March 19th, 2024Fernery unveiled…

The Ballarat Botanical Gardens Fernery is now open to residents and visitors after landscaping works were completed.

City of Ballarat Mayor, Cr Des Hudson and Member for Wendouree Juliana Addison joined the Friends of Ballarat Botanical Gardens and the Ballarat Botanical Gardens Foundation on the first day of the Ballarat Begonia Festival to mark the official opening of the landscaping project.

The fernery is now an impressive gallery for hundreds of ferns, including a large Elk Horn fern, and plant chandeliers.

The landscaping features a new entrance to the Ballarat Botanical Gardens from Wendouree Parade, as part of a fernery forecourt designed around the Claxton Fountain.

Inspired by 19th Century garden design, the forecourt features paving patterned in the shape of fern frond leaves with timber and bluestone seats.

Landscaping at the rear of the structure connects the fernery and the rest of the gardens.

Andrea Proctor Landscapes completed the landscaping designs and AQL Landscape Design delivered the landscaping.

The delivery of the fernery project was funded by the City of Ballarat ($340,000), the State Government ($150,000 from Growing Victoria’s Botanic Gardens Grant Program), the Friends of Ballarat Botanical Gardens ($200,000) and Ballarat Botanical Gardens Foundation ($50,000).

The fernery is one of only a few examples in the state of a grand Victorian plant house. The steel framed replica of the original 1884 Gothic-inspired fernery entrance was completed in 2021.