Korea National Arboretum weeds exhibition — hands-on, to 29 Nov

The Korea National Arboretum, in the old-growth Gwangneung forest, has given its Children's Garden over to weeds for the autumn. Plants that usually get pulled out of verges and flowerbeds are shown again as botanical illustrations, and visitors print them with woodblocks and stamps to learn their names and shapes. It runs from 30 September to 29 November 2026, and anyone who has entered the arboretum can drop in. With children, it is a good place to spend an hour on an autumn walk through the grounds.

What do you do at the weeds exhibition?

According to the arboretum's press release, the exhibition has four parts. First come botanical illustrations on standing boards, of plants seen in any neighbourhood: violets, Ixeris stolonifera, Cardamine leucantha and others. Beside them, visitors lay paper over woodblocks carved with five weeds and rub out a print, then use stamps of four weeds, pressed one over another, to compare how leaf and stem shapes differ between species. The last part is a panel on the arboretum's own research into turning weeds into compost.

Which corners suit children best?

The busy-hands corners are the rubbings and the stamps. Rubbing over a woodblock slowly brings out veins and serrated edges, so even small children see a result straight away; with the stamps, each change of colour or position changes the picture, which keeps them at the table. The arboretum says it built in the hands-on elements so that children could observe weeds closely and express what they see. The exact species used in the activities are not named in the official material, so reading the labels on site together is part of the visit.

What does making compost from weeds mean?

The compost panel is what takes the exhibition beyond looking. The arboretum is researching how to turn the weeds it pulls while maintaining the grounds into compost rather than throwing them away, and the exhibition explains the process. From the press photograph the panel appears to run through gathering, chopping, mixing and fermenting, and using the result where it is needed, but that is read from a photograph, so the wording on site is the reliable version. The head of the arboretum's exhibition and education division described the show as a chance to look again at the beauty and ecological role of the weeds underfoot.

The 'Weeds do this too' panel near the end makes the case that weeds live alongside other plants, feed insects and animals, and hold the soil in place. This too is read from a press photograph and may differ slightly from the panel itself.

Do you need to book, and can you drive?

The exhibition itself needs no sign-up: once inside the arboretum you can walk straight in. What decides things is how you arrive. According to the arboretum's visitor information, people arriving on foot or by public transport enter without a booking (up to 4,500 a day). Cars, by contrast, are 100% pre-booked: only vehicles with a parking reservation on the arboretum's booking system can enter the car park, and unbooked cars are turned back at the entrance. On days with spaces left, same-day bookings can be made online up to an hour before last entry. Visitors entitled to free admission still need a parking booking if they drive, and must bring proof of eligibility to collect a ticket at the staffed ticket office.

Because the main car park fills quickly on autumn-foliage weekends, the arboretum is trialling 88 extra spaces at its research building car park on Saturdays and Sundays from 3 October to the end of November, by booking. From there it is about 15 minutes' walk along a boardwalk to the main gate, and the research building itself is closed to visitors. Cars carrying registered disabled visitors and persons of national merit park free.

Getting there without a car, and what to expect in English

Coming by public transport is the simplest choice for a visitor, because it needs no booking at all. According to the arboretum's directions page, there are two routes by subway and bus. From Uijeongbu Station on Seoul Subway Line 1, take exit 5 and walk about 200 m towards the police station to the stop for bus 21, which takes about 50 minutes. From Jinjeop Station on Line 4, take exit 1 and walk about 170 m to the same bus 21, about 25 minutes. Bus 21 runs every 25–40 minutes on weekdays and every 40–50 minutes at weekends, so check the return times before you walk in, especially in November when last entry is 4:00 pm. Inside, the exhibition panels and plant labels are in Korean, and no English guide or session is mentioned for this exhibition. The activities, though, need no language: a woodblock, paper and a stamp pad explain themselves. Driving is harder for a non-resident: the parking reservation site is Korean-only and requires signing up as a member, and it does not say whether a foreign phone number is accepted. Older and disabled visitors can book by phone on 031-540-2000.