
Christchurch Botanic Gardens
Riverside botanic garden of heritage trees, rose beds, native plants and formal floral lawns.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Christchurch Botanic Gardens follows the people who dug them: John Armstrong, a Cumberland farmer's son who became Canterbury's Government Gardener in eighteen sixty-seven, and his son Joseph, who ran the nursery. It opens with a gardener addressing a room of scholars, and turns on the quiet side project the two kept alongside the flower beds the public wanted. Best heard on a bench near the Armstrong Lawn.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
Governors Bay
Sheltered harbourside village beneath the Port Hills, with a historic stone homestead and garden.
Riccarton House and Bush
Ancient kahikatea swamp forest remnant ringed by a predator-proof fence, beside a historic homestead.
Mona Vale Garden Park
Riverside Edwardian estate gardens with a mill pond, historic fernery, lily pond and rhododendrons.
Hinewai Reserve
Private nature reserve where native forest regrows through gorse, with tracks and dozens of waterfalls.
Peacock Fountain
Ornate Victorian cast-iron fountain with dolphins, storks and lilies, painted in bold colours.
Diamond Harbour
Quiet harbourside settlement across the water from the port, reached by a short passenger ferry.