Australian Cloud Forest Collect, Dandenong Ranges Botanic Gardens

andrea proctor landscapes is working with Parks Victoria to deliver the new Australian Cloud Forest Collection – a conservation garden in the Dandenong Ranges Botanic Gardens (formerly the National Rhododendron Gardens).  The project is part of a multi-agency plant conservation project to establish ex-situ collections of threatened mountain top flora from Queensland’s World Heritage Listed Wet Tropics. The design is inspired by the landscape of the North Queensland mountain’s that the plants are from, with large boulders, forest plantings and epiphytic and lithophytic plant displays.  As a side project the design brief also included schematic master planning of the DRBG’s “annex” into a conservation garden. The project is due for completion in 2023.

Project Summary

Lead Designer:
Andrea Proctor
Client:
Parks Victoria
Team and Collaborators:
andrea proctor landscapes
Australian Rhododendron Society (donor)
DELWP (funding through the Growing Victoria's Botanic Gardens Grants)
Parks Victoria
TroMPS (Tropical Mountain Plant Science Project)
Australian National Botanic Gardens
Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria
Tamsin O'Reilly (visualisation)

Features

  • ex-situ collection of threatened flora from the North Queensland mountain tops
  • Includes Australia's native Rhododendron, Rhododendron lochiae
  • Plants form part of a meta collection project to conserve threatened flora, with other parts of the collection at the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne and Australian National Botanic Garden (Canberra)
  • Landscape inspired by the North Queensland mountains
  • Reuses salvaged boulders from construction of the adjacent Olinda Oval
  • Cut boulders displaying epiphytic and lithophytic native plants
  • Viewing deck over the Dandenong Ranges Botanic Garden Lake
  • Seats from timber salvaged from the June 2021 storm
  • Long-term plans to develop the annex into a garden focused on plant conservation
andrea proctor landscapes
 horticulture | landscape architecture | heritage   
www.andreaproctor.com.au        [email protected]      +61 411 037 886
we are grateful to laidlaw & laidlaw design for allowing us to share projects we completed together