Tucked away in the sprawling suburb of Cranbourne on Melbourne’s south-east is a garden like none that I have ever seen. The ‘Australian Garden’ at the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne is a hidden gem, and well worth a visit.
It looks like central Australia, but this is Melbourne!
The Dry River Garden featuring Dampiera and Thryptomene at RBG Cranbourne.
I had heard about the Australian Garden at RBG Cranbourne but hadn’t yet been able to find the time to visit until now. And in some ways I am glad I waited.
Because as I entered the gardens, I realised I had quite a treat in store. Lain before me was a spectacular garden filled with red sand and lined with a plethora of native plant species. The vision before me was contemporary, eye-catching and unmistakably Australian. I could hardly wait to get amongst it all!
The Dry River Garden looking back to the main building.
The landscaped Australian Garden was opened to the public in May 2006, after years of planning and development by the Royal Botanic Gardens. Designed by Taylor Cullity Lethlean and Paul Thompson (a landscape architect specialising in Australian flora), the gardens aim to showcase the beauty and diversity of Australian flora.
To begin with, the path leading to the main entrance is lined with a Tasmanian conifer (Callitris sp.) and she-oaks (Allocasuarina sp.) that provides a formal – almost traditional-looking entranceway. Visitors are directed through the foyer of the building before descending a series of steps to be confronted with the vista of the Red Sand Garden – a massive expanse of red sands planted with central Australian flora. The outlook is so spectacular one almost feels transported to the Northern Territory.
The rich blue flowers of Dampiera linearis.
The garden is designed as a circuit around the Red Sand Garden and the first themed garden was the Dry River Bed garden. This was filled with a huge selection of low-growing shrubs and groundcovers planted in broken rivulet-shaped garden beds. Various gravels, pebbles, barks and other textured materials provided a mulch of sorts between the young plants.
Of particular interest in this garden were the rich blue flowers of various Dampiera species, contrasted with the yellow of Senna artemisioides and the pink of Thryptomene saxicola and Lysiosepalum involucratum.
Further around the circuit was the Eucalypt Walk, which features members of the genus Eucalyptus. But perhaps the most interesting part of the garden is on the eastern side of the site.
The ‘Home Garden’, one of the exhibition gardens.
Here, there are a range of ‘exhibition gardens’ which are designed to showcase how Australian flora can be used in domestic gardens. Whilst the Dry River, Red Sand and Eucalypt Gardens feature both common and rare species, the exhibition gardens only feature species available at retail garden centres to allow visitors to recreate the plantings at home. I think this is a terrific idea.
My favourite exhibition garden was called the ‘Future Garden’. Designed by Site Office, this garden was the winner of a number of landscape architecture awards. Positioned in raised cell-shaped garden beds, the plants are mostly modern cultivars selected as much because of their garden origin as their beauty. Between them rise giant barber’s poles to add colour and interest. Whilst the concept may sound a little strange, it works surprisingly well and I was most impressed.
The ‘Future Garden’ features coloured poles amongst the plantings.
The final feature worth mentioning is the long rockpool waterway, which is paralleled by the giant sculptural Escarpment Wall designed by Greg Clark. Despite the strict water restrictions, the rockpool waterway was flowing and provided a relaxing feel to the area opposite the exhibition gardens.
The visit to the Australian Garden at RBG Cranbourne was especially timely as I enjoyed fine weather and I was lucky to see so many of the plants in flower.
Looking along the rockpool waterway with the escarpment wall on the far right.
I do have one criticism of the Australian Garden, and that pertains to the cafeteria, called the Boonerwurrung Café.
Mid-way through my tour of the Australian Garden I fancied a cup of coffee and something to eat, but entry to the café necessitated departure from the paid area of the garden with the obvious problem of needing to pay a second admission for re-entry. And whilst the coffee and food was of excellent quality, I felt the range was somewhat limited.
That said, these are minor criticisms of an otherwise excellent venue.
Floral detail of Pterostylis baptistii.
(See larger image at Photologium.com)
For anyone who wants to see the very best of our Australian flora in a contemporary setting, I thoroughly recommend the Australian Garden at the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne. Whilst there are a number of other public gardens in Melbourne that exhibit Australian plants (such as Maranoa Gardens in Balwyn and Karwarra Garden in Kalorama), none feature the contemporary landscaping style of the Australian Garden.
RBG Cranbourne lies 45 kilometres south-east of Melbourne and entry to the landscaped Australian Garden costs $9.25 for an adult.
