What lies around the bend, through the gorge, in the forest?

Visit this garden to jump, climb, crouch, crawl and wonder. With a bamboo forest, rocky gorge, running water and huggable trees, this is nature-based play at its best, especially designed to help children connect with the plant world.

The garden also includes a learning space, and a kitchen garden where children can see fresh fruit and vegetables growing. Much-loved by families and school groups, the Ian Potter Foundation Children’s Garden is maintained with the help of a wonderful and dedicated group of volunteers.

Looking for pollinators? 

"Keep an eye out for different types of butterflies that have flown here or been in those air channels up in the sky and found their way across the world to Melbourne. What else can you see visiting our Garden?" – Lenka Vanderboom, Learning Facilitator

Notes from our team

"The Children’s Garden is an absolute pleasure to curate and maintain. My favourite part is the kitchen garden. I find boundless joy in curating the seasonal plantings and in growing edible plants.

You will find well-known vegetables growing beside unusual ones—not all vegetables look like supermarket ones! We close in winter to replant, cut back seasonal grasses, prune fruit trees and hazard check, but most of all to allow the lawns to rest and regenerate after all the compaction from little and big feet!”. Horticultural Curator, Ian Potter Foundation Children's Garden.