Sunday, January 19, 2020

Sim's Park, Coonoor, Nilgiris

Sim's Park, Coonoor, Nilgiris
Sim's Park is a public park, located in Coonoor Town in picturesque Nilgiris Hills near Ooty Hill Station in Coonoor Taluk of Nilgiris District of Tamilnadu. It is an important tourist place to visit in Coonoor, at a height of 1780 meters above mean sea level. It extends over an area of 12 hectares of undulating land and possesses a number of natural advantages.



History
This is an unusual park-cum-botanical garden that was developed around the natural contours of the land more than a hundred years ago by Mr. J.D. Sims and Major Murray in the year of 1874. 


The Park
The Park extends over an area of 12 hectares. This is a natural garden, situated in deep ravine. The Nilgiris has a unique tropical mountain climate, so the garden has the ideal climatic conditions for growing flowers and trees. Temperature variation is less, and the rainfall distribution is uniform in the locale, which results in a long flowering season. The garden is visited by thousands of tourists throughout the year and even in winter. The natural shola with winding footpaths all over the higher slopes of the park is the most distinctive and picturesque are the main feature of this park.



At the head of the gardens the well-kept lawns, the artistically laid out ornamental beds, looking beautiful and lacking no wealth of the flowering plants or shrub in great variety and color are great feasts to the eyes.  Naturally occurring trees, shrubs and creepers are in the park as are many unusual species of plants that have been brought in from a variety of places around the world. The main event in this park is an annual fruit show and vegetable show held in May.



The garden has some rare economic trees like Rudraksha - bead tree, Cinnamomum, Queensland karry pine, a handsome ornamental tree and graceful trees like Araucaria, QuercusPhoenixMagnolia, Pine, Tree fernsTurpentineCamelliathis is all are as many attractions in this park. There is a glass house housing different ornamental plants and flowers. On the other side of the park rose garden are maintained. This park has more than 1000 species of 255 genres belonging to 85 families widely covering different group of plants.



Section – I:
It extends to an area of 0.85Ha and forms the entrance of the park. The flower beds are neatly laid out in such a way that they merge with the landscape. It has got a small hemispherical lawn made up of kikuyu grass. Ashoka pillar at the center adds the charm to the lawn. Nearly 80 tree species and shrub species of different families can be seen. Acacia ducurrens, Eucalyptus ficifolia, Agathe’s robusta, Hymemospermum, Ternsfroemia japonica are some of the above species. Quercus sessilifloia, cinnamomum camphora, podo-carpus taxifolia, Bucklandia populnea were the old trees planted in the year 1980.
Section – II:
It comprises of an area of 0.42Ha. A Summer House is situated at the center. A well-maintained Azalea hedge and shrubbery are the features of this section. It comprises of 38 number of different trees and shrub species of various families. Some of them are Cedrella toona, Dracaena reflexa, Elaeocurpus ganitrus, Araucaria bidwilli, Sauraia nepalensis, Araucaria cookii, Camellia japonica, Magnolia grandiflora, Prunus pissandii, Pieris owalifolia, Eucalyptus amygdalina, Cinnmomum camphora, Juniperus sedfordiaha and Thuja filiformis. Among them, the ‘Araucaria bidwilli’ is the oldest tree planted in the year 1885.
Section – III:
It consists of an area of 1. 39Ha. There are about 92 different species of trees and shrubs hailing from different families. Photinia lindleyana, Glochidon ellipricum, Vaccinium leschenaultii, Acer laenigatum, Rhododendron arboreum, Eugenia calophyllioocia, Ilex wightiana, Macararga indica, Prunus puddum, Meliosma arnottiana, Peltophorum abricanum, Diospyros Virginiana are some of the tree species in the IIIrd   section. Among them, phofinia lindleyana in the oldest tree planted in the year 1889.
Section – IV:
It is consists of an area of 1.08Ha and the area is almost formed a green patch due to the presence of kikuyu grass. A good view of the park especially the Island area, Pond Shola areas of the park can be seen from this section. Nearly 71 numbers of different trees and shrubs can be found in this section of the park. Cotoneaster frigid, Arbuts rollionsii, Eucalyptus robusta, Casuarina marginata, Nerium oleandes, Cupressus obtusa, Hypericum mysorensis and Sehima wallichi are some of the trees in the section.
Section – V:
It extends to an area of 1.38Ha and forms the topmost terrace of the tennis garden. It accounts for 45 numbers of different tree and shrub species of which Quercus sessiliflora is the oldest tree planted in the year 1880. Michelia champaca, Albizzia falcate, Laurus nobilies, Betula alnoides, Rhus succedanea, Sophora glance, Tristkaia conferta, Alnusnepalensis are the important trees to be seen in the section.
Section – VI:
It covers an area of 2.2Ha and claims to be the biggest section among the 8 sections. It starts from the north east portion of the park and ends in the south west side. Nearly 120 varieties of different kinds of tree and shrub species belonging to different families can be seen in this section. The two Eucalyptus eugenoides trees planted in the year 1880 are the oldest trees of the park. The other important trees are Eugenia Calophyllifolia, Celtis serofina, Golchidon ellipticum, Vaccinium leschenaultia, Pinus lorgifolia etc. The tennis garden with beautiful blue grass lawn surrounded by nearly 1000s of rose plants adds the charm to the section.
Section – VII:
It forms the area around the Island garden and claims an area of 0.90 Ha. After the construction of stone structure in the Island, the section is conveniently divided into two portions namely Island garden and small Island garden. The rose plants of different groups viz Hybrid types, Floribunda and Polyanthe types gives a pleasant appearance to the visitors. Vaccinium leschenaultii planted in the year 1895 is the oldest tree in the section.
Fruit Show:
The two-day fruit show is conducted in Sim’s Park, Coonoor during the last week of Saturday, Sunday of May. The event is organized by the Department of Horticulture and has been held annually for 56 years. It attracts about 25,000 attendees.
Connectivity
Sim's Park is located at about 1 Km from Coonoor, 3 Kms from Coonoor Bus Stand, 3 Kms from Coonoor Railway Station, 20 Kms from Ooty Bus Stand, 22 Kms from Ooty, 22 Kms from Ooty Railway Station, 17 Kms from Kotagiri, 36 Kms from Mettupalayam Railway Station and 73 Kms from Coimbatore Airport. Private Taxis are available from Ooty and Coonoor to reach this place.
Location