botanic gardens sydney Archives

botanic gardens sydney

Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden: Sydney’s Best Parks & Gardens

August 18, 2020 / Bush, Outdoor Play, Sydney Life / 0 comment

Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden: Sydney’s Best Parks & Gardens

The Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden is a 123-hectare garden on Sydney’s north shore. Established in 1968, the garden is dedicated to preserving and showcasing Australian plants.

Located adjacent to the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, the garden is home to two endangered ecological communities; Duffys Forest and Coastal Upland Swamp as well as 18 threatened species of flora and fauna.

The Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden is a beautiful spot to picnic, bushwalk and learn about Australian flora and fauna.

While some areas of the garden have been cleared from bush such as Lambert’s Clearing, which has a large grassed area with picnic tables and a children’s playground, most of the garden is in a natural bush state.

The Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden is tended by volunteers from the Australian Plants Society, who cut samples of common wildflowers in bloom and place them on a labelled stand in front of the St Ives Visitor Centre.

When visiting the Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden, your first stop should be the aforementioned St Ives Visitor Centre to collect a map, and take a quick look at the stick insects and snake on display inside. The visitors centre sells cold drinks and ice blocks.

There is no cafe inside the garden so bring a picnic lunch and plenty of water. There are lots of picnic tables dotted around the gardens for use.

There are bathroom facilities in several places around the garden, including at the visitors centre.

While most of the garden is quite wild, there are a few features of interest: The Knoll Garden
(a display garden containing native plants from around Australia), the Fern House, Caley’s Pavilion Gardens (featuring a wide variety of showy native flowers, rainforest trees and bush foods such as macadamia, Davidson’s Plum and native ginger).

Use the map to take one of many walks around the garden. We took the Solander Trail which took about 40 minutes to complete and had plenty of lovely wildflowers along the path.

Plenty of the trails are step-free and paved, suitable for strollers or wheelchairs. Other “adventure tracks” offer an off-road trekking experience.

Step-free paths
The Senses Track
The Senses Track is located at the top of the Wildflower Garden opposite the Visitor Centre.

There are two loops of 400m and 500m respectively, which each take ten minutes or so at a steady pace. Interpretive signage reveals interesting facts about the bushland. This is a great track for kids to enjoy.

The Solander Trail
The Solander Trail is an almost 2km circuit that takes visitors past some of the best wildflowers in the garden. It takes about 40 minutes to an hour to complete.

The Brown Trail
The Brown Trail is a short detour off the Solander Trail route that offers a view of Donnelly’s Swamp and access to the Mueller Track.

There is also a short, step-free path that winds through Caley’s Pavilion Gardens and boardwalk over the wetland area.

All of these paths are adjacent to accessible picnic areas and toilets.

Short adventure tracks
Banks Track
The Banks Track is 200m in length and takes about 5 minutes.

Smith Track
Smith’s Track is 400m in length and takes 10-15 minutes.

Bentham Track
The Bentham Track is 400m long and takes about 10 minutes.

Caley Track
Caley Track is 200m long and takes about 5 minutes.

Wilderness path
Mueller Track
A strenuous walk of 4km in length.

I really enjoyed looking around the Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Nursery, located inside the Visitors Centre. The nursery specialises in local indigenous plants. It also stocks a variety of native plants suitable for planting in Sydney gardens.

Garden runs programs for kids throughout the year. You can see what’s coming up online.

Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden,
420 Mona Vale Road, St Ives (entry off Richmond Avenue).
kmc.nsw.gov.au

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Auburn Botanic Gardens Sydney

May 23, 2020 / Outdoor Play, Playgrounds, Sydney, Sydney Life / 0 comment

Auburn Botanic Gardens Sydney

The delightfully zen Auburn Botanic Gardens are located in Auburn, in South-West Sydney. Established in 1977, the gardens are surprisingly tucked away in a suburban pocket between rows of houses. Spread over 9.7 hectares, the gardens are a serene place to enjoy nature.

The Auburn Botanical Gardens are broken into several distinct sections.

Japanese Garden

The most well-known is the Japanese garden, which a row of cherry blossom trees that blossom each spring, torii gates, a red bridge, waterfall and lake. The koi carp fish in the lake are beautiful, and when we visited there was a large cluster of peacocks, swans and ducks around the lake.

Fauna Reserve

Native animals such as kangaroos, wombats, wallabies and emus live in this nicely spread out nature reserve. Animal feedings take place daily (please don’t feed the animals yourself).

Sunken Rose Garden

This lovely area blooms in October and November.

Reflection Pool

The tree-lined pool is a haven for the many wild birds who live in the gardens, including peacocks and swans. It’s particularly beautiful in autumn.

Scented Garden

This part of the gardens smells amazing. It’s primarily used as an event space eg for weddings.

Equal Access Playground

Built in between the beautiful trees, the playground feature lots of accessible features including a liberty swing, maze and interactive play structure.

Australian Native and Rainforest Gardens

Set around a stunning billabong, these gardens are beautiful to wander through.

Things to know about visiting Auburn Botanic Gardens

Entry is $4 per person. Children under 16 free and residents of Cumberland Council are free.

The garden is largely accessibly for strollers and wheelchairs.

Picnics are allowed.

There are picnic tables and bbq facilities located outside the gardens near the carpark, with a toilet block and playground.

Free parking is available in the carpark outside the gardens.

There is no cafe inside the gardens to BYO food and drinks.

Auburn Botanic Gardens Sydney
Chisholm Rd &, Chiswick Rd, Auburn
Hours: Daily 9am-5pm.
During daylight saving time, Monday to Friday 9am-5pm, Saturday and Sunday from 9am-6pm.
cumberland.nsw.gov.au/auburn-botanic-gardens

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The Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan + Melaleuca House Cafe

April 25, 2016 / Mount Annan, South West, Sydney / 8 Comments

We are frequent visitors to The Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney’s CBD, but had never been to the Australian Botanic Garden at Mount Annan, in Sydney’s south-west, until recently.

The gardens are massive! 416 hectares of botanic gardens set in a hilly area of the southwestern Sydney suburb of Mount Annan. I’ve driven past the gardens many times on my way between Campbelltown and Camden, and decided that it was time to see what beautiful plants they had on offer for myself.

The Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan are free to enter. They are popular place for families in Sydney’s west and south-west to visit for picnic lunches, due to their large grassed areas and excellent facilities. At the entrance to the gardens you can find the welcome centre (pick up a map!) and the public bathrooms, including a baby change/disabled toilet.

We had lunch at the on-site cafe, Melaleuca House. The prices were higher than I’d expected for a cafe inside a garden, but the food was excellent quality and apart from the “Vintage Tea Pyramid Selection” tea that I ordered for $3.90 that turned out to be a Twinings teabag dropped in water, I felt like it was a great meal.

As we arrived after the breakfast menu had finished, we ordered the Roast Pumpkin Salad (with zucchini, roast capsicum, goat’s cheese, oak leaf toasted pine nuts & pesto dressing, $20.90) Jumbo Scone (served with jam and cream, $4.90), Herb Crusted Chicken Tenders (with paprika lime dipping sauce, crisp garden salad & honey-lemon dressing, $19.90), Grilled Barramundi Fillet (served with bush tomato relish fresh lemon wedge & crisp garden salad & chunky chips, $24.90).

Kids aged 10 yrs and under can order off the reasonably-priced kids’ menu, which includes Grilled Sausage & Chips, Toasted Ham, Cheese Sambo & Chips, Cheese Burger & Chips and Chicken Nuggets & Chips. All kids’ meals cost $12 and include a Pop-Top Fruit Juice.

When we arrived the table next to ours had been waiting a long time for their meals and we were a bit concerned that ours would similarly take ages, but the food all arrived quickly, and the unanimous agreement was that it was all delicious.

Just past the cafe is a fenced playground with decent shade. It includes several climbing structures, swings and a flying fox. We had a hard time removing Cheese to go and explore the gardens, but promised her lots of rocks to climb as an incentive.

The gardens are quite spread out, and if you have the time and inclination there is a lot of walking you can do. We did a shorter route through the main gardens up and down the main hill area, climbing over rocks and running down grassy slopes. Along the way we explored native Australian plants and wandered through flower beds with butterflies dancing around us.

A flat, cement path winds around the gardens making them fully accessible for strollers and wheelchairs (it’s worth noting that the cafe area, particularly the outdoor seating, is also very suitable for large strollers or wheelchairs, too).

A new addition to the garden is the Jurassic Garden Augmented Reality trail.

Download the app, pick up a map at Information, and take a journey back through time through the garden to spot Australian Dinosaurs and megafauna next to plants that were important to them.

Once you’ve downloaded the app to your smartphone or tablet, point your device at the Jurassic Garden AR marker and watch the creature come to life.

The Australian Botanic Gardens Mount Annan are just beautiful, and are a welcome place to enjoy the beauty of nature in the heart of southwestern Sydney.

The Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan
Narellan Road, Mount Annan 2567
Australia
The Garden is open every day of the year.
Autumn, Winter and Spring: 8am-5pm
Summer: 8am-7pm
Prices: FREE
Online

Melaleuca House is open Mon-Fri 10am-4pm, Sat & Sun 8am-4pm.