A Guide to Mykola Hryshko National Botanical Garden

Kyiv residents call the Mykola Hryshko Botanical Garden the lungs of the capital. A corner of nature's paradise located on the historic Pechersk hills in the heart of Kyiv, it is rightfully considered to be the largest garden in Ukraine and one of the largest in Europe. The botanical garden's collection includes about 12,000 plant species from around the world and covers 113 hectares. It is one of the most popular places to visit at any time of the year. On the territory of the botanical garden, you can find the Alpine Garden, the Mountain Garden, the Picturesque Labyrinth, the Magnolia Garden, the Rose Garden, the Lilac Garden, the Flower Hill, the Red Court, an area with climbing plants and fruit trees, as well as the Korean Garden, the Tibetan Garden and the Japanese Garden. The hills of the garden offer incredibly beautiful panoramas of Kyiv.



Photo: UNIAN

Here you can take a walk through the forests of the plains of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Carpathians, the steppe of Ukraine, experience the nature of Crimea, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Altai, Western Siberia, and enjoy the landscapes of the Far East. It took almost a hundred years to create this botanical paradise. It houses unique collections of ornamental, medicinal, fruit-bearing, vegetable, aromatic and spice, fodder, and industrial plants from all botanical-geographical regions of the world.

The Botanical Garden's plant collections are of great scientific and economic importance. In particular, it houses the world's best collection of dogwood forms, the largest collection of oak, maple, linden, birch, walnut, lilac, and wild fruit plants in Eastern Europe. It is also one of the world's largest collections of living plants of the temperate zone of Eurasia, which includes 1178 species from 113 families.

• One of the garden's greenhouses Photo: UNIAN
  
  All the collections are extremely valuable in terms of preserving plant diversity. Some rare tropical species are grown in the greenhouses, including those that have already disappeared in the wild! It contains rare and endangered plant species listed in the Red Data Books of Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Georgia and other countries. The botanical garden has 8 scientific departments and 2 laboratories. It houses Ukraine's only collection of open-ground flower plants with more than 4000 different varieties. There are 600 species of orchids and over 1,500 varieties of lilac bushes, including cultivars named after Bohdan Hmelnytsky, Lesya Ukrainka, and Flames of Donbass.
  
  

Blooming lilac. Photo: www.nbg.kiev.ua

The idea of creating a botanical garden originated in the autumn of 1918, when the National Academy of Sciences was established. Volodymyr Lipsky, a renowned florist, traveler, and expert on botanical gardens around the world, as well as one of the first Presidents of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, developed a detailed plan for the Kyiv Botanical Garden at that time. However, the idea began to be implemented only on September 22, 1935, when the capital of Ukraine was moved from Kharkiv to Kyiv, and the government finally approved the decision to establish the botanical garden. A plot of land measuring 117 hectares was allocated for it in the area of the historical Zvirynets district, now Pechersk, on the site of the demolished Zvirynets powder storehouse, which was destroyed in an explosion in June 1918.


General plan of Botanical garden

During the occupation of Kyiv by the forces of Nazi Germany, the majority of the collections gathered by specialists at that time were lost. The construction of the Botanical Garden resumed after the liberation of Kyiv. Work on the creation of the garden commenced again in March 1944 under the leadership of the outstanding Ukrainian scientist, botanist and plant breeder, academician Mykola Hryshko. At the first post-war stage of the Botanical Garden construction, the attention was focused on the organisation of expeditions and scientific trips to accumulate and form plant collections. The search for the most valuable and necessary plant species and forms from different corners of the world was conducted, along with their propagation and the formation of exhibitions.


The territory of the Botanical Garden in 1946-1947.

The Botanical Garden was opened with great fanfare on 29 May 1964. On that day, thousands of people gathered near the garden gates, and speeches were delivered by official representatives from a podium installed on the grand staircase.  A new architectural ensemble for the main entrance was specially constructed for this event, which still exists today. The next day, on 30 May, almost all popular newspapers published articles about the event. "Pravda Ukrayiny, Soviet Ukraine, Komsomolske Znamya, and Moloda Ukrayiny published photos of the botanical garden opening on their front pages. Since then, the Hryshko Botanical Garden in Kyiv has been welcoming millions of visitors every year.

The grand opening of the garden on May 29, 1964

The Botanical Garden is a favorite place for romantic walks for couples, artists, and photography enthusiasts. Here, you can listen to the birds singing, attend live music concerts, or enjoy a romantic dinner in the Orangery area. You can buy rare plants or attend courses on floristry and horticulture. It is an ideal place for the whole family to relax and escape the hustle and bustle of the city. In addition, the Holy Trinity Ioninsky Monastery is located within the garden's territory.

One of locations in Botanical Garden. Photo from open sources

In the Hryshko Botanical Garden it is prohibited to 

- tear and damage plants;

- collect fruits and seeds;

- make fires;

- walk dogs;

- ride bicycles, skateboards, skates, sleds, skis.

The National Botanical Garden named after Mykola Hryshko is located in the Pechersk district of Kyiv, at 1 Timiryazevska Street. To reach the garden, you can take bus number 62 or trolleybus number 14 from the "Pecherska" metro station to the final stop, "Botanichny Sad."

Beautiful panoramas of Kyiv 

Opening hours: From May to August, it is open from 8:30 AM to 9:00 PM. From September to April, it opens at 8:00 AM and closes at dusk. The Orangery complex is open daily from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, and on Saturdays and Sundays from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The garden is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.