Cactus Greenhouse and Tropical Fruit Garden, Daegu Arboretum (대구수목원 선인장온실·열대과일원)

The arboretum site received Daegu's household waste from 1986 to 1990 (about 4.1 million tonnes according to the Korean Wikipedia). After several years of neglect, it was covered in 1996-1997 with soil from subway construction sites and developed between 1997 and 2002. Registered in March 2002 as a public arboretum with the Korea Forest Service, it opened in May 2002.

A free photograph on Wikimedia Commons, uploaded in 2005, already shows the cactus greenhouse. The tropical fruit garden is more recent: according to the Kyongbuk Maeil daily, it opened on 20 August 2014 in three greenhouses behind the cactus house. Two of them had held bonsai displays and the third served as a workroom. Staff rebuilt the paths with recycled clay bricks and, according to the article, planted specimens from their own homes, with no dedicated budget.

Korean Wikipedia gives 781,279 m² for the whole site, while the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture mentions 250,000 m².

A photograph on Wikimedia Commons shows glass walls and a glass roof on a metal frame, topped by a small pyramidal lantern.

The tropical fruit garden occupies three former production greenhouses, two used for bonsai displays and one as a workroom. The Korean Wikipedia lists among the site's buildings an exhibition greenhouse of 943 m² and a propagation greenhouse of 220 m², without saying which structures those figures refer to.

A sign relayed by a 2023 blog speaks of 130 cactus species, a 2025 article from a district service of more than 300 kinds of cacti and succulents. The golden barrel cactus (금호) and several agaves are named.

The tropical fruit garden had more than 90 species and 360 plants when it opened in 2014: papayas, mangoes, mangosteens, kiwis, bananas, guavas, coffee trees, along with warm-temperate species such as 후피향나무 and 황근. A sign recorded in 2023 mentions 85 woody and 15 herbaceous species, laid out in six main zones, among them bananas, mangoes, papayas, oranges and palms. The official plan also lists a garden of plants named in the Bible and Buddhist sutras, with the olive tree for example.

The cactus greenhouse and the tropical fruit garden lie in the arboretum at Daegok-dong, in Dalseo District. A district service recommends the greenhouse as a warm place to visit in winter; opening hours, access days and admission are to be checked with the arboretum.

The visit combines with the Forest Culture Hall, the outdoor themed gardens, the three forest routes (of 60, 90 and 120 minutes according to Korean Wikipedia) and, depending on the season, the arboretum's yearly exhibitions: photographs of Korean orchids in March, chrysanthemums and wild plants in October.