Melbourne Gardens, the iconic heritage garden of Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, is one of the most beautiful and most visited botanic gardens in the world. Its stunning landscapes and rich collection of world plants have attracted locals and tourists for 169 years.
Melbourne Gardens holds a collection of more than 50,000 plants from all around the world. Keeping these collections thriving, maintaining a healthy habitat for local birds and animals, conserving the historic landscape, and providing exceptional experiences for our visitors all depend upon one essential element – water.
Since 2002, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria has made a significant investment to securing a sustainable source of irrigation water for the Melbourne Gardens. The Working Wetlands project is a truly innovative water management system that has revitalised the lake system at Melbourne Gardens and significantly reduced its reliance on potable water for irrigation.
Building on landscape features originally designed by William Guilfoyle in the 1870s, the Working Wetlands project has created a contemporary solution to water management in a heritage landscape, a solution that will continue to benefit generations to come.