Nursery

Plant numbers | Plant sales | Open days and tours | Related links

In 2004 a $4m modern, spacious nursery opened at the northern boundary of the Gardens. It replaced the ageing and inefficient nursery which was centrally located in the Gardens. The old nursery site has since been replaced by the Red Centre Garden, which was opened to the public on 31 October 2013.
The design of the new nursery used the natural slope of the site for two levels - a lower services level built into the slope and an upper concrete platform to house the nursery itself.

Plant numbers

The nursery facilities can handle the production of up to 40,000 plants per year. Plants are grown for:

use in the Gardens and Glasshouses
permanent pots in the nursery, including those that are:
- frost sensitive
- clonal stock
- conservation collection (rare and endangered plants)
research purposes
other horticultural projects around Canberra

Plant sales

The nursery produces plants for the Australian National Botanic Gardens and, on a small scale, for associated research organisations. It does not sell plants to the public.
Public plant sales run by two independent organisations—the Australian Native Plant Society (Canberra Region) and the Growing Friends of the ANBG—are hosted at the Gardens in spring and autumn. Consult the above organisations or the Gardens' What's on page for details of these sales.

Open days and tours

Nursery open days for the public may be held during Science Week or at other times of the year. See What's on for more details. Group visits by botany, forestry or horticultural tertiary students can be arranged by contacting the Curator of the Living Collection.

Related nursery information