The new herbarium landscape at the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan: enhancing a world‑class botanic science hub

Jarryd Kelly, Supervisor Horticulture, and Sitthichat Bamrung, Landscape Designer, Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan

The year 2022 marks the first anniversary of the Australian Institute of Botanical Science (AIBS) so it was fitting that to coincide with this milestone, the new National Herbarium of New South Wales (NSW) was officially opened. After 170 years at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney (RBGS), the herbarium has found a new home in a world‑class, purpose‑ built facility at the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan, the country’s largest botanic garden. Inspired by the NSW floral emblem and designed in the shape of a waratah seed pod, the National Herbarium of NSW is now on D’harawal land and reinforces the garden’s connection to Country, as a place for reconciliation and gathering.

Jarryd Kelly Sitthichat Bamrung

Aerial view of the completed herbarium. Credit: Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan

How it all began

While we know First Nations People collected botanical resources long before European settlers, the herbarium serves as a scientific institution housing specimens collected on some of the first voyages to Australia. Botany is one of the oldest branches of science and botanists have been sampling plants from all over the world for centuries. Their inquisitive nature and exceptional record keeping has created an invaluable source of data we rely on every day.

Plant samples collected from the field are dried, labelled and stored in herbaria all around the world. The National Herbarium of NSW was created in 1853 and is home to more than 1.1 million plant specimens, including many of the specimens collected by Australia’s early explorers. Eight hundred and twenty‑four of the specimens Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander collected on Captain James Cook’s first voyage to the Pacific, such as Banksia integrifolia, are kept at the herbarium.

The National Herbarium of NSW is home to more than 1.1 million plant specimens.

When the pair stepped ashore in Botany Bay in late April 1770, they found a botanical wonderland and over eight days they collected hundreds of specimens of 132 plant species from Kurnell, Cronulla and up into the Georges River. These collections are still scientifically, One of the many specimens in the herbarium’s collection. culturally and legislatively important Credit: Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan today. Scientists use their understanding of evolutionary processes, plant family relationships and biogeography to provide a definition of the vegetation of Australia prior to European colonisation, which can then be corroborated by the diaries and journals of explorers from across Australia.

The herbarium’s new home

After 170 years it was certainly time to upgrade the herbarium’s ability to protect priceless specimens for generations to come. The collection outgrew its old home, which lacked effective environmental controls, placing the collection at risk. A key feature of the new facility is the six protective vaults with precisely controlled environmental conditions, which are assisted by the building’s elegant, long span ‘fly‑roof’ to shield the precious collection from bushfires and extreme weather conditions.

Over 100 leading scientists, researchers and staff are now based at the ‘green’ facility, which boasts sustainability benefits, from a large photovoltaic array on the roof that will generate electricity for the facility within, and rainwater harvesting technology for irrigation. Next door to the herbarium is the Australian PlantBank, a major scientific research and conservation centre for the flora of NSW. The seed vault inside PlantBank holds more than 100 million seeds, including more than 70% of the threatened species in NSW.

The seed vault inside PlantBank holds more than 100 million seeds.

The garden that surrounds the herbarium

The Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan was officially opened by the Duke and Duchess of York on 2 October 1988 as the final Bicentennial project for NSW. Originally a farm, the garden stands on land that was originally part of 1,214‑ha granted to magistrate William Howe in 1818. It was run as a dairy farm by the Fitzpatrick family for more than 100 years.

The garden showcases approximately 4,000 species of Australian native plants and more than 300 animal species. It features a variety of breathtaking landscapes of woodlands, grasslands and horticultural displays made up entirely of Australian natives. There are walking paths that take visitors through Cumberland Plain Woodland, gorgeous lakes and beautiful places to see wildlife, including wild kangaroos.

Aerial view of the area destined to become the garden at Mount Annan, 19 August 1986. Credit: Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan Sunrise over Lake Sedgwick. Credit: Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan

The people behind the garden

From the manicured lawns to endangered ecological communities, horticulturists are the heartbeat of the garden. They nurture seedlings for science and conservation, tend to delicate paper daisies, clear invasive vegetation that shades out native plants, rejuvenate grasslands so wallaroo habitats can thrive, and more. The garden’s horticulturists cultivate plants threatened in the wild and work with researchers and scientists at the Australian PlantBank and around the world.

In a fortuitous coincidence, Michael Elgey, the new curator manager of the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan, started his career with the organisation at the National Herbarium of NSW, which now calls the 416‑ha site home. Michael started his career at the herbarium as a support officer in 2010 after doing a horticulture apprenticeship and working for several years as a horticultural tradesperson. While working in the herbarium, Michael continued his studies with a Bachelor of Environmental Biology from the University of Technology Sydney part‑time, before transferring to the horticulture branch and then taking a role as curator manager of the Rockhampton Botanic Gardens and Kershaw Gardens.

Michael returned to the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan last year to work with the horticulture teams and manage the living collection and related projects. ‘I’ve come at a time when there’s a lot of major projects happening, with the herbarium landscape, Greening our Cities tree planting program, continuing to manage the remaining invasive African Olive Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata strongholds and working on other conservation projects with both Macquarie and Western Sydney University, and Sydney Water,’ he says. ’We’re continually building our living collection to engage our stakeholders. No two days are ever the same and a botanic garden is never static. To the public it’s a beautiful place to visit and it’s calm and peaceful, but behind‑the‑scenes there is always a lot going on.’ (You can hear Michael talking about his favourite plant in the garden at https://twitter.com/i/ status/1520640566966509568).

Mike Elgey in front of the relocated Queensland Bottle Tree Brachychiton rupestris from RBGS. Credit: Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan

Inspiration and process behind the landscape

We wanted to design the surrounding landscape to connect and resonate with the seedpod‑shaped building. If the building is like a seedpod that protects and preserves our valuable plant specimens, then the landscape acts like a surrounding incubator that nurtures and supports the building.

Planting design for the Eastern Landscape. Credit: Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan

Throughout our initial site analysis and study, we discovered a few challenges that played an important role in altering the final design of the landscape. The new building needed an increased Assets Protection Zone (APZ), a fuel‑reduced area to minimise bush fire hazards, resulting in the loss of more than 100 trees, which greatly altered the surrounding landscape. The temporary increase in surface run‑off, while the landscape establishes and rain gardens fulfil their purpose, has posed an issue in the surrounding water systems and their conditions. Transition areas, like where the dish drain meets the landscape, become a crucial junction where we must ensure appropriate solutions are being implemented.

Given the scale of the finished landscape, it was also critical for us to identify suitable plant species to ensure the planting is appropriate to its surrounding woodland, while still complying with our bushfire protection requirements. This will allow effective landscape management for future plantings.

Our vision is to create a functional and sustainable precinct. To achieve this, the landscape design focuses heavily on adapting and providing solutions to create a balance between the man‑made elements and the surrounding nature. We carefully negotiated between enhancing the building and exposing the natural surroundings. Organic shapes became a powerful symbol that we used in contrast with the structural elements of the building. Cell‑based garden beds across the landscape ensure effective access points for maintenance while mimicking somewhat the ‘wildness’ of the

surrounding bushlands. A series of pathways has been introduced across the sites, reconnecting all aspects of the landscape to their surroundings. The curved pathways highlight the curvature of the adjacent building (the PlantBank) and the rammed earth wall, as well as forming the primary entrance into the site.

The garden as a place to meet

To ensure we maintain our vision of reinforcing our connection to the country of the D’harawal people, we implemented a series of spaces across the site to facilitate gatherings.

Turf areas in the eastern and southern areas offer distinct spaces for accommodating different scales of events and gatherings, ranging from personal intimate spaces for reflection (across the southern turf area) to larger gatherings (eastern turf). A large extension of the pathway towards the PlantBank to the north has been deliberately widened to create opportunities for conversations between staff and visitors. The area towards the south, within the rainforest, offers a refuge for staff, as well as creating a place where our science and horticulture staff can exchange knowledge, and engage in public education programs.

The important landscaping of trees

We have designed the eastern landscape of the herbarium to depict the characteristics of the Cumberland Plain Woodland species. The southern landscape highlights the vital roles of successful Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD), minimising the impact on our site’s waterways. The western landscape reintroduces tree canopies back on site and through the building interiors. The eastern landscape creates opportunities for visitors to touch, feel and immerse themselves within the planting arrangement.

View of completed landscape from southern garden to office windows. Credit: Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan

Planting design for the sunken garden and southern landscape. Credit: Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan

While the PlantBank’s garden shows the importance of Cumberland Plain Woodland specimens, the herbarium landscape provides an insight into how these specimens can successfully be reinterpreted and reintroduced, creating a unique and intimate reconnection between visitors and their natural surroundings. The cell‑like approach to planting also creates an opportunity to reinterpret and introduce collected specimens from our science team, to test their viability on site, as well as display their uniqueness to our visitors.

The herbarium landscape provides an insight into how these specimens can successfully be reinterpreted and reintroduced.

The reintroduction of a tree canopy has been predominantly established across the southern and western landscape. In the tree canopy, a selection of large specimens like Wilga Geijira pavifolia have been introduced to assist with creating optimal conditions for an understorey planting and to create shade to cool down the building facade. Given the proximity to the building, Soft Tree Ferns Dicksonia antarctica have been used instead of upright trees to create a separation zone away from the staff window, while still allowing light into the building interior. Predominantly shaded across all seasons, the southern garden creates a perfect opportunity to display rainforest specimens across our garden, encouraging further exploration of our surrounding precincts.

The site of future fern beds in front of office windows. Credit: Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan A fern bed after planting with D. antarctica, W. nobilis, Fishbone Water‑Fern Blechnum nudum, Common Maidenhair Adiantum aethiopicum, Birds Nest Fern Asplenium nidus and Common Reed Phragmites australis. Credit: Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan

The relocated Queensland Bottle Tree Brachychiton rupestris from RBGS has been a perfect candidate to complete the design by merging the tree canopy with its surroundings, and linking natural views into the PlantBank interiors, while offering a screen into the PlantBank laboratory area away from the main entrance.

To complement B. rupestris, we planted the Flame Spider‑flower Grevillea kennedyana, Common Tussock‑grass Poa labillardierei, Dampiera sp. Wongamine, Eremophila cuneifolia and Verticordia ovalifolia, with the bed being mulched with sandstone spalls (sandstone rocks of a certain size), connecting with the sandstone swales present in the broader landscape.

In our sunken garden, key tree specimens, such as the Firewheel Tree Stenocarpus sinuatus, create an additional splash of colour to establish the entrance into the building.

Planting the Queensland Bottle Tree translocated from the RBG Sydney. Credit: Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan

Sandstone swales tested during flood event in 2022. Credit: Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan Looking into the sunken garden featuring S. sinuatus, B. citriodora, E. eumundi, Golden Wattle Acacia longifolia and Small‑Fruit Fan‑Flower Scaevola albida. Credit: Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan

Hero species in our garden landscape

For many reasons plants become heroes to horticulturists. A landscape of this size has thrown up many challenges, leading to both success and failure. Some species have performed so well they deserve a special mention:

• B. rupestris: translocated from the RBGS, where it had been planted in 2015. In 2021 it was moved to its new home in Mount Annan. It now stands tall, as one of the great features of the landscape. • The native turf grass Zoysia macrantha ‘Stockade’: selected after a couple of years trialling the grass in two locations within the garden at Mount Annan. Native lawns are uncommon, partly because native grasses don’t tolerate the wear and tear we inflict upon them. Z. macrantha has been performing well and shows much promise. It gives considerable warmth to the main space outside the herbarium and has sparked a lot of interest as one of the larger native lawns in NSW. • The Tall Sedge Carex appresa: a saving grace within the landscape. Its vibrant green foliage helps it to ‘pop’ in the landscape. The consistent wet weather has seen it thrive while some of our other tough nuts have failed. This superhero species is from the Central Coast region of NSW. • G. kennedyana: originates from the southwestern side of Mount Wood, originally collected in 2000. This beautiful grevillea spent several years in the western garden before being hand‑selected for display within the newly constructed Brachychiton tree pit. It grows happily, flexing its appealing grey foliage, which contrasts nicely with the surrounding environment. • Christmas Bells Blandfordia grandiflora: from Gibraltar Range National Park. Several species were introduced to the newly constructed rain gardens. Inconspicuous in the landscape, these plants are thriving in the moist sandy soil and will be stunners when flowering. • G. parviflora: it has legendary status within the garden, which has a mature specimen propagated from material collected in 2006 from Coonabarabran, north‑west NSW. With its unique trademark drooping branches, dark and glossy narrow lance‑shaped leaves and pleasant‑smelling bark, we are looking forward to these trees maturing as they will become a significant feature. • D. antarctica: this Jurassic species has given height and depth to the garden, which assisted with providing a microclimate for other sun‑sensitive species. • Peperomia blanda var. floribunda: this small herb sits neatly in the front of the fern beds, displaying beautiful, succulent, dark green leaves. • Wollemi Pine Wollemia nobilis (prostrate form): these beautiful specimens sit right outside the front door of the herbarium and are real head‑turners. Not only are they extremely interesting, but they also perfectly link the garden’s scientific work with horticulture.

• Cat’s Whiskers Orthosiphon aristatus: a strong performer putting on a great show with its beautiful flowers. Otherwise known as Java Tea, a popular herbal remedy, this species is widely distributed. In NSW it is found growing in gaps within rainforests, chiefly in the Gosford district, but also near Narooma on the south coast.

• Several of the advanced trees surrounding the sunken garden: • Lemon Myrtle Backhousia citriodora • Kurrajong Tree Brachychiton populneus × acerifolius • Ivory Curl Flower Buckinghamia celsissima • Eumundi Quandong Elaeocarpus eumundi • Native Frangipani Hymenosporum flavum • Brush Box Lophostemon confertus • Kanooka Gum Tristaniopsis laurina ‘DOW10’ PBR Luscious® • Weeping Lilly Pilly Waterhousea floribunda ‘Amaroo’ • Tulipwood Harpulia pendula • Firewheel Tree, Stenocarpus sinuatus.

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