Sprawling over an area of 300 acres, Mirijjawila Dry Zone Botanical Garden is one of the five main botanical gardens in Sri Lanka. Located in hot and dry Hambantota city, this is the first ever dry zone botanical garden in the country. This garden considers as a marvel of horticulture due to its harsh location in a warm and dry environment with an arid climate. It’s amazing to see many wet zone plants and blooms flourishing in the garden under the unfriendly climate.
Since Mirijjawila Botanical Gardens is located in the dry zone, you cannot see many of the tall trees with the canopy same as other wet zone botanical gardens. Usually, this area gets very little rainfall, but 3 small tanks including Kohombagas Wewa, Malitthangas Wewa, and Demataththa Wewa supply water year-round. These tanks remain an iconic feature of the botanic gardens, maintaining a favorable microclimate, and preserving soil moisture for the healthy growth of plants.
History of the garden
Construction works of the botanic garden began in 2006. After years of hard work, it opened to the public in 2013 concurrently with the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGUM) held in Colombo. There was a planting ceremony to plant 52 plants by 52 heads of government participated in the CHOGUM around the place called as Great Circle. The planted circle calls Commonwealth Circle today.
Importance of the garden
Mirijjawila Botanic Garden is the only dry zone botanical garden, while all the other gardens including Peradeniya, Hakgala, Seethawaka, and Henarathgoda are located in the wet zone of Sri Lanka. In particular, this garden helps to conserve and study dry zone ecosystems. Moreover, it helps to identify suitable plant species for dry zone landscapes and promote commercial floriculture.
This is the first and only botanic garden in Sri Lanka which introduced QR codes in plant name boards. It facilitates visitors and students to access more plant information. You can use this QR code to learn about the plant’s origin, local distribution, and more information as well as their scientific name, common names, and family in Sinhala, Tamil, and English.
Entrance of the garden
Conveniently located by the Mattala International Airport on its left side and the Hambantota Harbor on its right side, the park has two entrances. The main entrance is at the Beragama Road from Sooriyawewa – Hambantota main road.
Established in 2017, the Southern entrance facilitates visitors to enter through the Tangalle – Kataragama new road. Parallel to the new office building at the south entrance, an information center and other infrastructure facilities have also been established.
The map of the garden
The main feature of the gardens is three circles connected by the main drive which is placed on a straight line. This plan was designed according to the formal landscape seen at the renowned Versailles Palace Garden of France.
This map of the Mirijjawila Botanic Garden shows the important and must-visit places in the garden. There are 12 sections in the garden, A, B, C, D, E, F, H, I, N, O, S, and U.
In this post, we are going to explain each section and the main attractions that you shouldn’t miss during your visit to the garden.
Great Circle
There are three circles along the main road from the Northern entrance to the Southern entrance. The first circle is the Great Circle with a lawn around which Canna flower beds are located.
Commonwealth Circle
Around the Great Circle, Commonwealth Circle (7) is located and it consists of 52 trees planted by heads of the governments that participated in the opening ceremony of the 23rd Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
Main Avenue
The main avenue is adorned with Rain Tree (Samanea saman). They produce beautiful pink and white flowers that look like dense powderpuff clusters with numerous filamentous stamens.
At the end of this avenue, on the left side of the four-way junction, a Golden shower tree (Cassia fistula) avenue has been established. These trees produce gorgeous yellow bunches of flowers. During the flowering season, the trees are almost covered with yellow flowers, with no visible leaves.
On the right side a Spanish cherry (Mimusops elengi) avenue as well as a Palmyra palm(Borassus flabellifer) avenue is located.
Plant Conservatory
The Plant Conservatory is the dome-shaped greenhouse created to protect the delicate ornamental plants. It is an important place in the garden that conserves plants that cannot grow under the prevailing hot climatic conditions in outside.
It provides an internal environment of low temperature and high humidity. This Plant Conservatory has shade nets, humidifiers, and open windows to maintain a cool interior for the plants.
Topiary Garden
One of the most important places in Mirijjawila Botanical Garden is the Topiary Garden which consists of magnificent clipped tree arts. Topiary art is a horticultural practice of training perennial plants by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, and shrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes. These shapes can be geometric or fanciful.
This unique method is a type of living sculpture. These hedges and pruned plants show different shapes. You’ll see some amazing green structures that resemble elephants, stone fences, and many other fancy structures. These arts are created mainly using Leucophyllum frutescens, Durantha erecta, Barleria cristata, Conocarpus lancifolius and Ficus benjamina.
Cactus House
Cactus House displays a beautiful collection of cacti from various parts of the world. It consists of different species of cactus, mainly foreign species from Middle East countries. There are native species such as Euphorbia antiquorum and more exotic species.
Plant Avenues
There are 26 avenues in which a single plant species is planted on both sides of each avenue. Thus, Mirijjawila is the only botanic garden that has the largest number of avenues in Sri Lanka.
Each and every road in the botanic gardens provides shade and a comfortable environment for walks by visitors. These 26 avenues consist of 24 endemic or native plant species and 2 exotic plant species.
Polyalthia Avenue
The beautiful Polyalthia Avenue is one of the best places you shouldn’t miss in Mirijjawila Botanical Garden. Monoon longifolium or Polyalthia longifolia (False Ashoka) is an evergreen tree that grows over 20 m. It is native to southern India and Sri Lanka. These tall trees have an elegant appearance due to their height. It exhibits symmetrical pyramidal growth with willowy weeping pendulous branches and long narrow leaves with undulate margins.
This Polyalthia Avenue or Willow Tree Road is the longest straight road within a botanical garden in South Asia. It spans over a long distance, about 1.6 km. This avenue locates along the west border of the botanic gardens due to its closeness to the Indian Ocean. Thus, it acts as a living wind barrier and mitigates wind damage to the plants. Generally, the wind velocity is high across the botanic gardens and this avenue helps to protect all the other plants in the garden.
Ornamental plant collection
Ornamental plant collection includes native and exotic species of flower and foliage plants. All plants in this collection are arranged in various shapes of beds.
Wildlife in garden
According to a study conducted a few years ago, there are 45 butterfly species at the botanic gardens, including an endemic butterfly species Troides darsius, and 107 bird species. Among these bird species, one is endemic and three are endangered. Peacocks are common birds in the area and you’ll see they are roaming freely in the garden.
About 150 – 200 deer live inside the botanic gardens. Monkeys, porcupines, and some other animals who live closer to the garden cause damage to plants, lawns, and beds. Sometimes, the damages caused by deer and wild boar can be severe. Hence, a natural shrubland of about 4 ha has been preserved to conserve existing flora and fauna.
Climate of the garden
The garden is located in the lower dry zone of Sri Lanka and the mean annual rainfall is less than 500 mm. This area gets rainfall from inter-monsoons during the April-May and October-November months. January to March and July to mid-September is a severe dry period at the botanic gardens. Thus, this area is always dry and hot with a mean temperature of 27-30 °C.
The soil in the area is reddish brown with a high amount of gravel in subsoil. During the dry spells, the lawns of the botanic gardens turn brownish in color. To minimize the browning of grasses and prevent drying, adequate watering is necessary.
Important tips for you
The park is open from 7.30 AM – 6.00 PM throughout the year. The ticketing counter is open until 5.00 PM.
Since the park spreads over 300 acres, it isn’t easy to cover on foot. Visitors are advised to use an electric buggy to explore all the beautiful places in this huge garden.
The weather is extremely dry with strong sunshine in the garden where you’ll need precautions to avoid sunburning. A cap, sunscreen, and sunglasses are essential.
The use of polythene bags inside the park is prohibited. Remember to carry your snacks in paper bags.
To sum up, Mirijjawila Botanical Garden is an exceptionally designed and well-maintained dry zone garden. You’ll be amazed to see roses, orchids, and many other beautiful flowers flourishing under this unfriendly climate. Since the garden spreads over a huge area, use the electric buggy driven by extra knowledgeable guides who will be able to answer any question with clarification. If you like to witness the spectacular beauty and the wonders of dry zone plants, visit Mirijjawila Dry Zone Botanical Garden in Sri Lanka!
Text by Magnificent Sri Lanka. Images from Wikimedia Commons, Facebook & Twitter. All copyrights are reserved by the original authors.
