The Denver Botanic Gardens lies in a very beautiful and serene park among the spectacular Denver Rocky Mountain National Park. The gardens are divided into five parts namely Abundant Ecosystem, Botanical Ridge, Canyon Overlooks and Great Plains. The gardens have been designed by award winning landscape architect Arthur Hills. This great landscape garden was made to merge with nature’s bounty with a soothing beauty of the landscaping. The gardens of the Denver Botanic Gardens have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Denver Botanic Gardens is an acclaimed public botanical garden situated in the Cheesman Park area of Denver, Colorado. The park has a beautiful sunken amphitheater and a large number of theme gardens, designed by award winning landscape architect Arthur Hills. The gardens are separated into five parts namely Abundant Ecosystem, Botanical Ridge, Canyon Overlooks and Great Plains. These parts of the gardens are designed by Hill and his team of experts who have worked with the Japanese gardeners to transform the Japanese Garden into a living work of art.
The design concepts of the Japanese gardens were inspired from nature and the Rocky Mountains. According to the Denver Botanic Gardens, they were inspired by the Shaka-iji temple in Kyoto Japan. Here, the statues and stones used in making the garden and the architecture was inspired from that temple. The most striking feature of the architecture is the roof structure which looks like a bridge spanning across the ponds. The ponds themselves are modeled after natural lakes and seascapes. This is why, the gardens of the Denver Botanic Gardens are classed as a Japanese garden.
The inspiration for the design concepts of the Japanese gardens was not only from the Rocky Mountains and the Japanese architecture but it also stemmed from the geography and topography of the Denver metro area. The largest component of the gardens of Denver Botanic Gardens are located at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. These areas are rocky and hilly and encompass forested hillsides with stream-side lakes and abundant natural vegetation. The main focus of the gardens is to create habitat for rare flora and fauna. The Denver botanic gardens are able to conserve these delicate species. They do this by conserving the environment and avoiding invasive species such as deer that feed on the plant life.
Another key inspiration for the design concepts of the Japanese garden was the Yoruba culture. According to the story, the Yoruba people migrated from South America to Denver during the colonial period. Their migration was spurred by the need to have a place to live in this new land. As was the case in many other parts of the world, they found a location that had both a climate they could adapt to and an abundant supply of water and food. This combination created a paradise in which the Yoruba settled in, eventually becoming one of the largest communities in Colorado.
The extensive research that has been done on the botanicals of the Rocky Mountains and the Rocky Mountain National Park have created the various natures of the plant life in the various locations. There is also five National Parks in Colorado, with the most popular being the Denver International Airport Park. To understand the limitations of the natures of the plants in these locations, you should take a drive or ride in one of the trams of the Denver metro area. The trip will give you a true look into the limited habitat of the Rocky Mountains and the ecological balance that exist there.