Gardens 150 Foundation Inc. website

Latest News

• UPCOMING EVENTS
• Community Events - Autumn
• Water Restrictions at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens
• Final Conservation Studies and Master Plan Report
• New Western Entrance Planned
  

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UPCOMING EVENTS

COMMUNITY EVENTS - Autumn

Each season, the Botanic Gardens of Adelaide community education program produces a guide to community events in the Gardens, titled A Season in the Garden.

There are events for kids and adults. There is something suitable for people who know a lot, a little or nothing at all about plants. Although many events are free, some have a small charge.

Also during Autumn are guided walks, workshop, School Holiday Program and more, all designed to delight, entertain and inform.

For full details of all events, download the brochure A Season in the Gardens - Autumn (1.08Mb PDF) or click on the image.

WATER RESTRICTIONS at the Adelaide Botanic Garden

How has the Adelaide Botanic Garden been responding to water restrictions?

For the summer of 2006/07, in negotiation with SA Water, the Botanic Gardens of Adelaide was granted a water restrictions permit. This recognised the 150 years of investment in the plant collections and significance to the State of this cultural and scientific asset.

This exemption allowed sprinklers to be operated from 8pm to 9am - Monday to Friday. Irrigation systems testing was also permitted throughout the day for adjustment and maintenance for five minutes per station. These concessions applied to Level 3 water restrictions. SA Water granted the permit on the understanding that strategies were being implemented to reduce water consumption.

Garden staff volunteered to be rostered for a 6am start in order to complete operation of the manual watering systems before 9am.

Community Education

The Gardens has taken a number of steps to let people know about our response to water restrictions. These include:

• Signage for entrance points
• Fact sheet and display in the Visitor Information Centre
• Fact sheet for reception staff
• Letter to Friends of the Botanic Gardens of Adelaide and
• Letter to Visitor Information Centre attendants and Garden Guides with advice for answering questions from the public

So what has the Adelaide Botanic Garden been doing about water conservation?

• For the summer of 2006/07 several areas of turf were allowed to 'brown off'. These areas were selected based on the inefficiency of the watering systems (mostly manually shifted sprinklers on stands), the level of use of these areas, and the resilience of the turf. See the map of areas of reduced watering (126Kb PDF).
• In 2004, an irrigation consultant was engaged to conduct a complete audit of Adelaide Botanic Garden's irrigation supply and delivery systems and develop an Irrigation Master Plan outlining a program of works to upgrade the systems to a best practice model.
• In 2004/05, preliminary works provided improved water supply infrastructure, a separate potable water supply and compliant backflow devices at a cost of $350,000.
• In 2006/07 works to the value of $225,000 were implemented. The priority for this stage of works was to install irrigation systems in areas previously being watered manually by staff shifting sprinklers on stands.
• Funding has been committed over the next four years to further upgrade irrigation systems and technologies to improve the water application efficiencies and reduce water consumption.
• Ultimately, the irrigation will be fully automated, with water scheduling responding to real time climatic conditions.
• An alternative water source is also being investigated through testing for the viability of Aquifer Storage and Re-use. These tests are in progress. If viable, a wetland system will be developed to the south and west of the Goodman Building for capture and filtering of water from First Creek storm events. This water would then be pumped into the aquifer to be later pumped into the irrigation supply lines when required.

All recently developed and proposed projects have been designed with water conservation as critical design criteria. Examples include the Whipstick Mallee, the SA Water Mediterranean Garden, the Cacti and Succulent Garden and the proposed new Western Entrance.

New Western Entrance

A new Western Entrance is being designed to re-establish an entrance to the Adelaide Botanic Gardens that used to exist between it and the former Exhibition Grounds on Frome Road. Those Grounds are currently being redeveloped as a new Frome Road Parkland by Adelaide City Council.

Creation of the Western Entrance will establish a major East-West route through the Gardens, from Frome Road to Hackney Road, to complement the existing North-South route. The Western Entrance will also form a link through to the University of Adelaide and the rest of the cultural and institutional precinct along North Terrace.

As part of the design for a new Western Entrance, design work is being undertaken on a proposed physic garden to demonstrate the early historical role of botanic gardens. In preparation for the development of the new Western Entrance and associated physic garden, design and construction is progressing on the relocation of the cacti and succulent collection from its current location to the northern and western banks around the Palm House. Click here for Concept Plan for Western Entrance area.