Dobropark: A Blossoming Vision of Resilience from the Horrors of War

Igor Dobrutskyi, founder and owner of Dobropark.

Nestled in Motyzhyn near Kyiv, Dobropark stands as a testament to the transformative power of nature and human perseverance. The story is not just about horticulture; it’s a narrative woven from passion, resilience, and a relentless pursuit of beauty amidst adversity.

FCI interviewed the founder and owner of Dobropark, Igor Dobrutskyi, after being introduced to him through Arno Klijbroek, a Dutch tulip entrepreneur and founding member of the humanitarian mission of the De Leeuw Kyiv Foundation. Here is his story.

An aerial view of Dobropark in 2024.

FloraCulture International: Tell us how Dobropark began and what visitors can expect to find.

Igor Dobrutskyi: “My journey with Dobropark began with a personal passion for gardening. I was inspired by the creation of my own garden, I envisioned a larger sanctuary where nature’s beauty could be shared with the public. After purchasing land near Kyiv, I meticulously landscaped it for over a decade, learning the art of propagating and combining plants. This dream took root in 2010, but it wasn’t until 2019 that my vision fully materialised. Overcoming numerous challenges, including the complex Ukrainian legislation on leasing public parks, I purchased land outright, transforming a monotonous landscape into a vibrant, diverse park for the public to enjoy its botanical treasures.

This area is designated as a public space, and I bought additional land to maintain around it to prevent the construction of high-rises, factories, landfills, and other harmful structures.

Dobropark spans 374 hectares, with 135 hectares already developed into an arboretum. The park’s terrain was initially flat and unremarkable; now, it has been transformed into a dynamic landscape featuring artificially created hills, terraces, and lakes. This careful geoplastics work ensures that each section of the park offers a unique experience while maintaining a harmonious connection with the overall environment.

For visitors, the botanical collection of Dobropark is a highlight. We show endangered plant species, many types and varieties of cereal plants, popular and valuable world varieties, and the latest novelties from exhibitions in Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, and France. The main thing for us is that the park impresses all visitors—both those seeking aesthetic pleasure and those professionally engaged in gardening.

As of now, we have five seasons: tulips, lavender, hydrangea, cereals, and winter (New Year’s theme). The tulip season is particularly powerful, offering a chance to admire the beauty of nature after a grey winter. The economy of this season, besides the entrance ticket, is supplemented by the sale of cut tulips directly from the field. In the fall, we sell tulip bulbs, which we pre-dry and prepare for sale. Another promising direction is the sale of bulbs from the demonstration field, which will finally be available next year. The “Yandewind” company provides us with about 400 varieties of tulips, which will be allocated a separate area where bulbs can be ordered using a QR code. This new opportunity allows us to expand the sale of tulip bulbs from Holland.

The Lavender season at Dobropark.

The lavender season is based on five varieties of lavender: two varieties of lavandin and three varieties of lavender, totalling about 97,000 bushes planted throughout the park. One area is designed in the style of French Provence, and another in the style of Italian Tuscany. We believe our lavender field is the most beautiful in Ukraine today—lavender blooms for 45-60 days in the park due to our early and late varieties. We actively increase the amount of lavender through cuttings; this year, we created 50,000 lavender cuttings. Our raw material during the season is abundant enough to produce oil and make sachets, which we transfer to Mylo Corporation for production. Additionally, we produce decorative candles, increasing our revenue during the lavender season.

Our third flower season is hydrangea, with approximately 35,000 bushes. This includes a collection of panicle hydrangeas in colours from white to pink, as well as tree hydrangeas such as Annabel, Annabel Strong, Pink Annabelle, and Polar Bear varieties. We also collect varieties of the fastidious large-leaved hydrangea, which adds colour to our park but requires extra care as it does not winter well in our area. This season, we made cuttings and grew 50,000 hydrangeas.

In autumn, we have the season of cereal plants and miscanthus. Our collection includes more than 116 beautiful varieties, with about 40,000 planted miscanthus and pennisetum. We created stunning mixed borders from them and started a thematic direction called ‘Floriada’, allocating four hectares exclusively for mixed borders of cereals and perennial plants. In terms of vegetative reproduction, this year we will be able to reproduce up to 100,000 plants, and we expect this number to grow significantly next year.”

Tulip season 2024, and the opening of Dobropark this year.

How do you envision the park’s future? Are there any upcoming projects or expansions?

“Looking ahead, I’m really excited about the future of our park. We’re putting a lot of focus into expanding our botanical collection. Right now, in addition to our existing five flower seasons, we’re working on introducing a new season featuring peonies, roses, and lilacs.
For peonies, we’ve already got 15,000 bushes, and this autumn, we’re planning to add another 15,000 from the Netherlands. Our goal is to have a diverse collection with early, medium, and late-blooming varieties, totalling around 50,000 bushes. We’re also starting a demonstration field with 100 different varieties.

In our rose garden, we’ve made a promising start with varieties from Cordes, Tantau, and David Austin nurseries. However, to truly make it a standout season, we’re committed to ensuring we have at least 10,000 bushes. Roses demand meticulous care, and we’re taking the necessary time and effort to build this up to the highest standards.

Then there’s our lilac garden, which is something I’m particularly passionate about. We’ve started with 670 bushes and around 40 varieties. Our goal is to expand to at least 100 varieties and 5,000 bushes. We’re working closely with nurseries in Poland, the Netherlands, and Germany to make this happen.

Aerial view of gardens in Dobropark.

We’re also integrating technology into the visitor experience with QR codes. Visitors can use these to order their favourite varieties in advance, ensuring they get exactly what they want from us for their gardens.

Looking forward, we’re exploring partnerships for joint lavender and peony production and planning to expand our greenhouse facilities.

Ultimately, we want Dobropark to be not only a place of natural beauty but also a hub of relaxation and entertainment, with attractions like amusement and water parks to attract even more visitors.

Dobropark is not just about beauty; it is also committed to environmental sustainability and conservation. The park collaborates with the “Open International University of Human Development ‘Ukraine'” on various ecological projects. These initiatives include scientific research, eco-educational programs, and the development of permaculture demonstration sites.

These are just a few exciting projects we are working on to make Dobropark a destination everyone can enjoy and appreciate.

What are some of the key milestones or significant events in the park’s history?

“Among the positives, the largest number of daily visitors reached 25,000 during the opening tulip season in 2021, which was a pleasant surprise. However, there were two significant negative events. First, during our initial open season, Covid-19 struck, coinciding with the tulip blooming season. Despite having a fantastically beautiful collection of tulips, quarantine restrictions prevented many people from seeing them.

The second and most devastating event occurred on 24 February 2022, when Russian occupiers, who had illegally seized the land, destroyed all the property and decorative assets accumulated over three years of development. The three main buildings where park employees lived, including our dormitories and a three-storey hotel for visitors, were obliterated.

The occupiers also left a legacy of two months of demining work on the park grounds because they had occupied the land when the Kyiv region was under siege. The occupation severely impacted the environment as well leading to the destruction of over 7,000 bushes and trees and more than two million tulips.

During the occupation of the park, I had already come to terms with the fact that I had lost everything, especially when I saw the unpleasant scene after the Russian retreat. Everything in Dobropark was blackened and burnt, reminiscent of a post-apocalyptic horror.

A brighter memory after the occupation is my team – even when everything was destroyed, and I had no money to pay for their work. They all saw the importance of Dobropark, believing even more than I did at that moment that you have to fight, care for and unite for what is yours.
What kept me going also was the memories of the many parks I had visited around the world. Some are as old as 200 years. History shows that these parks were created during difficult times, including wars and famines. When you visit these parks, you think, “God, what a blessing that those generations did something for us.

So, it is my duty to create a park for future generations where people will walk in 100 years. It doesn’t matter who created it; what matters is that they will walk under big trees, find shade, sit on benches, and feel the connection between generations and century-old plants and landscapes.”

Can you tell me about your business relationship with Arno Klijbroek?

“Arno is not just a friend to us; he is an ambassador of peace for our park! I first knew him as a representative of StoKolex (www.stokolex.com). The company offered favourable conditions for the first planting of tulips in 2019. Since the occupation, all the planting material in the park was destroyed. Arno, through StoKolex, helped us by giving us some tulip bulb planting material for free. Additionally, Arno has helped us through his De Leeuw Kyiv Foundation and given us an important gift – a generator, which has repeatedly helped us during power outages.”

(left) Arno Klijbroek, and right Dobropark founder and owner, Igor Dobrutskyi.

Dobropark Quick Overview

Founder: Igor Dobrutskyi
Location: Motyzhyn, Kyiv Region, Ukraine
Established: 2019
Open: Monday to Sunday, 8am – 10pm
Employs: 50 workers on the landscape and 50 workers in hospitality. Before the war, these numbers were double.

SUMMARY:
Dobropark spans 374 hectares and was developed from Igor’s passion for gardening and landscaping. The park includes 135 hectares of thematic zones for visitors with a developed arboretum, lakes, and seasonal bedding schemes, including tulips for the spring opening.

 


This article was first published in the July-August 2024 issue of FloraCulture International.

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