Green London: The Japanese Gardens in Holland Park
Here are photos I took at the weekend when I visited two Japanese gardens in West London’s Holland Park. They are the Kyoto Garden, which was created to celebrate the Japan Festival in London in 1992, and the Fukushima Garden, which opened in 2012 as memorial for the nuclear power station trajedy that shocked the world.
Both are beautiful quiet places for reflection and contemplation. As you can just make out in the photos, blossom was just starting to appear on the cherry tree and camellia by the waterfall. I suspect this week both will be in full bloom, so do pop along to see if you have a chance.
In Japan, cherry blossom symbolises the ephemeral and transient nature of life, because it is short-lifved beauty, and have cultural importance. People hold flower viewing parties when the trees are in bloom and also like to picnic under the falling cherry blossom – a centuries-old tradition called “Hanami”.
Holland Park is the largest park in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and includes large areas of woodland as well as several more formal gardens. You can find out more here: www.rbkc.gov.uk/parks-leisure-and-culture/parks/holland-park
I’ve been blogging regularly about London’s green spaces in an effort to dispel a prevalent myth that the city is all just concrete. My posts cover everything from beautiful trees in the Square Mile itself, to Bloomsbury squares, to rivers running through meadows in south London, to woods where you can wander for hours, to East London’s “People’s Park”, and now beautiful Japanese gardens in West London.
Other previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2023/11/green-london-victoria-park-in-autumn.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2023/10/green-london-ancient-woodlands-around.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2023/09/green-london-richmond-park-national.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2023/09/green-london-riverview-walk-river-pool.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2023/06/green-london-lincolns-inn-fields.html
To read more posts like this visit A Bad Witch’s Blog at www.badwitch.co.uk
Source: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2025/03/green-london-japanese-gardens-in.html
