Giant gardens open in Singapore

Gardens by the Bay features 18 'super trees'

A huge new botanical park has opened in Singapore’s fast-expanding Marina Bay area.

The Gardens by the Bay took seven years to develop, and now comprise 54 hectare of manmade botanical gardens, featuring more than 700,000 plants from across the globe.

The main features of the new attraction are the 18 huge ‘super trees’, which range from 25 to 50 metres in height. A key part of these structures is the 128-metre-long aerial canopy walk, 22 metres above ground, which offers views of the gardens and surrounding city.The super trees also collect rainwater and store solar energy.

Other sustainable features of the Gardens by the Bay include the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest conservatories, which rely on horticultural waste to generate energy to cool the glass domes, while the Dragon Fly and Kingfisher lakes catch and recycle run-off water.

[Show as slideshow]

By Mark Elliott, 7 August 2012, Tuesday 6:53 AM