The Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria at Cranbourne Gardens, is a division of the

Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria (RBGV) are botanical garden, botanic gardens across two sites–Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, Melbourne and Royal Botanic Gardens, Cranbourne, Cranbourne. Melbourne Gardens was founded in 1846 when land w ...

(the second division being the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria (RBGV) are botanical garden, botanic gardens across two sites–Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, Melbourne and Royal Botanic Gardens, Cranbourne, Cranbourne. Melbourne Gardens was founded in 1846 when land w ...

, located in the centre of Melbourne). It is located in the suburb of Cranbourne, about 45 km south-east of the

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

city centre. Cranbourne Gardens specialises in Australian native plants. The total area of this division of the botanic gardens is 363 hectares, including

heathlands A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

s and

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

s. The gardens also provide

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

for native birds,

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

s and reptiles, including some rare and endangered species. A focal point of Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne is the specially constructed ''Australian Garden'', opened to the public on 28 May 2006. The ''Australian Garden'' features a number of exhibition gardens, sculptures and displays aimed to bring the beauty and diversity of the Australian landscape and plants to the public. Beyond the ''Australian Garden'', the bushland section of the garden contains 10 km of walking tracks, and includes the Trig Point Lookout tower, secluded picnic sites and free barbecues.

History

The

indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

''Boon Wurrung'' people inhabited the area around Cranbourne in pre-European times. The site of Cranbourne Gardens was used for

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...

mining from the 1920s, largely to supply the building of Melbourne and its suburbs. The military used the site from 1889 until 1953, with private licences also issued for sand mining,

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to free range (roam around) and consume wild vegetations in order to feed conversion ratio, convert the otherwise indigestible (by human diges ...

and timber gathering. In 1970 the site was named as a division of the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, with a focus on Australian plant research and conservation. The gardens were not opened to the public until 1989. The ''Australian Garden'' was planned and developed over several years, finally opening to the general public on 30 May 2006, and attracting 15,000 visitors on the opening day.

The Australian Garden

The ''Australian Garden'' aims to allow visitors to explore people's place in the Australian environment and to learn more about Australian plants. It features about 100,000 plants spread across twenty-one landscape displays and exhibition gardens. The ''Australian Garden'' was designed by Taylor Cullity Lethlean Landscape Architects with Paul Thompson (Plant Design Pty Ltd). The ''Australian Garden'' has won a number of design awards since its creation in 2006 (stage one) and 2012 (stage two).

Red Sand Garden

The ''Red Sand Garden'' is the central feature of the ''Australian Garden''. It features vibrant red sand with circles of

saltbush Saltbush is a vernacular plant name that most often refers to ''Atriplex'', a genus of about 250 plants distributed worldwide from subtropical to subarctic regions. ''Atriplex'' species are native to Australia, North and South America, and Eurasia. ...

and crescent shaped mounds designed to echo the shapes and colours found in Central Australia. The garden is designed to show seasonal flushes of wildflowers, as seen in the deserts of Central Australia.

Exhibition Gardens

There are five exhibition gardens aiming to demonstrate ways that Australian native plants can be used in the home garden. The ''Diversity Garden'' illustrates a variety of native plants from various climatic zones in Australia. The ''Water Saving Garden'' shows how to group plants with similar water needs and choose plants which require minimum watering in a garden. The ''Future Garden'' features various alternate ways of gardening, such as special plant choices and novel mulches. The ''Home Garden'' shows a number of gardens featuring native plants for some common types of homes found in Australia. The ''Kid's Backyard'' uses natural plant materials recycled into a children's play area rather than the common plastic and metal constructions commonly found in Australian backyards.

Arid Garden and Dry River Bed

These gardens demonstrate the role of water in the Australian landscape. Many parts of Australia are prone to alternating drought and flood. Thus plants have had to evolve to cope with extended periods of intense heat and dry

arid Aridity is the condition of geographical regions which make up approximately 43% of total global available land area, characterized by low annual precipitation, increased temperatures, and limited water availability.Perez-Aguilar, L. Y., Plata ...

ity, and with either seasonal or irregular copious supplies of water.

Eucalypt Walk

Eucalypt Eucalypt is any woody plant with Capsule (fruit), capsule fruiting bodies belonging to one of seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australia: ''Eucalyptus'', ''Corymbia'', ''Angophora'', ''Stockwellia'', ''Allosyn ...

s are an omnipresent feature of the Australian landscape, with around 700 species found in virtually all habitats. The ''Eucalypt Walk'' features five gardens displaying some well known eucalypt species, the ''

Ironbark Ironbark is a common name of a number of species in three taxonomic groups within the genus ''Eucalyptus'' that have dark, deeply furrowed bark. Instead of being shed annually as in many of the other species of ''Eucalyptus'', the dead bark accum ...

Garden'', the ''

Box A box (plural: boxes) is a container with rigid sides used for the storage or transportation of its contents. Most boxes have flat, parallel, rectangular sides (typically rectangular prisms). Boxes can be very small (like a matchbox) or v ...

Garden'', the ''

Peppermint Peppermint (''Mentha'' × ''piperita'') is a Hybrid (biology), hybrid species of Mentha, mint, a cross between Mentha aquatica, watermint and spearmint. Indigenous to Europe and the Middle East, the plant is now widely spread and cultivated in m ...

Garden'', the '' Bloodwood Garden'', and the ''

Stringybark A stringybark can be any of the many ''Eucalyptus'' species which have thick, fibrous bark. Like all eucalypts, stringybarks belong to the family Myrtaceae. In exceptionally fertile locations some stringybark species (in particular messmate strin ...

Garden''. These trees are currently in an immature state, but will continue to grow to mature trees over the next century.

Other features

The ''Rockpool Waterway'' and ''Escarpment Wall'' are inspired by the types of waterways and

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. Due to the similarity, the term '' scarp'' may mistakenly be incorrectly used inte ...

s that may be found in parts of central Australia, such as

Uluru Uluru (; ), also known as Ayers Rock ( ) and officially gazetted as UluruAyers Rock, is a large sandstone monolith. It outcrop, crops out near the centre of Australia in the southern part of the Northern Territory, south-west of Alice Spri ...

and Kings Canyon. There is also a display of Australian

orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Earth ...

in an undercroft below the Visitor's Centre, the Serpentine Path, and a Desert Discovery Camp in the Arid Garden for children to play and learn. The Australian Garden also has a visitor information service within the Visitor Centre, guided walks and educational programs, volunteer master gardeners to help with advice on the use of Australian plants, a gift shop and licensed café.

Visitor information

Opening hours Cranbourne Gardens are open from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm every day of the year except for Christmas Day. Entry to the gardens is free. The bushland areas of the gardens are closed on days of Total Fire Ban. Access Cranbourne Gardens are at 1000 Ballarto Rd, Cranbourne. Access by private vehicle is via the South Gippsland Highway (east entrance) or via Ballarto Rd (West) (west entrance). Cranbourne is reasonably well served by public transportation, with a train line from Melbourne and a number of local bus routes. There is a free shuttle bus running from Cranbourne train station to Royal Botanical Gardens Cranbourne. Pre-booking is required and can be done through their website.

References

*Fawcett, T. 2006, 'A garden for the future', ''RoyalAuto'', Vol. 74 No. 6. * * *Patrick, J. 2006, The Australian Garden, ''Gardening Australia'', June. *

External links

RBG, Cranbourne official website
* Taylor Cullity Lethlean Landscape Architect

{{Coord, 38.129, S, 145.282, E, type:landmark_region:AU, display=title Botanical gardens in Victoria (state) Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria Parks in Melbourne Tourist attractions in Melbourne 1989 establishments in Australia City of Casey