University of Alberta Botanical Garden
Highlights of the UA Botanic Garden, an award-winning visitor attraction, include the Aga Khan Garden, a 4.8 hectare Mughal-inspired garden made possible by a gift from His Highness the Aga Khan, which features secluded forest paths, granite and limestone terraces, still pools that reflect the prairie sky, waterfalls, and streams. Other highlights of the UA Botanic Garden, which was established in 1959, include the tranquil Kurimoto Japanese Garden; tropical, temperate, and arid showhouses; an Indigenous Peoples’ Garden; an extensive alpine garden; and much more. The Garden’s collections are diverse, with an emphasis on plants suitable for a cold northern climate, including ornamentals, fruits, vegetables, trees, and shrubs.
Top Attractions
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Aga Khan Garden
The Aga Khan Garden, gifted by His Highness the Aga Khan and built by the renowned landscape architecture company Nelson Byrd Woltz, creates a visually spectacular experience through a subtle play of geometry, water, light, and shadow. The Garden has isolated forest walks, granite and limestone terraces, still pools that mirror the prairie sky, and a waterfall cascading over textured stone. Fruit orchards surround the enormous Calla Pond, and the garden includes over 25,000 trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, and wetland plants chosen for their aroma, beauty, and capacity to thrive in Alberta’s northern environment. People from various backgrounds gather at the Aga Khan Garden to appreciate its beauty, calm, and activities. It will delight, surprise, and inspire those who visit. It is a sign of ongoing intellectual, educational, and cultural partnership.
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Kurimoto Japanese Garden
The Kurimoto Japanese Garden is a very polished and mature feature where you may view a wide range of plant life and surroundings. The huge artwork depicts an actual Japanese strolling garden. Lanterns, a pagoda, an entrance gate, a belfry, and asumayas (viewing shelters) are among the ornaments and structures, as is the Ozawa Pavilion Teahouse and its adjacent Ikoi no ba. Opened in 1990, the garden is named for Dr. Yuichi Kurimoto, the first Japanese national to graduate from the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Arts in 1930.
