A CITY IN China is funding and sending craftsmen to build a new ‘Garden of Friendship’ in Dublin this autumn. 

The project is being gifted to Dublin by the city of Yangzhou. Construction of the garden begins in September this year in Herbert Park in Ballsbridge and is expected to take six weeks to complete.

The city of Yangzhou has requested that it is located in the park close to the Chinese embassy on Merrion Road. 

The Garden includes a shelter, planting, seating, a rockery, a pond and waterfall. Carol Reynolds / Dublin City Council Carol Reynolds / Dublin City Council / Dublin City Council

Senior Executive Park Superintendent, Michael Noonan said the project has been in the works since July 2016.

“The garden includes a shelter, planting, seating, a rockery, a pond and waterfall. Yangzhou City will cover the cost of the garden construction on site by Chinese craftsmen who will travel from China. There will also be ancillary costs for Dublin City Council which will be covered in the existing Parks budget.”

The new garden will be situated on the eastern corner of the park, between the Herbert Park lake and bandstand and behind the Herbert Park Hotel.

Named the ‘Yi Garden’, which means ‘The Garden of Friendship’, the site was one of the show gardens for Bloom in the Park 2016 and is approximately 20m x 10m in extent.

Noonan continued: “It is considered that ‘The Yi Garden’ will add significantly to Herbert Park and be an additional attraction for locals and visitors to enjoy. 

Labour Senator Kevin Humphreys said the garden will be a “quiet spot where people can relax.”