development Company, who supervised the project, acting as the general director.

If you arrive with a vehicle, you can use the specially equipped parking lot for cars and buses. The grand opening celebration of the Japanese Garden is scheduled for April 29. In Japan, this day is marked in the calendar of national holidays and is called Green Day, when the deities are thanked for giving life to the earth and the greenery is admired. It is also the birthday of the Japanese emperor Shiova, who loved everything alive and green.