Seoul gardening event brings international families together

Children participate in the “Global Family Garden” event hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in Mallidong Square, Seoul, Sunday. The event was part of the Seoul International Garden Show, scheduled from May 14 to 20. Yonhap

By Bahk Eun-ji

With the COVID-19 pandemic having changed people's lifestyles, preventing them from doing their usual activities, they have begun to seek other things they can do while being forced to stay indoors.

Instead of looking at smartphones and checking social media, some have opted for something more physical ― gardening.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government held a “Global Family Garden” event with 20 multiracial families from Saturday to Sunday at Mallidong Square at one end of the Seoullo 7017 skywalk near Seoul Station, during which they created gardens in flowerpots they also decorated.

The event was a part of the Seoul International Garden Show, which will be held from May 14 to 20 under the theme, “Link Garden, Think Life.”

The 20 families with members from Mongolia, Vietnam, India, Brazil, Argentina, France, the Netherlands, Russia, China, Canada and the United States took part in the pre-event to make their own flower pots and create small gardens under the guidance of horticultural designer Oh Kyung-ah.

Oh, who previously worked at Kew Gardens in London, said she focuses on how to present plants and flowers in an artistic way.

Oh Kyung-ah, right, horticultural designer, offers guidance on bedding plants during a “Global Family Garden” event at Mallidong Square, Seoul, Sunday. Courtesy of the Seoul Metropolitan Government

“I was pleased to meet the families who have such a tremendous interest in planting and gardening. I noticed that some of them have never had any experience in planting, but I think it was natural because they have been living in cities,” Oh told The Korea Times after the event.

“Regardless of whether they have experience or not, all of them wanted to have their own garden and they wanted to know how to grow plants properly and beautifully.”

Oh said that people may not be able to make their “dream gardens” for long as they live in a big city, but they can create smaller ones on their apartment balconies.

“Just as impressionists paint, there are principles in planting and gardening based on the color and size of each plant. I shared with the families here today principles of presenting plants in artistic ways.”

Each family chose between plants of two different colors ― a yellow one and a mixture of red and purple ― for each cement pot that was 60 centimeters in diameter.

Although the base colors of the flowers were already decided, the participants were allowed to decorate their pot in their own style.

Lee Eon-ho, who took part in the event with his wife from France, brought ornaments they had made to decorate it.

“My wife and I brought a little Eiffel Tower made of thin wire, and a pebble painted with the colors of the French national flag.”

Family members plant flowers in the “Global Family Garden” at Mallidong Square, Seoul, Sunday. Courtesy of the Seoul Metropolitan Government

The couple began to look toward gardening when they became interested in architecture.

“We found out that architecture and gardening are closely related. For now, we're living in a small apartment and taking care of a small garden on the rooftop,” Lee said.

“Through this event, we realized that gardening is not something you have to spend a lot of money or time on,” he said. “We know it is difficult to have a dream garden in our home, especially when we live in such a big city, but I think it isn't difficult to put a small pot on your desk or make space for flower pots on your balcony.”

Oh agreed with the Lees, saying, “I honestly don't like the word cost-effective, but gardening and planting are truly a cost-effective activity to relieve people's stress with a small outlay.”

Subramani Gayathri from India participated in the event with his wife and two daughters.

“We think gardening is one way to attain a peaceful and stress-free life. Each day we love to see the smile of blooming flowers and the dancing of the plant leaves at home,” Gayathri said while explaining why he had registered for the event.

A child writes his wish on a photo during the “Global Family Garden” at Mallidong Square, Seoul, Sunday. He wrote: “I wish coronavirus will be gone.” Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government

Carlos Gorito, a Brazilian TV personality who became an honorary Seoul citizen last year, also participated in the event with his wife to introduce the international garden show through his YouTube channel.

The couple said they plan to create a garden that combines Korean and Brazilian styles.

“We are promoting Korea at home and abroad through our YouTube channel called Coreanissima. As part of that, we're also working as a video creator for the capital, and we applied to this event as we wanted to introduce this Seoul International Garden show,” Gorito said.

The flower pots made by the 20 families will be displayed at Sohn Kee Chung Sports Park, one of the venues where the garden show will be held, near Mallidong Square.