About the Gardens
The Botanical Theme Gardens
Rare and Endangered Plants
Natural Bushland
Support the Gardens
Corporate Sponsors
The Hunter Region Botanic Gardens cover an area of 140 hectares, much of which has been preserved as natural bushland. The original inhabitants of the area were the Woromi Aboriginals. The site was managed by the Hunter Water Corporation from 1920 to 1986 when it was leased by the Corporation to the Hunter Region Botanic Gardens Ltd, a non-profit company of volunteers responsible for designing, developing and managing the Gardens.
The aim of the company is:
Since 1986, through the steady work of the volunteers, and with support from members and sponsors, the Gardens' collections and Herbarium have flourished, culminating in 1998 in receiving the 'Significant Regional Attraction' award in the Hunter Regional Awards for Excellence in Tourism.
The Botanical Collections, which are predominantly Australian flora, are arranged into a number of Theme Gardens including acacias, Australian plants for the home garden, succulents, banksias, hakeas and grevillias, plants of the Hunter Region, boronias and their relatives, prostantheras, eucalypts (mostly of the Hunter Region), proteas of South Africa, local water plants, native myrtles, palms, rainforest plants, Australian arid plants, conifers, cycads and ferns. Visit the collections in person or on our virtual tour.
The Hunter Region Botanic Gardens cultivates many rare and endangered plants. A major threat to the Australian flora is land clearing. Botanic Gardens assist plant conservation by undertaking research and growing and conserving the seeds of rare and endangered plants. You can help conserve flora and the animals they support by supporting the Botanic Gardens, maintaining areas of native bush on private land, and not collecting or damaging plants from natural areas.
Examples of rare and endangered plants can be found in the Grevillea Garden, Lamiaceae Garden, Rutaceae Bed, Hakea and Banksia Beds, Plants of the Hunter Region, Liliaceae Bed, Acacia Garden, Parry Place, Succulent Garden, Australian Arid Plants Garden, Gundabooka Trail, Rainforest Area, Fern Gully, and Palm Garden.
The Gardens feature a large expanse of natural bushland with several walking tracks up to 6km in length. The walks provide an opportunity to see local plants and wildlife including numerous birds, goannas, possums, wallabies and koalas.
The sandy soil supports forests of eucalypts dominated by blackbutts and bloodwoods with a tall sub-canopy of Banksias and Christmas Bush. The understorey of shrubs bloom with colourful wildflowers in spring. The Burrawang cycad is common throughout the gardens and its seed cone is the basis for the design of the Garden logo. The site also contains two wetlands, one of which may be viewed from a specially constructed platform.
An area of bushland called the Gundabooka Trail is used to indicate the plants which were important to the local Kooris and were used for food, medicine and other purposes. Gundabooka is a Koori word for 'meeting place', and the trail includes a meeting area ideal for schools and tour groups.