Semmozhi Poonga- An eye delight to visitors

Chennai: Semmozhi Poonga  is a botanical garden in Chennai set up by the horticulture department of the Government of Tamil Nadu. The garden was opened on 24 November 2010 and is the first botanical garden in the city. The garden is located in the Cathedral Road–Anna Salai junction Encompassing an area of 20 acres , it was built at a cost of ₹ 80 million. More than 500 species of plants are being grown in the area, in addition to the 80 trees that was already in existence during the development of the park, some of them being more than 100 years old. The garden houses some of the popular exotic flora and rare plant species, medicinal and aromatic herbs. Many of the exotic plants are imported from countries like China and Thailand.

The garden features eight subgardens displaying flora of different varieties, such as a tree court, mural walk and bonsai, herbal and exotic gardens, in addition to an artificial duck pond. Incorporating elements of an Indian-Buddhist garden, the garden has a wide variety of indigenous species across 22 exclusive areas including palm court, tree court, golden garden (featuring plants that flower in different shades of gold), water and rock garden, butterfly garden, fern garden, sunken garden and theme garden. Twenty-five thematic gardens, including herbal, aromatic, maze and cascade adorn every corner of the park. The garden boasts several exotic herbal species and 90-odd spiral-shaped and multi-branched miniature trees grown in containers. The Bonsai garden is dotted with trees whose height range from 1 foot to 4 feet. At the fag end of the park is the Cascade garden.

The arch near the entrance plaza is a vertical garden which is a unique feature of the botanical garden. The vertical garden, with an inbuilt irrigation and drain system for easy maintenance, is 22 feet long and 14 feet high intended to improve the scenic beauty of the park at the entrance.The arch is covered by 7,000 plants from 35 different species including dracena, lilies, ophiopogon, schefflera, phyllodendron and flowering plants like krishnagantha. The 10-feet-high green wall has plants raised in a poly trace imported from Canada. Micro-tube irrigation has been arranged for watering the plants. The plants cling to the 700-sq.ft. wall, which serves as the entry point.

Located at the central business district of Chennai, the park attracts several visitor and film crews for filming in the location. This has created maintenance problem, whereby there are complaints that the cinema shooting crews made a dent in the park's salubrious environs by damaging tender plants.

The garden remains open for morning walkers from 6 am to 8 am. For visitors, the park remains open from 10 am through 8 pm on all days except Tuesdays. There is an open auditorium available within the garden which can be hired to organise functions.