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

Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria 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 was rese ...

(the second division being the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria are botanic gardens across two sites–Melbourne and Cranbourne. Melbourne Gardens was founded in 1846 when land was reserved on the south side of the Yarra River for a new botanic garden. It extends across ...

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

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

city centre. Cranbourne Gardens specialises in Australian native plants. The total area of this division of the

botanic gardens A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

is 363 hectares, including

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

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

s and

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, 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 sunlight and limited shade (see ...

s. The gardens also provide

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and 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 ...

for native birds,

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

s and reptiles, including some rare and endangered species. A recent feature of the 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 or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

''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 defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...

mining from as far back as the 1820s, 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 roam around and consume wild vegetations in order to convert the otherwise indigestible (by human gut) cellulose within grass and other ...

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 fifteen 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 already, but is still a work in progress, with a second stage covering an additional ten hectares scheduled to commence construction in late 2007 and to be completed by late 2011.

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 A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ar ...

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

Eucalypt Walk

Eucalypt Eucalypt is a descriptive name for woody plants with capsule fruiting bodies belonging to seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australasia: ''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 accu ...

Garden'', the ''

Box A box (plural: boxes) is a container used for the storage or transportation of its contents. Most boxes have flat, parallel, rectangular sides. Boxes can be very small (like a matchbox) or very large (like a shipping box for furniture), and can ...

Garden'', the ''

Peppermint Peppermint (''Mentha'' × ''piperita'') is a hybrid species of mint, a cross between watermint and spearmint. Indigenous to Europe and the Middle East, the plant is now widely spread and cultivated in many regions of the world.Euro+Med Plantbas ...

Garden'', the ''

Bloodwood Bloodwood is a common name for several unrelated trees, including: * '' Baloghia inophylla'' (Brush or Scrub bloodwood), '' Baloghia marmorata'' (Marbled bloodwood), '' Baloghia parviflora'' (Small-flowered bloodwood), all found in Australia * ' ...

Garden'', and the '' Stringybark 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. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''escar ...

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

Uluru Uluru (; pjt, Uluṟu ), also known as Ayers Rock ( ) and officially Gazette#Gazette as a verb, gazetted as UluruAyers Rock, is a large sandstone geological formation, formation in the centre of Australia. It is in the southern part of the ...

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. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

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. Cranbourne is reasonably well served by public transportation, with a train line from Melbourne and a number of local bus routes. Access to the gardens if using public transport may however require a substantial walk and a taxi from Cranbourne Station is recommended.

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 (Australia) Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria Parks in Melbourne Tourist attractions in Melbourne 1989 establishments in Australia City of Casey