Amansal
Warrnambool Botanic Gardens
As was common across Australia, the Warrnambool Botanic Gardens was originally established on a different site near the Hopkins River in east Warrnambool. The curator at the time the gardens were moved was Charles Scoborio; he continued for a time as the first curator of the gardens in their current location. The Warrnambool Botanic Gardens is one of the earliest botanic gardens in Victoria and is one of the most intact of William Guilfoyle’s provincial botanic garden designs. William Guilfoyle was born in Chelsea, England in 1840 and migrated to Australia in 1853 with his parents. His father was a botanist and ran a nursery in the Tweed River district in northern New South Wales. William and his father undertook the landscape design and planting of residential properties in New South Wales. Guilfoyle travelled as part of the HMS Challenger’s scientific expedition to the South Pacific where many new plant species were discovered. Recording and working with tropical plants gave William inspiration to use palms and unusual plant combinations. The Warrnambool Botanic Gardens are Guilfoyle’s first design layout of a botanic garden, with several in the area to follow (Koroit, Camperdown, Horsham and Hamilton). He was also involved in the schematic layout of several private gardens in the western district. In 1873 Guilfoyle replaced Baron Ferdinand von Mueller as the Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne and he was commissioned by the Borough of Warrnambool in 1877 to design the layout for the Warrnambool Botanic Gardens. Von Mueller established many networks for plant and seed collecting throughout provincial Victoria and from the 1860’s there was a great horticultural interest in various private and public gardens swapping and propagating plants. Guilfoyle was reputedly a broad scale ‘landscaper and plantsman’. He benefited from the state-wide interest in plants initiated by von Mueller, and embraced by private property owners and curators of gardens in Victoria and New South Wales. The Warrnambool Botanic Gardens combine the picturesque and gardenesque styles. It features expansive sweeping lawns and curvilinear paths where view cones subtly interplay between broad scale and contained spaces. A man-made lake with a curvilinear form, strategically located and spaced specimen trees; and dense shrub beds, particularly under groups of existing trees contribute to this classic style. The gardens have an extensive collection of plants, including remnants of original planting, at least 40 different coniferous species (including the rare Pinus torreyana) within the Pinetum and the perimeter. The Lone Pine in the centre of the gardens was planted in 1934. It is one of the four original Pinus brutia planted in Victoria). In addition there are aquatic plants within the lake, and mixed ferns. The garden’s large open lawn areas are utilised by many casual visitors, for community events and wedding ceremonies. The gardens are also a popular place for photography and informal family/social gatherings.
References
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