Auburn Botanic Gardens | |
---|---|
Type | Botanical, fauna, forest, wildlife park, nature reserve |
Location | Auburn, New South Wales, Australia |
Coordinates | 33°51′31.54″S151°1′2.38″E / 33.8587611°S 151.0173278°E |
Area | 13.1 hectares (32 acres) |
Opened | 1977 |
Owned by | Cumberland Council |
Visitors | 200,000 to 250,000 |
Status | Open all year |
Website | www |
The Auburn Botanic Gardens are a botanical garden located in Auburn (a suburb of Sydney), New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1977 and covers an area of 9.7 hectares (24 acres). [1] There are two lakes, a waterfall and bridges. Duck River winds through the garden. The garden is maintained by Cumberland Council. It is open daily, and there is a small entry fee on weekends. The Japanese gardens, which have hosted couples from overseas, are one of the main attractions. [2]
The Auburn Botanic Gardens attract thousands of visitors each year, including a significant number from outside Australia, who come to enjoy the surrounds of the gardens, which provide a variety of flora and fauna. The topography of the site, which slopes gently towards the Duck River, has been altered to create different perspectives and microclimates. Three habitats are intended to provide an experience of Australia in the city – the woodlands theatre, the native garden and billabong, and the Australian rainforest. The gardens were opened by New South Wales governor Sir Roden Cutler on 11 September 1977. [2]
Prior to construction, the area was mined for clay tile production early in the 1900s. The area was then used as a waste landfill site. These soils were eventually excavated to create the hills and lakes that now lie in the gardens. The gardens were designed by Eric Black, chief engineer of Auburn Municipal Council from 1949 to 1979. [3] Community groups have added a bonsai garden and an aviary to the basic plan. The native fauna reserve, set up in consultation with Taronga Zoo, is a later addition by the council's parks and gardens department. [2]
The gardens owe their origin to the County of Cumberland planning scheme (1946–1951) which set aside the area along the banks of the Duck River for recreation. Both before and after the scheme, the council dumped rubbish and sewage along the banks and in brick and tile clay-pits for many years. In July 1968, Black presented a detailed report to the council on proposing a mixture of sporting grounds and intensive cultivation of the Duck River parklands. Black envisaged a series of gardens representing national styles from around the world. This vision was later reduced, though some elements survived, including the Japanese gardens and lake, the formal gardens and reflection pool, and the different Australian habitats. [2]
Construction work on the Botanic Gardens site began in 1969 and involved the excavation of the Japanese Gardens Lake. In 1973, hundreds of trees were planted in the Avenue of Remembrance, Garden of Trees and Woodland area. The next crucial step was when the Whitlam government (1972–1975) pioneered federal government recognition of local government through direct funding. Through the regional development program, Auburn Council received funding in 1974 and 1975–76 to develop the gardens. [2]
The gardens have matured since their opening, to the extent that some areas have had to be replanted after maturing trees and plants came to the end of their life cycles. The New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Branch of the Department of Environment and Climate Change has identified the gardens as part of the recovery plan for certain environments and species, including Cooks River clay plain scrub forest, Acacia pubescens (downy wattle) and Wahlenbergia multicaulis (Tadgell's bluebell). [2]
Other plant species in the garden include pine, cherry blossom and azalea, which are present in the Japanese Garden. Species such as frangipani, lavender and sage are found in the Scented Garden. Floribunda, grandiflora, petunias, garden roses and David Austin Roses are present in the Rose Gardens. The Garden's woodland area has a thick canopy of foliage with tremendous amount of vegetation that would produce damp littered leaves and a moldy floor. A remnant of Cumberland Plain Woodland, the woodland's structural form is an open-forest to low woodland with a shrub by understory. [2]
Opened in 1994, the Fauna Reserve contains wallabies, kangaroos, emus, rufous bettong, red-bellied black snakes and the common wombat. The Reserve is a built structure which allows the public to walk through and view native animals within their own environment. The aviary was officially opened on 5 December 1988 and it contains Australian and Asian bird species. Migrating birds also frequently visit the Botanic Gardens. Outside of the fauna reserve, animals such as peacocks, swans and other native birds wander around the garden freely. [2]
Healesville Sanctuary, formally known as the Sir Colin MacKenzie Sanctuary, is a zoo specialising in native Australian animals. It is located at Healesville in rural Victoria, Australia, and has a history of breeding native animals. It is one of only two places to have successfully bred a platypus, the other being Sydney's Taronga Zoo. It also assists with a breeding population of the endangered helmeted honeyeater.
Greater Western Sydney (GWS) is a large region of the metropolitan area of Greater Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia that generally embraces the north-west, south-west, central-west, far western and the Blue Mountains sub-regions within Sydney's metropolitan area and encompasses 11 local government areas: Blacktown, Blue Mountains, Camden, Campbelltown, Cumberland, Fairfield, Hawkesbury, Liverpool, Parramatta, Penrith and Wollondilly. It includes Western Sydney, which has a number of different definitions, although the one consistently used is the region composed of ten local government authorities, most of which are members of the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC). The NSW Government's Office of Western Sydney calls the region "Greater Western Sydney".
Auburn is a Western Sydney suburb in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Auburn is located 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) west of the Sydney central business district and is in the local government area of Cumberland City Council, having previously been the administrative centre of Auburn Council. The suburb was named after Oliver Goldsmith's poem The Deserted Village, which describes 'Auburn' in England as the "loveliest village of the plain".
The Wollongong Botanic Garden is located in the Wollongong suburb of Keiraville at the foot of Mount Keira in New South Wales, Australia. It is the local botanical gardens of the Illawarra and was established in 1964. It was opened in September 1970.
The Auburn City Council was a local government area in the Greater Western Sydney region of New South Wales, Australia. Prior to its 2016 merger, the council area was located about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) west of the Sydney central business district and had a culturally diverse population. Notable features in the area included the Gallipoli Mosque, located in the suburb of Auburn. The suburb of Sydney Olympic Park, the site of the main venues of the 2000 Summer Olympics, was located in the council area.
The Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan is a 416-hectare (1,030-acre) botanical garden located in a hilly area of the southwestern Sydney suburb of Mount Annan, between Campbelltown and Camden, New South Wales. It is the largest botanical garden in Australia, specializing in native plants, with a collection of over 4000 species. Officially opened in 1988, it was known as Mount Annan Botanic Garden, until 2011.
Sydney is well endowed with open spaces and has many natural areas. Many of these exist even within the compact city centre. These include the Chinese Garden of Friendship and Hyde Park. The metropolitan area contains several national parks, including the Royal National Park, the second oldest national park in the world, which occupies an area of 132 square kilometres. Completing Sydney's wide array of green spaces, the leader is the Royal Botanic Garden, with its large amount of green spaces, lush plants and colourful flowers.
The geography of Sydney is characterised by its coastal location on a basin bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the east, the Blue Mountains to the west, the Hawkesbury River to the north and the Woronora Plateau to the south. Sydney lies on a submergent coastline on the east coast of New South Wales, where the ocean level has risen to flood deep river valleys (rias) carved in the Sydney sandstone. Port Jackson, better known as Sydney Harbour, is one such ria.
The Cumberland Plain, also known as Cumberland Basin, is a relatively flat region lying to the west of Sydney CBD in New South Wales, Australia. An IBRA biogeographic region, Cumberland Basin is the preferred physiographic and geological term for the low-lying plain of the Permian-Triassic Sydney Basin found between Sydney and the Blue Mountains, and it is a structural sub-basin of the Sydney Basin.
The Duck River is a perennial stream and southern tributary of the Parramatta River, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
The Western Sydney Parklands is an urban park system and a nature reserve located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The NSW government has spent around $400 million for the park. The park is governed by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and is listed under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974. The Parklands begin in the north in the City of Blacktown, cross the City of Fairfield, and end in the City of Liverpool.
The Central Gardens Nature Reserve, also called Central Gardens, is a protected nature reserve located in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1976, the 12-hectare (30-acre) reserve, garden and fauna and wildlife park is situated in the suburb of Merrylands and is managed by Cumberland Council. The park is regionally important and it attracts visitors outside the Cumberland local government area. The bushland contains remnants of Cumberland Plain Woodland and is approximately 3.5 hectares.
The Nurragingy Nature Reserve is an Australian open urban park and forest, nature reserve and garden, it is a protected area owned by Western Sydney Parklands Trust and operated by Blacktown City Council that opened in 1981. The Nature Reserve is a site of state heritage significance because of its combination of historical, social and cultural values. The site was the first land grant ever given to Aboriginal people in Australia.
Wetherill Park Nature Reserve, also called Wetherill Park Reserve, is an urban park and a nature reserve situated in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The reserve contains an open woodland and bushland which feature native plants, such as eucalyptus trees, and recreational areas.
Brenan Park is a 20-hectare (49-acre) urban park situated in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Primarily categorised as a sports field, the reserve contains an open grassland, bushland and recreational areas within the vicinity of native plants, such as eucalyptus trees. It is named after John Ryan Brenan, who founded the suburb of Smithfield in 1836.
Rosford Street Reserve, or Rosford Reserve, is an urban park and nature reserve situated in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The reserve contains an open grassland, woodlands and recreational areas surrounded by native plants, such as eucalyptus trees. Janice Crosio Oval is a fenced sports ground incorporated within the reserve. The park is one of the largest in the Fairfield LGA area.
The Cumberland Plain Woodland, also known as Cumberland Plain Bushland and Western Sydney woodland, is a grassy woodland community found predominantly in Western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, that comprises an open tree canopy, a groundcover with grasses and herbs, usually with layers of shrubs and/or small trees.
Prospect Nature Reserve is a nature reserve and recreational area that is situated in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, which incorporates the Prospect Reservoir, and also features picnic spots, lookouts, walking tracks and BBQ areas within the Australian bush. It is located within the Blacktown City local government area, but is also close to the boundaries of Cumberland Council and the City of Fairfield.
The ecology of Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia, is diverse for its size, where it would mainly feature biomes such as grassy woodlands or savannas and some sclerophyll forests, with some pockets of mallee shrublands, riparian forests, heathlands, and wetlands, in addition to small temperate and subtropical rainforest fragments.
The Grey Box Reserve, or Greystanes Grey Box Reserve, is a small nature reserve situated in the suburb of Greystanes, New South Wales in Western Sydney, Australia. A remnant bushland of the Cumberland Plain Woodland, it mainly features native vegetation. The reserve is so-named because of its abundance of Eucalyptus moluccana, reflecting the pre-European cultural landscape of the area.
As of this edit, this article uses content from "Auburn Botanic Gardens by Edmund Perrin and Terry Kass, 2008" , which is licensed in a way that permits reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, but not under the GFDL. All relevant terms must be followed.