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Exhibition Gardens

Visitors can learn more about how to use Australian plants at home when they visit the Exhibition Gardens.  Our knowledgeable Volunteer Master Gardeners can offer practical advice and gardening tips. 

The five Exhibition Gardens are:

 

—       the diversity garden

—       the water saving garden

      the future garden

      the home garden

      the children’s backyard garden

Red Sand
Garden





Rockpool
Waterway



Dry
River Bed




Arid
Garden




Eucalypt
Walk




Exhibition
Gardens




A Bushland
experience

 




the diversity garden 

Australia’s landscape is diverse, both in look and botanically, and yet historically, European Australians have tended to characterise the land as empty rather than full. This garden aims to dispel this myth.  The Diversity Garden is an abstract journey through the 85 bio-regions of Australia. 

Landscape designer: Site Office

 

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the water saving garden

 

The Water Saving Garden conveys the significance of water and its relationship to plant selection and suitability.  The Water Saving Garden promotes and explains issues of water conservation and the wise use of water in home gardens.

 

The garden is divided into three terraces linked by a number of paths and walkways that will demonstrate three distinct watering regimens. The terraces are the dry terrace, the water-conscious terrace and the water wise terrace.

 

Landscape designer: MDG Landscape Architects

 

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the future garden


The Future Garden is an exploration of the reality and dilemmas posed by the artificial manipulation of plants to achieve particular commercial or aesthetic effects.  This includes horticultural techniques such as grafting, hybridisation, the development of cultivars and, most recently, plant bioengineering, all seeking to alter the naturally occurring form of a plant.

 

The garden is designed to raise awareness of the issues that as a society we will need to understand in the coming years if we are to understand the implications of these new technologies, at the same time showcasing a variety of commercially available Australian plants that have been developed using these techniques.

 

Landscape designer: Site Office

 

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the home garden


The Home Garden seeks to emphasise the design possibilities of Australian plants while taking the visitor on a journey through Australian garden design history.

 

The garden comprises fragments of different gardens covering a variety of periods, styles and scales. The design will feel familiar to many. They have been adapted from gardens featured in Australian books, magazines and television makeover programs. By substituting the exotic plants used in many period gardens with native plants, we show how it is possible to use native plants in established and new home gardens to achieve many different results.

 

Landscape designer: Coomes Landscape Architecture & Urban Design

 

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the Kid’s backyard garden


The Kid’s Backyard is located near the Rockpool Pavilion. Rather than a typical suburban playground, with traditional off-the-shelf 'plastic' playground equipment, this is a space for children's imagination and exploration using organic materials, especially red-gum timbers.

 

All of the elements are derived from natural materials, many recycled or salvaged forestry timbers, and the layout and detailing reinforces an organic theme.

 

Landscape designer: Mark McWha Pty Ltd

 

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Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne incorporates the National Herbarium of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne and the Australian Research Centre for Urban Ecology.