Donetsk reveals a rich botanical side through its Botanical Garden. The 203-hectare garden lies on the border between Donetsk and Makiivka. In its southern section is the 8.5-hectare “Steppes of Donbas” exhibition: an artificially created feather-grass steppe with 420 species. The collection of the same name comprises more than 200 rare, endemic, relict and endangered species; about 180 of them are listed in Red Books and protection lists. The exhibition and collection thus highlight two aspects: the designed landscape and the distinctive composition of its plant populations.
Steppe in different forms
The collection complex includes, among other things, 120 species of steppe and woodland-edge plants and 174 species of medicinal plants. Another exhibition, “Edaphic Variants of the Steppes of Donbas,” focuses on the vegetation of different substrates. Under specially created conditions, it presents plant formations of rocky granite and chalk outcrops, as well as sand steppes, which are characteristic of the nature of Donbas. The different soils offer a useful comparison: the steppe is not a uniform landscape type, but takes forms shaped by granite, chalk and sand.
Japanese Garden: Designed Spaces and Plants
The Japanese Garden is designed as a stroll garden and combines a rock garden, a landscape garden and a water garden with a pond. Between them lies a dry stream: pebbles and phlox that bloom in spring symbolize the flow of water. The pond and dry stream depict water in different ways—once as a pond, once as a symbolic watercourse. The Japanese and Far Eastern flora here includes 58 woody plant species and 60 species of perennial herbaceous plants. These collection figures may change as the collection develops.
Greenhouses and Specialized Collections
The Botanical Garden’s collection comprises more than 8,000 plant taxa, including over 3,000 tropical and subtropical taxa kept in greenhouses. Greenhouse plants include lemons, limes, grapefruits, oranges and mandarins, as well as papaya, feijoa, guava, coffee, Murraya, Barbados cotton and paprika. Alongside its designed garden areas, the collection also offers a glimpse of a wide variety of plants grown under glass. The stated taxon figures may change as the collections develop.
The “Rare Woody Plants” exhibition adds sections on “Seabed,” “Junipers” and “Topiary.” One specialized collection is the Syringarium, established in 1978: it comprises 20 species and forms and 140 lilac cultivars. These include nine early-flowering cultivars of hyacinth lilac, a Preston hybrid and other common lilac cultivars, including varieties bred in the garden. The figures show different levels of the collection—from species and forms to individual cultivars. These collection figures, too, may change as the collection continues to develop.
Historical Context and Travel Planning
The Botanical Garden was founded in 1964 at the initiative of Ye. Kondratyuk and has been a garden and park monument since 1981. The dates mark different points in its history: its founding and its later designation as a monument. If you plan to make the garden the focus of a trip to Donetsk, check current visiting arrangements before making specific plans. For planning your own trip, the botanical focus offers several distinct themes: steppe landscapes, designed garden spaces and extensive plant collections.
Discover more destinations: Kostiantynivka, Shchurove, Yats'kivka, Prokhorivka, Yenakiieve, Prymors'ke, Stepanivka, Melekyne.
For the broader travel guide: Donetsk Oblast.
