Mihály Mőcsényi botanical garden
The botanical garden in the City Park shines again in its former glory. Thanks to the Liget Budapest Project, the formerly called Small Botanical Garden, one of the park's most unique botanical and educational features, has been renewed and named after Mihály Mőcsényi, the founder of landscape gardening education in Hungary.
The park, formerly called the "Small botanical garden" and now bearing the name of horticultural engineer and landscape architect Mihály Mőcsényi, was inaugurated in 1967 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the FŐKERT. The demonstration garden area is home to medicinal and herbaceous plants, culinary herbs, vines, fruit, annual flowers, aquatic plants, marsh plants and rock gardens. A rain hut served as the centrepiece of the garden, but its attractions included a spring-fed trickling water system and a pergola with two water pools. Over the decades, the garden has deteriorated, its plants have dwindled, its infrastructure has become obsolete and the rain hut has fallen into disrepair. Its long-awaited renovation has finally been made possible by the Liget Budapest Project, supported by the original 1967 and 1969 garden plans from the Main Garden's design library, as well as the 1980 implementation plan.
A special experience for visitors is the Kneipp trail, a thematically designed path that crosses the stream and is designed to be walked barefoot, with massages on the feet (walking barefoot on different surfaces improves balance and improves posture). One of the footpaths has a trellis with a garden path to complement it, making it easier to walk around the park.
Renewed stream
Along the original trail, a charming system of spring-fed streams winds through the area, and pools have returned to showcase open water and marshland wildlife. The dilapidated rain shelter has been replaced by a new, modern building with catering, service and promotional functions.
The planting and information system has been given particular attention, as it is important to present as many plant species and varieties as possible in a botanical garden. To provide a background for educational and information activities, information panels have been set up, with the names of species and botanical specialities, and easy-to-understand graphics and descriptions. Some 335 new plants of 35,000 different species have been planted in the garden.
About Mihály Mőcsényi (1919-2017)
Kossuth and Széchenyi Prize-winning Hungarian horticultural engineer, landscape architect, university professor, founder of landscape architecture education in Hungary, founder of the independent Faculty of Landscape Architecture, rector of the University of Horticulture between 1991 and 1993. His multifaceted expertise and his commitment to the harmony of disciplines have made him an internationally recognised scholar of landscape architecture. His interpretations of the "Hungarian garden" have won several awards at international horticultural exhibitions. Among other things, he developed the garden design for the Feneketlen Lake in Budapest. He was Vice-President of the International Association of Landscape Architects from 1976 to 1986 and President from 1986 to 1990. Mihály Mőcsényi was co-chairman of the jury of the park rehabilitation tender for the renewal of the City Park.