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Greater Jakarta: Slum area turned into bonsai garden
A community group in Depok, West Java, has transformed a slum area into a garden of bonsai trees
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span>A community group in Depok, West Java, has transformed a slum area into a garden of bonsai trees. Bonsai is the Japanese and Chinese art of cultivating delicate trees and shrubs into miniature ornamental trees.
The 6,000-square meter garden, located on Jl. Pertamina and founded in 2013 by a group calling itself Our Kampung Depok Community (K3D), is believed to be the second-largest in Greater Jakarta after the one in Pluit, North Jakarta.
K3D leader Bowo said the slum area used to be infamous for people drinking alcohol and committing “indecent acts”.
“This place was even used by people to dispose of their garbage. You can imagine how dirty it was,” Bowo told kompas.com on Saturday.
The community then took the initiative to transform the site, and currently it houses thousands of miniature trees for residents to enjoy. Performances by various art communities also enliven the area in the afternoon.
Many of the trees at the site had been showcased at domestic and international exhibitions, Bowo said, adding that the seeds were sold for the low price of Rp 100 (less than 1 US cent) to Rp 500.
He said he aimed to turn the site into the largest bonsai garden in the country.
