The Ian Potter Foundation Children's Garden
Please note that this area is only open between Wednesday and Sunday each week (plus all Victorian school and public holidays). For 8 weeks during winter, this area is closed.
The Ian Potter Foundation Children’s Garden has set the bar for nature-based play. The entire garden is scaled for children, and specifically designed to intrigue young visitors to explore. What lies around the bend, through the gorge, amid the forest? The landscape is an invitation to climb, jump, crouch, crawl and revel in the natural world, a delight for children and carers alike.
The collection is important as it:
- Offers a space for children to learn about flora and fauna, through having exposure to different forms, textures and colours. This is achieved by maintaining scale and having a patchwork of spaces which link throughout the space.
- Provides an active kitchen garden to demonstrate growing edibles and the growing cycle from planting to harvest.
- Provides for families to gather which inspires intergenerational learning and knowledge sharing.
Key Plants
Brachychiton rupestris
Queensland Bottle Tree
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Corymbia ficifolia ‘Summertime’
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Quercus suber
Cork Oak
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Phyllostachys edulis
Mōsō
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Phormium tenax
Harakeke ‘Goliath’
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<em>Brachychiton rupestris</em>
Queensland Bottle Tree
The trunk has a distinctive bulbous characteristic and can grow to a diameter of 2 metres - perfect for hugging. Endemic to central QLD and Northen NSW, it is summer deciduous, so each of our trees drops its leaves at different points during summer.
Notes from the Curator
The Ian Potter Foundation Children's Gardens is a true pleasure to curate and maintain.
I love the kitchen garden. I find boundless joy in curating the seasonal plantings and in growing edible plants. You will find classic vegetables growing alongside some other exciting and unusual cultivars. Not all vegetables look like the supermarket brought ones.
The Ian Potter Foundation Children's Garden is a very much-loved space by families and school groups. The space is maintained with the help of a wonderful and dedicated group of volunteers. We have high visitation numbers throughout spring, summer, and autumn.
We close the Children's Garden over winter. During this time, behind the closed gates we’re busy replanting, assessing tree safety, cutting down seasonal grasses, pruning fruit trees, hazard checking and most of all allowing the turf to rest and regenerate after all the compaction from little and big feet.