The South Coast Botanic Garden is an 87-acre botanical garden in Los Angeles County, California, unique in that it's one of the world's first botanical gardens developed over a sanitary landfill. The site was originally an open-pit mine, producing over one million tons of crude diatomite between 1929 and 1956. As production declined, the county purchased the land in 1957 and began using it as a sanitary landfill to meet growing waste-disposal needs. In 1961, a citizen-led campaign spearheaded by Frances Young persuaded the County Board of Supervisors to convert the site into a botanic garden instead.
From an initial planting of 40,000 donated trees and plants in 1961, the collection has grown to more than 200,000 plants today. The Garden now operates as a year-round attraction and community "Inspiration Site," hosting lectures, classes, concerts, and weddings seven days a week.
When we visited on June 14, 2026, two special exhibits were running. "SOAR – Tropical Butterflies" is a ticketed pavilion experience where hundreds of tropical butterflies fly freely around visitors. The other, Thomas Dambo's Trolls: A Field Study, is a whimsical scavenger hunt featuring 12 towering troll sculptures built entirely from reclaimed wood and scattered throughout the grounds — this is actually the Garden's second Dambo exhibit, following a smaller 2023 show.
Thomas Dambo is a Danish recycling artist, designer, and activist widely considered the world's leading figure in waste-based public art. Born in 1979 in Odense, Denmark, he's spent his career turning hundreds of tons of discarded materials into monumental sculptures, folklore-inspired installations, and interactive community experiences. Guided by his "Waste No More" philosophy, he uses public art to challenge how people think about trash, demonstrate the value of upcycling, and draw people back into nature.
Since building his first giant wooden trolls in 2014, Dambo — now working out of a dedicated studio in Copenhagen with a team of traveling builders and thousands of local volunteers — has created more than 170 troll sculptures across over 20 countries. His crowd-sourced digital Trollmap lets seekers track down his hidden creations, turning environmental storytelling into a real-world treasure hunt.
I only managed to find 5 of the 12 trolls, but felt lucky just to encounter the ones I did. The exhibit runs at South Coast Botanic Garden through October 4, 2026.
南海岸植物園位於加州洛杉磯縣，佔地 87 英畝；其獨特之處在於，它是世界上第一個建於衛生掩埋場上的植物園之一。這塊地原為露天礦場，在 1929 年至 1956 年間產出了超過一百萬噸的矽藻土原礦。隨著產量下降，洛杉磯縣於 1957 年購買此地塊，並將其用作衛生掩埋場，以滿足日益增長的垃圾處理需求。 1961 年，在楊法蘭西斯（Frances Young）的領導下，一場由市民發起的社會運動成功說服了縣政委員會，促使其最終被改建為植物園。
從最初 1961 年種植了 4 萬株捐贈的樹木與植物，到如今，植物總量已增加至超過 20 萬株。花園現在已成為全年開放的遊覽勝地和社區「靈感源泉之地」，每週七天舉辦各類講座、課程、音樂會和婚禮活動。
我們於 2026 年 6 月 14 日造訪時，園內正舉辦兩場特別展覽。「SOAR－熱帶蝴蝶」是一項需購票入場的展館體驗，成百上千隻熱帶蝴蝶在遊客身邊自由飛舞。另一場展覽是托馬斯·丹博（Thomas Dambo）的《巨怪：實地考察》（Trolls: A Field Study），這是一場充滿奇趣的尋寶式展覽，展出了 12 座完全由回收木材打造的巨型巨怪雕塑，它們分佈在園區各處——實際上，這是該花園繼 2023 年舉辦小型丹博的作品。
托馬斯·丹博是一位來自丹麥的回收藝術家、設計師兼社會活動家，被公認為全球廢棄物公共藝術領域的領導者。他於 1979 年出生在丹麥歐登塞，多年來致力於將數百噸廢棄材料轉化為巨型雕塑、取材自民間傳說的藝術裝置以及互動式社區體驗計畫。秉持著「不再浪費」的概念，他透過公共藝術作品挑戰人們對垃圾的固有認知，展現「升級再造」的價值，並引導人們回歸自然。
自 2014 年製作出首批巨型木製「巨怪」雕塑以來，丹博——如今在哥本哈根有專屬工作室，並帶領著一支由流動建造者及數千名當地志工組成的團隊——已在 20 多個國家創作了超過 170 件巨怪雕塑。他利用眾包資料建立的數位版「巨怪地圖」（Trollmap），讓尋訪者能夠追蹤並找到這些隱密的藝術作品，將環保主題的敘事體驗轉化為一場現實生活中的尋寶之旅。
我在 12 個巨怪雕塑中，只找到了5個，但能看到這幾個就已經覺得很幸運了。展覽將在南海岸植物園展出至 2026 年 10 月 4 日。
Travel/Point of Interest Posts 旅遊景點帖子