Royal Botanical Garden Cranbourne
On Saturday I went to The Royal Botanical Gardens Cranbourne to see 'The Australian Garden' by Taylor Cullity Lethlean and Paul Thompson. It was a trip that I had been planning all year, as a good friend had recommend that I go, and then when 'the Australian Garden' won Landscaping Project of the Year at the World Architecture Festival last week, I decided that this was an excursion that had to be taken straight away.
The Royal Botanical Gardens Cranbourne (RBGC) was established in 1970 and is part of the Royal Botanical Gardens Melbourne. The RBGC covers approximately 40 hectares, contains one of Victoria's most precious areas of native bushland, and is home to more than 170,000 individual native plants. (1) The Australian Garden, which covers 15 hectares, lies on the north-east corner of the site and was originally a sand quarry. Stage one of construction finished in 2005 and Stage two was completed in 2012. The Australian Garden is a detailed exploration of the Australian landscape from the red desert to the coast. It is an incredible journey through gardens, up hills, over water, over rocks, and under trees. Every single plant is native to Australia - the breadth of colour, size and form was both astounding and inspiring. There was plenty of discrete educational signage allowing the visitor to learn how to set up their own native garden at home, and there were also areas showcasing scientific research on propagation of Australian natives.
The detailing of the landscaping was beautiful and inventive - garden beds were defined with 50mm rope, rain measuring sculptures constructed from monochromatic watering cans, stone paving of various textures laid out on angles and dissolving into the waterway edge, and small bushes cropped out of rocky surfaces or between large slabs of rock. There were masses of colour, with the largest garden bed of kangaroo paw I'd ever seen. This mass, abundant planting was contrasted with areas of minimal planting, such as the delicately laid out grass bushes precisely planted in a neat orthogonal grid. Not only were the display, survey and landscaping of native flora highly impressive, but the Architectural interventions, sparse but in balance with the landscape, were of equally high standard. The Kiosk to the north of the gardens was a clever twist on the Australian home - with vertical timber cladding and corrugated iron roofing cheekily framed in a stunning orange-red. The bus shelter was a small but perfectly crafted timber and copper structure, and the Melaleuca Spits were stylishly organic pontoons stretching peacefully across the water.
I spent nearly three hours in the Australian Garden and did not manage to see everything. There was just so much to look at and experience. And of course I did take some time to rest and enjoy the surrounds.
The Australian Garden is an amazing tribute to the Australian landscape and a truly wonderful demonstration of exceptional Landscape Architecture. As the Jury stated at the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects Victorian Awards in 2007:
'The Australian Garden captures the essence of what is great landscape architecture. Distinctly Australian landscape patterns have been referenced in a bold, graphic and sensitive way to provide a unique visitor experience. In doing so, the project has successfully reinterpreted what an Australian landscape is'.
Royal Botanical Gardens Cranbourne
Cnr of Ballarto Road & Botanic Drive, Cranbourne. Open 9am - 5pm daily
(1) RBGC Map and Guide
Quote from www.tcl.net.au/projects/cultural-interpretative/australian-garden
