Wellington Botanic Garden

About

Wellington Botanic Garden ki Paekākā is a botanical garden close to central Wellington in New Zealand. It covers 25 ha (62 acres) of land in a valley between Thorndon and Kelburn, with Glenmore Street as a boundary along the valley floor. One of the access points is from the top of the Wellington Cable Car. The garden is managed by Wellington City Council, and features protected native forest, conifers, plant collections, seasonal displays and an extensive rose garden. Large sculptures are located throughout the garden. Before the garden was established, the area was used by the Ngāti Te Whiti hapū of Te Āti Awa for growing and gathering food. It was later established as a botanic garden on a 5.3 ha (13-acre) site in 1868 and extended to 28 ha (68 acres) in 1871. The Botanic Garden contains remnants of lowland broadleaf native forest. A variety of native birds can be found in the garden. It is classified as a Garden of National Significance by the New Zealand Gardens Trust, and in 2004 it was listed as a historic area by Heritage New Zealand.

Wellington Botanic Garden is one of New Zealand's oldest botanic gardens. Before the garden was established, the area was used by the Ngāti Te Whiti hapū of Te Āti Awa for growing and gathering food for Kumutoto and Pipitea pā.

In 1839, the New Zealand Company made plans for a settlement in Port Nicholson (Wellington), including provision for a botanic garden. Land was bought from Māori in Wellington, but land for a garden was not set aside until 1844, when the Crown designated a 13-acre (5.3 ha) strip from the Kumutoto settlement for a botanic garden. In 1847, 53 acres adjoining the 13 acres was returned to Kumutoto Māori as compensation for their land and pā bought or taken by the New Zealand Company in 1840. In 1851, Kumutoto Māori sold this parcel of land back to the government, and in 1852 Governor Grey gave it to the Wesleyan Church Mission. This land became known as the Wesleyan Reserve. In 1865 it was sold to the Wellington Provincial Council for a public park.

The garden was established on the original 13-acre site in 1868 and extended to 28 ha (68 acres) in 1871. The land already set aside as a reserve was formally designated as "The Botanic Garden of Wellington" with the passing of the Botanic Garden Act 1869. The garden and the land it occupied were allocated to a Board of Governors under the 1869 act. The land was subsequently vested in the City of Wellington, with the passing of the Wellington Botanic Garden Vesting Act 1891. The 1891 act also set aside six acres of the Wesleyan Reserve for an observatory.

The botanic garden was initially managed by the New Zealand Institute (later renamed the Royal Society Te Apārangi ) and its manager James Hector until 1891. It served three purposes: a trial ground for the government to test the economic potential of various plants, a place for scientists to collect and study native and introduced plants, and a place for the public to enjoy. A connection was maintained with London's Kew Gardens during the 1870s and 1880s, as with many gardens throughout the world in other parts of the British Empire at the time, and Wellington's gardens participated in an international exchange of seeds and specimens. The New Zealand Institute planted conifers as part of a programme to import plant species and assess their potential for economic benefit to New Zealand, and these came to form a framework and shelter for other plantings. The large Pinus radiata trees that are a feature in some areas of the garden were grown using the first seeds of the species that were imported into New Zealand from California.

Paths were laid out, native plants from other parts of New Zealand planted, and trees and plants labelled, "giving them popular Maori names instead of their scientific appellations [as] it would indeed be a pity not to see the native names of the New Zealand flora perpetuated as long as possible". The first map of the garden, by John Buchanan in 1875, also included a list of all plants growing there and a survey of native plants indigenous to the reserve. The area that would later become the Soundshell Lawn was levelled in 1880, and Hector established a teaching garden there.

Some animals were kept at the Botanic Garden prior to the formation of Wellington Zoo in Newtown in 1906, including the "City Emu" which died shortly after being relocated to the Zoo from the garden.

Wellington City Council began managing the garden in 1891, tidying up and developing various parts of the garden to improve public amenity. The garden became more popular with the public after the cable car began operation in 1902 and trams started running along Glenmore Street in 1904. The council constructed a tea kiosk at the top of the cable car (1904), a playground near Anderson Park (1905), a band rotunda near the duck pond (1907), and a fernery (1911). Public toilets were installed and staff buildings constructed.

Various gullies were filled in and levelled. A gully at what is now Anderson Park was filled in between 1906 and 1910, with later work done between 1931 and 1934 when the park was made larger. The new flat area became Anderson Park sports ground. From 1927, a ridge in the southwest of the garden was flattened and a gully filled in to form Magpie Lawn and Puriri Lawn.

Later developments included the Lady Norwood Rose Garden (1953) which was created over a filled-in gully, Begonia House (1960), a herb garden (1970s), an information centre (1983–1987), the Treehouse education centre (1991) and a sculpture trail (1991).

Live music performances have taken place in the garden since the 1900s, including regular Sunday band performances at the band rotunda built in 1907. Later, a variety of music was performed at the Sound Shell, including pop concerts in the late 1960s and then Summer City events from the 1970s.

In 2019, Taranaki Whānui gifted the name ki Paekākā (" kākā perch") to the garden, and its official name then became 'Wellington Botanic Garden ki Paekākā'. Some Wellington City Councillors raised concerns that the public had not been consulted about the name change.

The garden contains many discrete collections including the Lady Norwood Rose Garden, rock gardens, cacti and succulents, an Australian garden, camellias, dwarf conifers, a fernery, a herb garden, a grass collection and a fragrant garden. Educational facilities include the Treehouse visitor centre and a discovery garden used for school visits, as well as talks and demonstrations by gardeners on topics such as 'pruning roses'. There are historic wooden and brick buildings formerly used as gardeners' accommodation, workshops and stables. A large playground contains a long slide and flying fox.

Lady Norwood Rose Garden and Begonia House

The rose garden site was originally a gully with the Waipiro (or Waipirau) stream running through it. The gully was filled in and the rose garden was then established from 1950 to 1953, in time for that year's royal tour. It is named after Lady Norwood, former mayoress of Wellington, who donated £300 (equivalent to $14,500 in 2026) towards a proposed new begonia house in 1949, and in 1955 donated a fountain for the middle of the rose garden. In 1977, the fountain was replaced by a new one donated by Lady Norwood's children.

The rose garden contains 110 beds of roses, including new and traditional varieties, laid out in concentric circles around the fountain. Climbing roses grow around the colonnade that surrounds the garden. The flowering season stretches from November to April. The World Federation of Rose Societies awarded the garden a 'Garden of Excellence' award in 2015.

The Begonia House bordering the south side of the rose garden was opened in 1960, after a donation of £20,000 (equivalent to $592,500 in 2026) by Sir Charles Norwood, former mayor of Wellington. When it was built, the Begonia House was the largest glasshouse in the southern hemisphere. The Norwood family made further donations for landscaping around the Begonia House and rose garden during the 1970s and 1980s. The Begonia House consists of two wings holding tropical and temperate plants including orchids, begonias, cyclamens, ferns and epiphytes, connected by a central atrium. A café was added to the east wing in 1981, and the west wing was extended in 1989 with a large lily pond with fish and water lilies. The Begonia House is a popular venue for weddings and other functions.

In November 2024, Wellington City Council announced that it was considering demolishing the Begonia House, citing unspecified safety concerns, but in May 2025, the Council voted to preserve the Begonia House. Refurbishment is expected to cost $11 million and will include replacement of all the glass, repairs to the glasshouse structure and renovation of the staff facilities, public toilets, café and kitchen. A volunteer group, Friends of Wellington Botanic Gardens, will raise additional funds to pay for internal and external lighting, landscaping and events spaces. Donations by the public are to be recognised on an etched glass panel in the middle foyer of the glasshouse.

The Sound Shell Lawn was originally a teaching garden, then a rose garden. A wooden band rotunda was built in 1907 and in use until the concrete Sound Shell was built in 1953. The Wellington Bands Association proposed construction of the Sound Shell as a memorial to bandsmen who had fought and died in World Wars 1 and 2. A plaque on the structure states: "In commemoration of bandsmen of the Wellington District who served their king and country and of those who also made the supreme sacrifice. 1914–1918. 1939–1945. "Their sound is gone out into all lands" Psalm 19 v4." The Sound Shell and lawn form a sheltered area that has been used for many types of event, including band performances, music concerts, Christmas carols, open air dancing, plays, weddings and dance displays. During the summer Gardens Magic season, people picnic on the lawn, and trees around the area are lit up.

The Dell is a flat, sheltered lawn area of 1,670 m 2 (18,000 sq ft) located behind the Begonia House. It is available for hire and has been used for a wide range of events including large picnics, music performances, outdoor theatre and outdoor cinema.