As the UK Covid-19 lockdown was announced back in March, what was one of the many concerns for me? The fact that I wouldn’t be able to go to a Korean restaurant for a samgyeopsal feast for the foreseeable future, obviously. So I began to plan for second best. While, somehow, samgyeopsal always tastes best … [Read More]
Category: Gardens and horticulture
The mysteries of the Abies Koreana
Around 17 years ago, on a trip to Ashwood Nurseries in the West Midlands with the in-laws, I sneaked an unauthorised plant onto the trolley, much as a child might sneak a bag of sweets into the shopping cart on a trip to the supermarket. On my stroll around the nursery grounds, I had seen … [Read More]
The World’s First ‘Active’ Greenhouse
The greenhouse is an ancient invention, dating back 2,200 years. Modern ‘active’ greenhouses are distinguished from older ‘passive’ ones by the fact that they allow for the adjustment of air and soil temperature. Previously, the first such greenhouses were believed to have been built in Germany in 1619, using a stove to regulate air temperature, … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: Circulation Metaphor, at the KCC
There’s a little bit of Jeollanamdo in the KCC at the moment. Although the exhibition is co-organised by the Asia Cultural Center in Gwangju, and by the Gwangju Museum of Art, the subject matter of the exhibition strays outside of the city limits into Damyang, Hwasun and further afield. The first work to engage you … [Read More]
2019 Travel Diary #3: Anmyeondo
Having enjoyed the peace of Mallipo and Chollipo beaches and the rich rewards of Chollipo arboretum on previous visits to Taean-gun, for LKL’s third visit to the county it was time to explore the coastline elsewhere. This time, we were to venture into Anmyeondo, Korea’s 6th-largest island, where the attractions include a recreational forest and … [Read More]
2019 Travel Diary #2: The Taean Tulip Festival
Every county has its hallmark festival. Taean’s is the Tulip Festival, located in Korea Flower Park just at the back of Ggotji beach on Anmyeondo. It has been an annual event since 2012, and as I write this in April 2020 I’m glad to see that it has survived the Covid-19 lockdown. What more is … [Read More]
2018 travel diary 2 – Chollipo revisited
10 November 2018. In Chollipo’s famous Arboretum the best of the Autumn colour had finished, but there were still some good reds, oranges and yellows to be found, and the grasses were particularly fine. In October last year this new statue of Carl Ferris Miller, Chollipo’s founder, was installed in this secluded area in the … [Read More]
A look at Hay Joung Hwang’s silver gilt winning LG Eco-City Garden
Two years ago at the Chelsea Flower Show Hay Joung Hwang teamed up with LG to showcase how technology can be used to maximise the benefits from an urban garden – from lighting to smart sensors to monitor the moisture and nutrients in the soil. Encouraged by the silver gilt awarded to the garden, the … [Read More]
Chelsea Flower Show: Hay-joung Hwang’s LG Eco-City Garden
After winning silver-gilt in 2016, let’s hope Hwang Hay-joung earns a medal upgrade this year: LG Eco-City Garden at the Chelsea Flower Show 22 – 26 May Designed by: Hay-Joung Hwang Built by: Randle Siddeley Ltd Sponsored by: LG Electronics LG Eco-City Garden represents the green space allocated to one housing unit in a ‘vertical … [Read More]
Hwang Jihae’s Shoes Tree project at Seoul Station
This year’s Chelsea Flower Show has just come to an end. No Korean participation this year, as far as I am aware. Last year Hwang Hay-joung won silver gilt for her Smart Garden sponsored by LG. But loyal readers will remember back to 2011 and 2012, when Hwang Jihae, without a big name corporate sponsor, … [Read More]
2017 travel diary 8: Taean-gun and Chollipo Arboretum
Mallipo beach, Taean-gun, Thursday 4 May 2018, 11:30pm. It was with a slight sense of adventure that I found myself unexpectedly on my own, in an unknown seaside town, at 11:30 at night. There was no way that I was going to settle down to sleep right then, so I left my pension room behind … [Read More]
Hay Joung Hwang wins Silver Gilt at Chelsea Flower Show
Congratulations to Hay Joung Hwang for winning a silver gilt medal for her first show garden at Chelsea. Hwang’s LG Smart Garden combined soft pastel-coloured planting in a very English style with clean, modern lines for an outside living space. The feature which caught everyone’s attention was the cantilevered pergola which reached over the terrace, … [Read More]
2016 travel diary 19: The Scholar’s Garden #1: Yun Seon-do on Bogildo
Bogil-do, Wando-gun, Jeollanam-do, 19 May 2016, 10:30am Way back in the mid Joseon dynasty, being a scholar official was a troublesome occupation. If you were a dedicated scholar you had to act in accordance with your conscience and the highest principles. Unfortunately, as happens with whistle-blowers today, your conscience could be severely career-limiting. If you picked … [Read More]
2016 travel diary 9: Busosanseong – the Baekje royal garden
Buyeo-gun, Chungcheongnam-do, 16 May 2016, 5:30pm. The Archaeological Site in Gwanbuk-ri Sometimes, collecting UNESCO points is not as fulfilling as it might be. The item of heritage that has been registered might not be particularly exciting to look at, even though it is historically important. But if a site is historically important you may well … [Read More]
Chelsea Flower Show 2016 to include Korean-designed LG Smart Garden
Korean garden designer Jihae Hwang won gold medals at Chelsea in 2011 and 2012. It’s a tough act to follow, but let’s hope Hay Joung Hwang also wins success with her LG Smart Garden, entered in the Show Garden category this year. Her style is very different from Jihae’s, with clean, modern lines rather than … [Read More]
Koreans help create a garden for London’s Royal Free Hospital
“What a strange thing,” you may think, “to do a spot of volountary service when you are on holiday.” But that’s exactly what four Korean travellers did this weekend in response to Kim Minho’s Korean online request for volunteers to help with the hospital garden. Kim Moon-sun came to learn English in London ten years … [Read More]