A true believer in the power of plants, partnerships and doing what’s right

Rebecca Harcourt interviews Peter Symes, Curator at Cooktown Botanic Gardens

After moving over 3000 km to Cooktown last year Peter Symes is learning to adapt to his new environment, like the plants he so admires. I caught up with him recently to find out what inspired this move, and hear about his love for, and life in, botanic gardens.

Peter Symes

When did your passion for horticulture begin? How did it develop?

My interest in gardens, plants and horticulture probably started in my early teens, being influenced by my parents, grandparents and an unusual great‑aunt − a plantswoman before her time. She would say ‘I’d rather have a sack of cow manure than a sack of gold!’

I started an apprenticeship in horticulture in the City of Knox in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne in 1982. In May 1989 I accepted a position at the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria (RBGV) Melbourne as a horticulturist, which is where my real passion began. My first job there was at Government House, whose beautifully Guilfoyle‑designed gardens were managed by the RBGV at the time. My six years or so there really shaped my interest, with so much plant diversity, and people to work with, reflect off and learn from.

I’m probably more interested in plants and their adaptations than in specific ornamental plants alone. I am fascinated by plants that surprise you by their tenacity or toughness.

My first job there was at Government House, whose beautifully Guilfoyle-designed gardens were managed by the RBGV at the time.

You worked at the RBGV Melbourne for over 30 years, including your role as the Curator Horticulture. Can you reflect on your time there? What makes a ‘good’ curator?

My role at the RBGV became very diverse during the 32 years I was there, from getting my hands dirty in the gardens to writing policies. In the early 2000s, for example, I was in a position that focused on technical support, such as managing the lake systems. For this, I had to understand the dynamics of lake and wetland ecology. As climate change became an obvious risk for the gardens, I spent some time supporting projects at a technical level, anything from soil design to creating structures for plant selection, a real mixed palette.

I also developed my interest in applied horticultural science. At the RBGV I worked with instrumentation that helped us measure plant responses to various stimuli. This helped us improve our management and efficiency; for example, we developed industry‑leading skills in soil moisture sensing in which we were able to measure soil moisture at various depths. Melbourne experienced very hot days in January 2014, with four consecutive days over 40 °C. Using our new techniques, we could observe that plants ‘switched on’ their roots much deeper than usual, at around 70–80 cm, where the soil was still moist. When moisture was restored, the plants switched off their root growth at this depth! This demonstrated that ‘banking’ of soil moisture was a valid technique in saving water and in providing a backup for the plants in our landscape in the event of water supply scarcity.

Soil moisture use at depth in relation to high daily temperatures in a mixed woody collection in the RBGV Melbourne Gardens. Most water extraction by woody plants in usually in the top 0−30/50 cm of the soil profile, with moisture preferentially extracted from the upper levels first. This graph shows ‘switching on’ of root systems at a depth of 70 cm (green line) and then ‘switching off’ due to irrigation or rainfall wetting the upper soil profile (blue, red and black lines)

Our soil moisture research led to a water management technique called subsoil storage and recovery, in which irrigation occurs in winter, and plants use the ‘banked’ water later in the year. I think this research is a great example of where botanic gardens can help inform better horticultural practice elsewhere. It’s crucial for us to recognise that botanical horticulturists, in looking after the living collections, provide a vital public connection to botanic gardens. Others in the organisation can leverage off this and take it for granted at times – we need these engaging landscapes and plant diversity to attract people. Once they’re visiting, we can take the opportunity to expose them to the needs for plant conservation and botanical science, and tell plant‑based stories.

In terms of what makes a good curator, Richard Barley, a former director at RBGV, taught me the value of partnerships, relationships and working strategically with other organisations. I then tried to make this an art form for myself. I think our true success in the workplace is about our capacity to collaborate and to learn from anyone, whether they be an apprentice horticulturist or a university professor. Everyone has insights.

During my time in Melbourne, I developed a real love for botanic gardens. The first thing I often do when I go on holidays to another location is visit the local botanic garden. I’m interested in the diversity of botanic gardens big and small and try to be a strong advocate for them wherever I am. I will always try to support the values of botanic gardens and the functions they provide, from plant conservation to community support and wellbeing. I’ve become very interested in the capacity of plants to support our wellbeing and have done a fair amount of study on this, anything from PTSD, where in Scandinavia, gardens are used as part of its clinical treatment, to just sitting on a garden bench to chill out because you’ve had a stressful day.

I’m interested in the diversity of botanic gardens big and small and try to be a strong advocate for them wherever I am.

You’ve volunteered at Global Gardens of Peace. How did you become involved, and how does this tie in with your work?

Global Gardens for Peace is an Australian charity founded by Moira Kelly, a well‑known Australian humanitarian. Its aim is to create gardens for the psychosocial benefits they can bring to vulnerable communities, and it’s been a big part of my plant journey. Moira approached Andrew Laidlaw, the landscape architect who had designed RBGV Melbourne’s Children’s Garden, in late 2012 to assist her in building a children’s garden in the Gaza Strip. Andrew suggested that I be involved too, as I’d been looking for a way to become more engaged in community support. Since then, I’ve visited the Middle East at least three times and been to Gaza twice. On one of our visits, we met with the Hamas leadership and cheekily asked for 5,000 square metres of land for a garden. We were offered 20,000 square metres!

We had a lot of support from both Israelis and Palestinians. It made me realise that plants have an amazing power to cut across cultures and politics. If we could bring more conversations about plants into our lives, I believe we’d be a much happier and safer world. The benefits of plants and landscapes are enormous, and well‑researched. I saw real evidence of this – in Gaza, green spaces and gardens are considered more valuable than hospitals. There, people have said that gardens are like lifeboats. Unfortunately, due to the current economic and social situation in Gaza, the garden has yet to be built. It will probably take a long time.

Children playing in rubbish, Gaza Strip. Credit: Peter Symes Peter and Andrew Laidlaw meeting with school children in Gaza Strip to workshop ideas. Credit: Peter Symes

Studies have shown that where you have highly diverse landscapes, as in botanic gardens, the benefits in wellbeing are greater than in those with less, like a football oval or park. Working with Global Gardens of Peace made me realise how special botanic gardens and plant diversity truly are.

What led you to make the move up north? What do you hope to achieve, personally and professionally?

I’d been in Melbourne for a long time and reached a point of ‘what’s next?’ In the Melbourne Gardens, I had amazing and varied opportunities, with access to typically adequate resources, including a strong professional network. I seemed to be increasingly drawn to looking at roles in Queensland (in fact, I was born in Brisbane) and was interested to see what I could do in a small under‑resourced botanic garden, and I wanted to be better connected to a local community. I’d also developed an emerging interest in tropical flora as I’d been involved in organising collecting expeditions to subtropical Queensland to source plants that would do well in Melbourne under future climate‑warming scenarios.

Cooktown’s population is about 2,500 and it lies within the remote Cape York Peninsula. Cook Shire Council covers over 105,000 square kilometres of Cape York Peninsula (most of the area) and has a total population of about 4,400. The Cooktown Botanic Gardens are a little gem with a very strong heritage legacy, which appealed to me because of the similarities to the RBGV Melbourne Gardens.

The stand‑out feature for me, however, is the gardens’ connection to the work of Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, who were botanists travelling with Lieutenant James Cook’s circumnavigation of the world in the HM Bark Endeavour. The Endeavour hit the Barrier Reef and eventually limped on its way to be beached at what is now the Endeavour River on 17 June 1770 for repairs, which lasted about 48 days. Banks and Solander spent that time exploring and collecting plants of the region. They collected about 380 taxa, which is over twice as many plants as they collected when they called in at Botany Bay. About 300 of those taxa were new to Western science and many of those are now grown in the Cooktown Botanic Gardens.

The other amazing aspect of the Cooktown Botanic Gardens is that it lies within the 62‑ha Gallop Botanic Reserve, and including this managed area, is the only botanic garden in Australia (that I know of) with actual beach frontage (facing the Coral Sea). I love the fact that the plants up here exhibit staggering resilience and survive outside their typical habitats; for example, there’s Swamp Mahogany Lophostemon suaveolens growing among granite boulders on the crest of the hill, when you would expect them to be in swampy open forest.

The Cooktown Botanic Gardens team enjoying the view of Finch Bay from Gallop Botanic Reserve. Credit: Peter Symes

Working here is very challenging and stimulating, both physically and mentally. When I started, I felt like I recognised less than 5% of the plants. It’s a very difficult environment to work in, but I’m still drawn to the heritage, botanical diversity, history and potential for community connection of the gardens. We have about 56‑ha of natural areas to manage in the Gallop Botanic Reserve, including over 3 km of trails, and about 6‑ha of cultivated botanic garden. The natural area has remnant vegetation that is as important as the botanic garden itself, and we have some significant challenges from woody environmental weeds. It’s open, dry seasonal rainforest, not the wet tropical rainforest you might imagine.

After only eight months, I’ve already had amazing support from my new colleagues in Cook Shire Council and also from others such as Professor Darren Crayn, Director of the Australian Tropical Herbarium at James Cook University. The Curator at Cairns Botanic Gardens, Charles Clarke, has never failed to answer my perhaps stupid questions. Staff in the Queensland Department of Environment and Science such as John Hodgon have also been great. John has initiated the formation of a Tropical Botanic Gardens and Herbaria Forum to provide coordination and oversight on threatened species. I’ve also had terrific support from the locals and the gardens’ staff, who are very hard working and keep me on my toes in the field.

What do you think are the major challenges facing botanic gardens now and in the future?

That’s a big question! Climate change is the obvious one, in which the outcomes are so uncertain. We need to make decisions now based on experience we don’t have. We need to become better at modelling and projections, and even our best models will be wrong at times. Plants will continue to surprise us with their adaptability, but we can’t rely on that. The challenge for gardens is being prepared to look at what we currently do and ask: Can we do it better? This is difficult for smaller gardens. I really detest phrases such as: ‘We don’t have money (or time) for that’ as it kills innovation. Rather, we need to ask: ‘How could we do it? Can we network or collaborate with another organisation?’ I’ve heard it said that ‘it’s not so much about doing things right, it’s about whether we’re doing the right things’, and another phrase that I find useful to reflect on is ‘Are we doing what is right or what is easy’?

The challenge for gardens is being prepared to look at what we currently do and ask: Can we do it better?

Botanic gardens can be very traditional, but we need to challenge the way we do things. Botanic gardens have already had to adapt – they started out as medicinal gardens. Now, most are not, and gardens of the future might be something else.

I think outreach and extension will be important. Imagine if we could connect into the whole of Cape York Peninsula – encouraging communities to look after plants in their own backyard and to become more focused on protecting the planet. This is much more powerful than just displaying plants.

Another challenge facing gardens is how do we move beyond our boundaries? How do we go to people, rather than having them come to us? Some gardens have started community gardens, but I think it needs to be broader than that. This is something we could discuss at a BGANZ forum: ‘Beyond the botanic garden fence’. Do we appoint community ambassadors to promote botanic gardens?

The last challenge I want to mention is that compared to when I first started working in gardens, our work has become increasingly complex and intense. We need to be across so many things, such as environmental policies and legislation. Also, there are so many ways of sharing information these days it’s becoming quite bewildering and will only become more complex. How do we manage all these processes as well as achieving our aims?

For a young or not so young botanic gardens employee wanting to get promoted or change gardens or direction, what would you recommend they consider?

I recommend they take risks and be prepared to try. Be a problem‑solver, not a problem‑transferer. Be prepared to continuously learn, on your own and from others. Have a positive attitude. Ask questions. Be a bit stubborn – stick to your guns, don’t give up until you work it out. Be curious about the plant world. Be prepared to present and talk about what you do, at congresses, on panels, or simply talking to visitors in the garden. Sharing stories orally, as traditionally done by First Nations Peoples, is very powerful and can often be much more effective than other methods, such as signage and social media. People will remember your story, and you.

We need to encourage younger professionals to present − they have fresh, honest viewpoints and are not conditioned to say what they think people expect. When we rely on polished speakers, we sometimes lose sight of the infectious passion and interest that younger people have.

How important is BGANZ to member gardens?

BGANZ is the glue between gardens. It provides the catalyst for gardens to work together, via subgroups. It’s a network of networks.

It provides a platform for advocacy, especially for regional gardens. It has a role in supporting the smaller gardens. I’d like to see BGANZ become a stronger advocate for local government‑run botanic gardens.

BGANZ is also currently helping to deliver products that will help other gardens, not just nationally but internationally, for example, supporting projects of the Climate Change Alliance of Botanic Gardens.

What is your favourite plant?

My favourite plant depends on the time of the year. I don’t have a favourite plant, but my favourite groups of plants are probably the ones that exhibit amazing adaptability; for example, while in the USA in 2008, I encountered the desert plant Fouquieria splendens. It has a branching architecture that funnels most precipitation to the roots and can produce new leaves within 24−48 hours of rain (the plant is often leafless and has green stems for photosynthesis). Plants have to adapt to their environment − they can’t move away if conditions get tough.

Fouquieria splendens. Credit: Jo Brennan, Horticulture, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Melbourne.

What is your favourite botanic garden?

Another really hard question! I’ll show my bias and say my favourite botanic garden is Melbourne Gardens, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, because of its skilfully interwoven landscape design and botanical diversity. It has 7,000−8,000 taxa with large open lawn areas and long heritage vistas. But I like all gardens; they all have something unique to offer.

What are you currently reading/listening to/watching now that enriches your life?

I’m trying to find the time to better understand the changing climate risks for plants in tropical regions. From a botanic gardens perspective there’s not much research in this area, due to a shortage of these gardens in tropical regions. I want to learn what we can do to better understand tropical flora and their conservation threats, and how I can apply that knowledge in curating the Cooktown Botanic Gardens and fulfilling our role in conserving the flora of Cape York Peninsula.

Even after all these years, I’m still learning.

Path to Nature’s Powerhouse, Cooktown Botanic Gardens. Credit: Peter Symes