What it is
The garden was established in 1868 on a small site and enlarged in 1871; today it covers about 25 hectares of steep valleys and ridges. Remnants of native forest grow alongside 19th-century conifer plantings, and the James Hector Pinetum, opened in 1992, continues that tradition.
In the lower part of the garden, the Lady Norwood Rose Garden, created between 1950 and 1953 over a filled-in gully, has 110 formal rose beds. Next to it, the Begonia House opened in 1960 and was then the largest glasshouse in the southern hemisphere. The garden also has the Treehouse visitor centre, a duck pond, the Sound Shell, a Henry Moore sculpture, and at its upper end Space Place at Carter Observatory, next to the cable car terminus.
Getting there by bus
Buses run along Glenmore Street on the western side of the garden. Botanic Garden - Glenmore Street (opposite) (stop 4313) and Glenmore Street at Botanic Garden (stop 5313), about 270 metres away, are served by routes 2, 13, 33 and 34, and the same routes stop at Tinakori Road at St Mary Street (stop 4312) near the lower entrance.
Another option is the cable car: the CCL runs from Lambton Quay to Kelburn - Cable Car Station (stop KELB), about 300 metres from the garden's centre, from where paths lead downhill through the garden. Salamanca - Cable Car Station (stop SALA) is also within walking distance.
