Charles Weston began the first arboretum in the ACT (Westbourne Woods) in 1914 at Yarralumla to ‘add ornament to the city’ and ‘so all classes of trees could be … tested with a view to being planted throughout the Territory’.

In 1929, Charles Lane-Poole commenced planting an arboretum (Blundells) at the foot of Mt Coree, with a particular emphasis on species which might be used in industrial forest plantations. Blundells eventually became the largest of the non-urban arboreta in the Territory. It was progressively complemented by more than 30 others at sites ranging from Mt Ginini to the Cotter Homestead, Kowen, Jervis Bay and Jerilderie.

During World War 2, interest in fuel prompted the establishment of small trials of eucalypts around the city to assess the prospects of growing firewood. In the 1950s, Lindsay Pryor tested newly-introduced trees and shrubs at a site near the Yarralumla Woolshed (the Cotter Plots) and on what is now the northern shore of Lake Burley Griffin, opposite Government House (Lindsay Pryor National Arboretum) which was gazetted 1 August 2001.

Fire has been a significant factor in the history of the ACT arboreta. Much of the early planting at Blundells and Reids Pinch was burnt in 1939, while the 2003 fires destroyed almost all sites west of the city — only Bendora Arboretum escaped. Plans for the Canberra National Arboretum, adjacent to the Pryor Arboretum emerged from the ashes of the 2003 fires.

The maturing trees in the ACT’s arboreta are a significant and increasingly valued community asset. Westbourne Woods was placed on the Register of the National Estate in 1981 as a historically important arboretum and the heritage value of Bendora Arboretum was officially recognised in 2004.

Other notable arboreta around the world include: