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Penjing Terrace Valley
The only surviving colonial-era penjing terrace in Singapore. Eighty-two documented specimens, some in training since 1957. Best visited at opening, when the morning light rakes across the stone plinths.
Yuh Siang Garden · Bukit Timah · Est. 1972
Plan Your Visit to a Living Herbarium
A capped, scholarly collection of 4,217 catalogued Asian species — open by reservation to visitors who come to study, photograph, and walk slowly.
Visit · Practicalities
Hours, Admission, and the Annual Cap
We are not a public park. Entry is reserved, the gate closes on schedule, and visitor numbers are deliberately limited to 184,000 per year — a figure we have held since 1996 to protect the living collections. Please review the timetable below before booking.
Gate Hours
- Tuesday – Friday
- 09:00 – 17:30 (last entry 16:30)
- Saturday & Sunday
- 08:30 – 18:00 (last entry 17:00)
- Monday
- Closed — curatorial day
- Public holidays (SG)
- Open; reduced guided walks
The Heritage Penjing Terrace closes at 16:45 for daily watering. The Herbarium Lab reading room is open Tuesday – Saturday, 10:00 – 16:00, by appointment.
Admission Tiers
- Standard adult
- SGD 24
- Student / senior (with ID)
- SGD 16
- Member of the Garden Trust
- Complimentary (up to 4 guests)
- Researcher (institutional letter)
- Complimentary, weekdays
- Child under 12
- Complimentary with adult
All tiers include access to the six valleys and the open-air reading pavilion. Kew-accredited herbarium consultations are scheduled separately.
Annual cap —
184,000 visitors per calendar year. Reservations open in quarterly tranches. The Q3 tranche (September – November) opens for booking on the second Monday of June.
Collections · The Six Valleys
A Sidebar Index of the Garden
Fourteen hectares of the Bukit Timah foothills, divided into six themed valleys. Treat the list below as chapter headings — each valley is a distinct collection with its own curatorial mandate and seasonal rhythm.
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Vanda Miss Joaquim Heritage Bed
The only continuously bloomed Vanda Miss Joaquim heritage bed outside the National Orchid Garden. A parent-pedigree plot with hand-written accession tags dating to 1981.
III
Ginger & Zingiberales Valley
A 2.4-hectare valley of gingers, heliconias, and strelitzias under a permanent mist system. The richest of the six valleys for visiting landscape architects in the wet months.
IV
Bamboo & Grass Woodlands
Forty-six bamboo species from across monsoon Asia, set against native grass understorey. Wind-rustled — bring a light layer even in equatorial afternoons.
V
Fern & Bryophyte Glen
A shaded ravine of tree ferns, filmy ferns, and liverworts at the garden's lowest elevation. Closed during heavy rain — check the daily bulletin at the gatehouse.
VI
Camellia & Tea Terraces
A terraced east-facing slope of Camellia sinensis and Asian ornamental camellias. The garden's quietest valley, and the one most altered by season.
A printed Valley Walk sheet — with specimen accession numbers and current bloom notes — is included with every admission ticket.
Visit · Transit
Getting to 14 Herbarium Rise
The garden sits on a former nutmeg estate in the Bukit Timah foothills, fifteen minutes by foot from the MRT. The gate is on Herbarium Rise, not on the main Bukit Timah Road — please use the map below rather than the postal address alone.
By MRT & Bus
Alight at Bukit Timah MRT (DT5). Exit B; walk 14 minutes north along Bukit Timah Road, then turn left into Herbarium Rise. Bus services 67, 75, 170, and 960 stop at the Bukit Timah Plaza interchange, a 9-minute walk from the gate.
By Car & Taxi
Limited on-site parking (24 bays, reserved for members and visitors with mobility needs). The main public car park is at Bukit Timah Plaza, Level 3. We strongly encourage MRT access on Saturday mornings.
By Bicycle
Eight sheltered bicycle racks are available at the gatehouse. The Rail Corridor entrance is a 4-minute ride from the gate.
At the Gate
Present your reservation confirmation (printed or on device) at the gatehouse ticket window. Allow 10 minutes for entry, name-tag collection, and the curatorial briefing card.
Curatorial address
Yuh Siang Garden Heritage Trust
14 Herbarium Rise, Bukit Timah, Singapore 289756
[email protected] · +65 6463 1972
Visit · House Guide
Accessibility, Conduct, and What Is Not Permitted
The rules below are short, deliberate, and enforced for the protection of the collections. We ask that you read them as you would a printed house guide at a museum — and approach your visit accordingly.
Accessibility
The Penjing Terrace, Vanda Heritage Bed, and Camellia Terraces are accessible by ramped paths and graded boardwalks (gradient 1:12 or gentler). The Bamboo Woodlands, Fern Glen, and the lower Ginger Valley include unpaved sections; visitors using wheelchairs are welcome but should request the route map at the gatehouse. A single manual wheelchair is available to borrow, free of charge, from the curatorial office.
Photography and Note-taking
Non-flash photography for personal study is welcome throughout the garden. Tripods and monopods are permitted in the Penjing Terrace Valley and Camellia Terraces only, between 09:00 and 11:00. Researchers photographing herbarium sheets in the reading room must request the Imaging Request Form from the curatorial office at least three working days in advance.
Prohibited on the Grounds
Yuh Siang Garden is a flora-only collection. The following are not permitted: pets of any kind (registered service animals are admitted with prior notice); recreational drones and remote-controlled aircraft; amplified music or speakers; open food and drink outside the gatehouse pavilion; the picking, cutting, or removal of any plant material, seed, frond, or substrate. Smoking and vaping are not permitted anywhere on the property.
Children and Supervision
Children under 12 are admitted free with a paying adult and must remain within arm's reach at all times. The garden is not equipped with play structures or activity stations; we ask that visiting families treat the grounds as a working scholarly collection.
A Note on the Collection
The Yuh Siang Garden Heritage Trust does not maintain any animal collections. If you have visited this page expecting a zoo, aviary, or aquarium component — please note that none exists, and none is planned. Our curatorial mandate is exclusively botanical.
Living Index · Currently in Bloom
Three Specimens Flowering This Quarter
Drawn from the 4,217-species Living Index (Q3 2024 update). The garden's quarterly bulletin records every flowering event across all six valleys; the three below are what we expect to be at peak during the upcoming booking window.
Accession No. YSG-1981-0042
Vanda Miss Joaquim 'Agnes'
A 1981 hand-pollinated line from the original Joaquim cutting. Peak bloom expected mid-quarter; the bed is at its most photographic between 08:30 and 10:00.
Accession No. YSG-1989-1167
Costus spectabilis
The yellow-flowered spiral ginger from West and Central Africa — a long-standing resident of the ginger valley's monsoon-margin bed. Pollinator activity is heaviest before 11:00.
Accession No. YSG-1995-2014
Camellia japonica 'Hagoromo'
A feather-petal Japanese cultivar on the east-facing terraces. The valley is at its quietest on weekday afternoons — recommended for unhurried sketching.
The full quarterly bloom list (148 expected flowering events across the six valleys) is published in The Living Index, mailed to members and available in printed form at the gatehouse.