The Best Botanic Gardens and Arboretums in Victoria
Botanic gardens and arboretums are lovely places to enjoy a walk or throw out a blanket for a picnic. A botanic garden is a garden with a documented collection of living plants for the purpose of scientific research, conservation, display, and education. Typically plants are labelled with their botanical names. Some botanic gardens display only Australian native and endemic species but most include plants and trees from around the world.
What's the difference between an arboretum and a botanical garden?
An arboretum is a botanical garden specialising in trees and other woody plants. It is intended at least partly for scientific research, but also to generate interest and enhance knowledge about wooded environments.
See the following map of all public Botanic Gardens and Arboretums in Victoria. Click on the map markers for more information about more than 50 botanic gardens and arboretums.
Map of All Botanic Gardens and Arboretums
Our pick of the best Botanic Gardens in Victoria are listed below.
Founded in 1846, the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne is an inner-city oasis comprising 38 hectares of garden beds, lakes and sweeping lawns. It is home to 52,000 individual plants ..
The Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne is one of Victoria's most precious areas of native bushland and offers nature-lovers the chance to explore 363 hectares of untouched heathlands ..
The Dandenong Ranges Botanic Garden which was formerly named the National Rhododendron Gardens, are host to brilliantly coloured blooms of rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias, cherri ..
The Australian Botanic Gardens Shepparton uses Australian native plants in themed gardens designed to represent the cultural, environmental, historical and agricultural characteris ..
The Ballarat Botanical Gardens covers 40 hectares divided into three distinct zones - the central Botanical Gardens which preserves the 'gardenesque' style of the Victorian pleasur ..
The Benalla Botanical Gardens were designed and developed in 1886 by Alfred Sangwell and were listed on the Register of the National Estate in 1995. They are significant because mu ..
.jpg "View Bendigo Botanic Gardens (White Hills)")
Established in 1857 the Bendigo Botanic Gardens are almost as old as Bendigo itself with the site appearing on a 1854 plan of the White Hills township just a couple of years after ..
Established in the 1860s around a natural spring, the two hectare Buninyong Botanic Gardens were designed with the support of the director of the Royal Melbourne Botanic Gardens, F ..
The Camperdown Gardens land was put aside in 1869 with work being carried out by Daniel Bunce from 1870, in 1888 inprovements were made under the guidance of William Guilfoyle. The ..
Wander through this 19th Century garden and discover the many original features including the carriage drive, elm and oak avenues, Lake Joanna, and the formal garden beds that cont ..
The Colac Botanic Gardens are considered one of Victoria's unique regional gardens. The 12 hectare Gardens and Recreation Reserve occupy a site at the northern edge of Colac. T ..
The Geelong Botanic Gardens is an important garden which conserves plants from around the world. Come and explore... Stimulate the senses with the colours and scents of the ama ..
The site for the Hamilton Botanic Gardens was set aside in 1853 and first planted in 1870 which makes them one of the earliest provincial botanic gardens in Australia. William ..
Designed by William Guilfoyle in the 1870s this was originally a reserve of 37 acres, but only eight acres remained by 1982. Clubs and individuals have donated trees and shrubs ove ..
The Kyneton Botanical Gardens has a range of heritage listed trees, commemorative trees (oaks and Wollemi pine). The Gardens date back to 1858 and with wide lawns sloping down t ..
The Malmsbury Botanic Gardens were laid out in 1863. It is one of Victoria's earliest regional botanic gardens encompassing a wonderful collection of trees and shrubs along with a ..
Portland Botanic Gardens have native and exotic plants including over 13,000 dahlias planted annually which peak in late summer and autumn. The dahlia's are used in the annual flor ..
There is plenty to see and do within the Gardens. Attractions include: Significant Tree Walk Trees throughout the Sale Botanic Gardens can tell the history of the precinct. The ..
Warrnambool Botanic Gardens are a timeless and tranquil setting for picnics, peaceful walks and the many guided tours and special events hosted throughout the year. Set on 20 ac ..
.jpg "View Wilson Botanic Park (Berwick)")
Only minutes from the Monash Freeway, the park attracts local and international visitors and is sanctuary to an abundance of native animals. Perched on the edge of the Basalt La ..
