Located around 2000 m above sea level, Hakgala Botanic Gardens is the highest altitude garden in Sri Lanka. Staying behind only the Peradeniya Royal Botanical Gardens, it is the second largest garden in Sri Lanka. It spreads out 28 hectares in extent and home to over 10,000 different species of flora. The massive Hakgala Rock towers to a height of about 2,200m behind the gardens and the surrounding forest reserve. The garden faces the Uva Valley, with some splendid views of the Madulsima and the Namunukula range of mountains.
The Hakgala Garden becomes a flower paradise in April, during the Spring season in Nuwara Eliya. During that period, thousands of local and foreign visitors come to see the blooms. Particularly, Hakgala Garden is reputed for the lovely rose and dahlia collections. You’ll find the climate of the gardens is cool and fresh, thus it is an ideal place for a day out in Nuwara Eliya city. Reportedly, around 500,000 people annually visit this beautiful garden.
History of the garden
Hakgala Garden was established by Dr. G. H. K Thwaites in 1861, as an experimental station and nursery for Cinchona. The original purpose was growing Cinchona, to extract the anti-malarial drug Quinine. The development of Hakgala Gardens as a botanic garden was initiated by Mr. William Nock in 1884. Subsequently, the garden was used to cultivate various plants including foreign and local trees, ferns, herbs, and flowers.
Access to the garden
Hakgala Botanical Garden locates on the Nuwara Eliya- Badulla main road, 7 km from Nuwara Eliya city. You can reach there by bus, car or train. If you are using the Kandy-Ella train, you need to get off at Nanu Oya station. Then you need to travel around 13 km, bypassing Nuwara Eliya city to reach Hakgala Gardens.
Climate of the garden
The garden has a cool and refreshing environment because of altitude is 2,000 m above sea level. The temperature ranges between 16 °C to 30 °C during the year. From December to February, it has a cold climate while the warm climate persists from April to August. During the Southwest monsoon, strong winds blow across the gardens towards the Uva Valley. Between October to December, heavy downpours of rainfall are more frequent in the afternoon and evenings.
Lay out of the garden
The entire garden divides into different sections and dedicated to different plant species like flowering plants, ferns, cacti, and many more. Below is the detailed map of the garden showing each area.
Main entrance
The main entrance consists of the ticket counter and flower beds on the slope. The garden is elegantly landscaped to take the shape of several terraces. At the top terrace, there is a striking metal and pebble structures of the letters HAKGALA. This beautiful structure at the peak increases the visitor attraction at glance.
Then the main drive leads you to the garden and it is edged by mixed flower borders and edge plants. Well-maintained mixed flower borders are one of the unique features of the Hakgala Botanical Garden. These fine hedges are formed by different kinds of Azalea, Camellia, and several other flowering shrubs.
Bulb garden
The bulb garden was opened in 1924. It contains a collection of Lilium, Watsonia, Gladiolus, Agapanthus, and Zephyranthes. Many of the species have been introduced from Holland and Japan.
Ferns garden
Undoubtedly, one of the major attractions in the gardens is the Fernery. Shaded by tall trees, dark and misty Fern Garden is home to over 50 kinds of ferns. This is a collection of native hill country ferns. It acts as a refuge for many rare epiphytes, mosses, and lichens.
The distinct feature in the fernery is the wooly tree fern of Sri Lanka. It gives unique character to the fern garden. There are lots of tree ferns, that flourished throughout history. When fully grown, these tree ferns can attain a height of 30-40 feet. Remember to have a look at the large woolly tree fern with a huge trunk over 30 ft in height. Its graceful fronds are 18 ft in diameter.
A distinctive feature of Fernery is the wonderful manner in which the natural springs use to enhance the beauty of the landscaped garden. These springs diverted to form ponds and rippling streams adorned by bridges. Since the fernery has a cool climate shaded by tall trees, Lichens and mosses grow all over the area. Certainly, this area is so cool and refreshing, thus visitors may not wish to say goodbye to it.
Flower gardens
The flower gardens display varieties of blooming flowers adding beauty to the gardens. You can see colorful blooms of Carnations and Poinsettias swaying in the wind. Moreover, many kinds of Fuchsia proudly display their drooping clusters of pretty flowers. Enhancing the beauty of the gardens, there are varieties of salvia ranging from orange to deep purple.
Central pond
A footpath commences from the main drive and leads to the central area of the garden. There is a pond in which yellow water lilies are grown. Huge trees are planted around the central pond.
Ancient trees
Hakgala Garden has a great collection of ancient trees including conifers, cedars, cypresses, pines, and English oaks. Most of them have been introduced from foreign countries, but they have made their home in the garden now. You’ll see that these tall trees are over 100 years old.
Some of the interesting trees around the flower gardens are the Monterey Cypress from California, the camphor tree from China, The Queensland box tree from Australia, the Japanese silkworm Oak tree from Japan, and the southern Magnolia tree from Florida.
Dahlia collection
As same as Peradeniya Royal Botanical Garden is famous for its Orchid collection, Hakgala Garden is particularly famous for its beautiful Dahlias. There is no doubt, that lovely dahlias show the epitome of floral beauty with strikingly beautiful blossoms. Dahlias are eternally smiling flowers. When a flower blossoms, it can remain on the plant for nearly one week. These lovely blooms make the visitors happy with their pretty appearance.
There are varieties of colorful dahlias with several exciting hues in the Hakgala Botanical Garden. You’ll find red, white, purple, yellow, and orange dahlias in the garden. Each plant has bunches of dahlias, creating wonderful photogenic scenery. Be ready with your camera, since there will be endless opportunities to capture the striking beauty of these flowers.
Rose garden
The rose garden was created in the 1960s, by importing the mother plants from England. One must not miss out on this rare and exotic collection of roses in Hakgala Garden. They are breathtakingly colorful and their sweet perfume lingers on the surrounding air. The vivid colors and sweet fragrances of lovely roses in the garden make the visitors spellbound. They can easily steal the heart of visitors.
Rose garden is established on a twin terraced land and contains over 100 varieties of roses. Some of them are quite rare to find in Sri Lanka. Moreover, there are several modern bicolor rose varieties, which are strikingly beautiful. These bicolor varieties with two hues add a unique beauty to the rose garden.
Hakgala gardens put up the best display of roses during the spring festival in April. The process of bringing the rose garden to the epitome of beauty starts at the beginning of January. The careful planning and dedicated efforts by Hakgala Botanical Gardens staff make it a flower paradise in April. Roses start flowering on April 1, with the rose garden attaining full bloom by mid-April at the height of the Nuwara Eliya season.
Glass House
There are several glass houses that give home to many plants too tender to thrive in an open environment. They are carefully nurtured inside this house with optimum conditions to grow. It displays a collection of indoor plants including species of Begonias and many kinds of cacti and succulents. As well, you can see some beautiful hanging plants inside the glass house.
Agave collection
Agave is another wonderful plant collection in Hakgala Botanical Garden. With their thick, long, and prickly leaves growing in a rosette, these plants add a unique beauty to the garden.
Nock Memorial
This colorful Memorial was erected in 1910, for the memory of Mr. J. K. Nock. He was the curator of the gardens from 1903-1909. This memorial is dedicated to his outstanding work to develop the garden into a charming flower paradise. Currently, this summer house is a very popular venue for resting and enjoying a meal.
Best time to visit the garden
Right riming is important to witness the gorgeous blooms of Hakgala Botanical Garden. The best time to visit the gardens is from about mid-March to the end of April, popularly known as the Nuwara Eliya season. The garden becomes extremely pretty in this period.
There aren’t many flower blossoms for the rest of the year. But the garden is very pleasant with lush greeneries and beautiful plants. If you are a nature lover, visiting this garden is worth it even in the low season.
Moreover, Hakgala Garden is an ideal spot for bird watching. There are many species of hill country birds that live in the surrounding forest reserve. Therefore, this is a must-visit place for bird watching enthusiasts.
The garden is opened 365 days of the year from 7.30 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. The ticket counter is open until 5.00 p.m.
To sum up, Hakgala Garden is one of the most picturesque and beautiful gardens in Sri Lanka. It welcomes all visitors with its pleasant and inviting setting. Away from the hustle and bustle of city life, it provides a beautiful oasis for holidaymakers. Moreover, Hakgala Garden is a top family-friendly destination, as well as the best romantic hangout place for young people. Remember to visit there in April, when the Hakgala Garden is in its full glory!
Text by Magnificent Sri Lanka. Images from Wikimedia Commons, Facebook, and Twitter. All copyrights are reserved by original authors.
