 |
||
|
||
Malmsbury Botanic Gardens has one of the loveliest settings of any of Victoria's numerous regional botanic gardens and is amongst the least pretentious. It nestles in a valley alongside the Coliban River, overlooked by a large stone railway viaduct at one end and Mollison St. (formerly the main road from Melbourne to the goldfields) at the other. In many ways it is more like an arboretum than a garden, full of mature trees of many species and without flower beds. There is a pinetum at one end, an avenue of elms, and a poplar avenue at the other end. Two Bunya Bunya Pines are on the National Trust register of significant trees. Close to the Town Hall is a lake, originally formed from a natural swamp connected to a billabong, with islands connected by a bridge and a crude stone fountain (no longer working). The lake has a resident flock of ducks and geese, which many people come to feed. The Gardens date back to the early 1860s when a number of other small Botanic Gardens were formed around Victoria. |
||
Malmsbury is 94 km north-west of Melbourne, just off the Calder Highway. Click on any photos or underlined text in the web site to access large pictures and more information. |
||
| Last updated March 2010. The information in this web site has been compiled by Roger Cousens and all errors are his. The assistance of Susan Walter (Malmsbury Historical Society), Peter Jones (Macedon Ranges Shire) and students from the Burnley Campus of the University of Melbourne is appreciated. Corrections and additions are welcome: please contact rcousens@unimelb.edu.au | ||
