The Albury Botanic Gardens were officially formed in 1877, when Albury had a population of a mere 3,000 people - and lacked the relative wealth of the prosperous gold mining centres such as Bendigo and Ballarat. However, the completion of the railway from Melbourne to Wodonga in 1873 made Albury a natural channel for Riverina produce bound for the markets of the Victorian capital and gave the town a boost to its municipal self-confidence. Today, The Gardens have over 1,000 species, representing some 450 genera and 95 plant families. In particular, the rainforest collection is extensive for a garden in such a southerly latitude.
The Gardens give residents and tourists alike the opportunity to see and admire the historical and horticultural significance of the gardens.
Over the years, the gardens have won many prizes for layout, design, plant species and annual plantings. The curved paths and rounded shrub beds give a softer, less formal look to these gardens which once had straight paths and rows of pines, elms and other trees.
The newest addition to the gardens is the enchanting children's garden. The play space has a wonderful array of items for children to discover as well as trails to explore. Some of the things which may start your child's imagination running wild are the life-sized dinosaur with interactive speaking tubes, the living cubbies, a fairy temple, wetland and creek line, and the troll cave.
The ClimateWatch Trail at the Albury Botanic Gardens is a fantastic way to engage with our living collection of Australian native plants and contribute to valuable research in protecting our native plant species. Discover the trail and become citizen scientists in your own backyard. Your observations will help scientists understand how changes in temperature and rainfall are affecting behaviour of animals and plants. Your observations will be uploaded to the Atlas of Living Australia and can be accessed by the general public and scientists studying climate change.
The Gardens boast a self-guided heritage walk intended to introduce guests to some of the Gardens’ history and its significance for the City of Albury. Key features of the walk include the historic main entrance, English Elm, (Ulmus procera)-planted in 1877, Copper Beech Tree, Lone Pine-grown from a seed collected from the shores of Gallipoli, rose garden, rotunda and historic curators residence.
The Gardens cover an area of 4 hectares (10 acres) and are situated on the Murray River alluvial flood plain with hills on the western side sheltering it from the cold air flow in winter and the hot dry winds in summer. These factors have allowed the establishment of a range of Australian rainforest trees and shrubs normally found in Queensland and northern New South Wales. The Gardens offer a self-guided that explores the extensive rainforest plantation including the Bleeding Heart Tree (Omalanthus populifolius), Australian or Native Teak (Flindersia australis), which was named after Captain Matthew Flinders, one of Australia’s most famous early explorers, Weeping Lilly Pilly (Waterhousea floribunda), Native Quince or Smooth Rambutan (Alectryon subcinereus) and Black Bean Tree (Castanospermum australe) to name a few.
