DUBAI’S MIRACULOUS FLOWER GARDEN IN THE DESERT
17 Jul 2013
The Dubai Miracle Garden contains 45 million flowers arranged into mosaics, patterns and shapes, turning the desert into the world’s biggest natural flower garden.
Dubai’s newest tourist attraction, the Dubai Miracle Garden contains 45 million flowers arranged into mosaics, patterns and shapes transforming the desert landscape into the world’s biggest natural flower garden. Intended as a tourist attraction which aims to attract one million visitors a year, organisers hope it will stand out in a metropolis that already bewilders tourists with its state-of-the-art architecture, man-made islands and the world’s tallest building.
The Dubai Miracle Garden contains over 45 million flowers over a 72,000 sq metre site featuring traditional flowerbeds as well as topiary-style displays with blooms fashioned into various shapes including hearts, stars, igloos, walls and pyramids and has entered the Guinness Book of Records for the world’s biggest flower clock.
The site was developed by the landscaping company Akar, who have been able to develop this desert garden through judicious re-use of waste, eco-friendly drip irrigation and the use of water retention materials like capillary mats and polymers to deliver moisture efficiently. Abdel Nasser Y. Rahhal, general manager of Akar Landscaping Services and Agriculture has said “I hope people will understand that this country is not only for extremes in concrete and steel. This country is given beautiful weather for seven months. With a little care, you can get a really beautiful production.”
Winter in Dubai provides the optimum growth period for flowers and the garden will close four months of the year during the hottest period, a break that will give organisers the chance to redesign it for the next season, with different flowers and shapes.
In the near future, the Dubai’s Miracle Garden will be expanded to include retail outlets, restaurants and shops, as well as a Butterfly Garden, an Aromatic Garden, an Edible Garden, a multi-storey carpark and a golf course. Akar is also planning to make the Miracle Garden an indoor site by covering majority of the 72,000 square metre area in a glass dome.
The Dubai Properties Group, a partner in the project, expects the park to draw more than one million visitors over the next year.
Although not entirely complete, the Dubai Miracle Garden is now open to the public from 10am to 10pm on weekdays and 10am to midnight on weekends and public holidays. It will close in late-May, reopening in October, with an entry fee of around $6.
