History and Philosophy

The gardens have been developed as a Regional Botanic Garden, to showcase, and educate people about, the native flora of the area. Such Regional Botanic Gardens have been developed in all other states, reflecting the growing interest in, and appreciation of, our indigenous plants and communities. The prime movers in this project were Graham and Ingrid Roberts, native plants enthusiasts from Broadmarsh, who recognised the need for such a garden in Tasmania during their travels on the mainland. They gathered support from within the Australian Plants Society Tasmania group in Hobart. An action group was formed in 1999, including Keith and Sib Corbett, and this group was able to develop the gardens and see the project through to fruition over a period of 10 years. The gardens were opened to the public in April 2010. Funding for the development has come entirely from donations and grants (e.g. Tasmanian Community Fund, Australia’s Open Garden Scheme).

The 22 ha block of land was purchased with an initial donation from Mrs Glad Dodson, and work proceeded by a series of work bees over the following years. Some of the major tasks along the way have been construction of road access, fencing (to keep the wallabies, rabbits and sheep out), deep ripping and preparation of the compacted clay soils (after decades of use by trucks and a rock crusher), followed by landscaping and planting of the display garden beds, installation of a watering system, development of walking tracks, levelling and sealing of the car park and access road (done with our ‘home-made’ bitumen spreader), clearing and landscaping of the old bluestone quarry, involving the movement and placement of hundreds of large rocks (thanks to Colin Fehre and his 20-ton excavator!), development of a special Memorial Garden for lost friends, building of the picnic shelter and toilets (most of the materials were donated), and the building and installation of the special entry gates (designed by Sue Meech and constructed by Graham Roberts in his workshop).

The gardens were opened at a joyful ceremony on 21 April, 2010, by Senator Christine Milne, with the new gates unveiled at the same time by popular local mayor Bertrand Cadart.

A special large poster sign has been installed at the picnic shelter to show the history and development stages for the gardens.

The site before development - 1999 & The gardens after development - 2010

Ripping the clay - 2002 & Building the picnic shelter - 2009

Senator Christine Milne declares we are open – April 2010 & Mayor Bertrand Cadart unveils the new gates – April 2010