Changi Airport takes off as a garden haven with more than 100,000 plants
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Visitors at the garden in Changi Airport's Terminal 2 on Feb 7, 2013. A team of 10 horticulturists manage 150 gardeners and are constantly looking for ways to keep the airport plants looking fresh and vibrant. -- ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
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Chinese New Year installations in Changi Airport's Terminal 1 on Feb 7, 2013. A team of 10 horticulturists manage 150 gardeners and are constantly looking for ways to keep the airport plants looking fresh and vibrant. -- ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
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Butterfly garden at the Changi Airport's Terminal 3. A team of 10 horticulturists manage 150 gardeners and are constantly looking for ways to keep the airport plants looking fresh and vibrant. -- ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
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An aeroplane outside of Changi Airport on Feb 7, 2013. A team of 10 horticulturists manage 150 gardeners and are constantly looking for ways to keep the airport plants looking fresh and vibrant. -- ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
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Butterfly garden at the Changi Airport's Terminal 3. A team of 10 horticulturists manage 150 gardeners and are constantly looking for ways to keep the airport plants looking fresh and vibrant. -- ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
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Sunflower Garden in Changi Airport's Terminal 2 on Feb 7, 2013. A team of 10 horticulturists manage 150 gardeners and are constantly looking for ways to keep the airport plants looking fresh and vibrant. -- ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
Visitors at the garden in Changi Airport's Terminal 2 on Feb 7, 2013. A team of 10 horticulturists manage 150 gardeners and are constantly looking for ways to keep the airport plants looking fresh and vibrant. -- ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
Chinese New Year installations in Changi Airport's Terminal 1 on Feb 7, 2013. A team of 10 horticulturists manage 150 gardeners and are constantly looking for ways to keep the airport plants looking fresh and vibrant. -- ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
Butterfly garden at the Changi Airport's Terminal 3. A team of 10 horticulturists manage 150 gardeners and are constantly looking for ways to keep the airport plants looking fresh and vibrant. -- ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
An aeroplane outside of Changi Airport on Feb 7, 2013. A team of 10 horticulturists manage 150 gardeners and are constantly looking for ways to keep the airport plants looking fresh and vibrant. -- ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
Butterfly garden at the Changi Airport's Terminal 3. A team of 10 horticulturists manage 150 gardeners and are constantly looking for ways to keep the airport plants looking fresh and vibrant. -- ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
Sunflower Garden in Changi Airport's Terminal 2 on Feb 7, 2013. A team of 10 horticulturists manage 150 gardeners and are constantly looking for ways to keep the airport plants looking fresh and vibrant. -- ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
The next time you are rushing through any of Changi Airport's three terminals, stop and smell the roses.
With more than 100,000 plants in the vicinity, the airport here is no longer just a place for commuting, as landscaping becomes a large part of infrastructure planning.
Mr Khaja Nazimuddeen, 46, senior manager of airport operations, says that is unusual for most airports to focus resources on gardens in airports: "Space is a luxury that we can utilise in airports. We've been greening Changi Airport since the first terminal opened in 1981, so it has become our signature now."
Most of the 200 plant species are grown in-house at a nursery, which is across from the former budget terminal. At the 12ha nursery, plants such as sunflowers, mast trees and climbers, are germinated and acclimatised to growing indoors.
