Melbourne parks and gardens - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

is considered to be Australia's garden city, and Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

as the Garden State. There is an abundance of park

Park

A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...

s and gardens close to the CBD with a variety of common and rare plant species amid landscaped vistas, pedestrian pathways, and tree lined avenues. The phrase Victoria - Garden State was used on Victorian car number plates from the 1970s to 1994, and many regional towns have well tended botanic gardens, parks and tree lined avenues.

The first superintendent of the Port Phillip

Port Phillip

Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip (also commonly referred to as Port Phillip Bay or (locally) just The Bay, is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia; it is the location of Melbourne. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly . Although it is extremely shallow for...

region, Charles La Trobe

Charles La Trobe

Charles Joseph La Trobe was the first lieutenant-governor of the colony of Victoria .-Early life:La Trobe was born in London, the son of Christian Ignatius Latrobe, a family of Huguenot origin...

, set aside large tracts of land around the city for open space, parkland and gardens. Much of this land has since been excised for public infrastructure like sporting complexes, railways, hospitals and other public buildings, and also for residential development, but a substantial amount has remained. This allowed landscape designer Clement Hodgkinson

Clement Hodgkinson

Clement Hodgkinson was a notable English naturalist, explorer and surveyor of Australia. He was Victorian Assistant Commissioner of Crown Lands and Survey from 1861 to 1874.- Exploration in New South Wales :...

and Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne

Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne

The Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne are internationally renowned botanical gardens located near the centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, on the south bank of the Yarra River. They are 38 hectares of landscaped gardens consisting of a mix of native and non-native vegetation including over...

, William Guilfoyle

William Guilfoyle

William Robert Guilfoyle was a landscape gardener and botanist in Victoria, Australia, acknowledged as the architect of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne and was responsible for the design of many parks and gardens in Melbourne and regional Victoria.-Early life:Guilfoyle was born in Chelsea,...

, to landscape many of the parks and gardens. Many of these parks and gardens are within easy walking distance of the central business district.

Inner suburbs

One of Melbourne's oldest parks is Flagstaff Gardens

Flagstaff Gardens, Melbourne

Flagstaff Gardens is the oldest park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, first established in 1862. In 2005 it is one of the most visited and widely used parks in the city by nearby office workers and tourists...

(7.2 ha). Used by office workers at lunchtime, the park contains a memorial to the first Europeans who died in the colony and were buried on the site between 1835 and 1840 when it was the original site of Melbourne Cemetery (later moved).

One of the most highly regarded gardens is the Royal Botanic Gardens

Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne

(35.4 ha) and Kings Domain (36 ha) just across the Yarra River

Yarra River

The Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in east-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches...

from the central business district. These gardens, originally a swamp, now house a fine collection of botanical species. The Botanic Gardens were established by Superintendent La Trobe in 1846. Its first Curator was John Arthur, a gardener from Heidelberg, who died shortly after. He was succeeded by John Dallachy, who was subsequently succeeded by Ferdinand von Mueller

Ferdinand von Mueller

Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, KCMG was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist.-Early life:...

. Baron von Mueller was relieved of duties in 1873, and was succeeded by William Guilfoyle, who re-landscaped the gardens extensively and gave them their current form. They are highly prized for their landscaping, with parkland containing lakes, monuments and statues. Queen Elizabeth II granted the title 'Royal' to the Gardens after visiting early in her reign. Walking around the Botanic Gardens there are views of Government House

Government House, Melbourne

Government House, Melbourne is the office and official residence of the Governor of Victoria. It is set next to the Royal Botanic Gardens and surrounded by Kings Domain in Melbourne. It was the official residence of the Governor-General of Australia from 1901 to 1930...

. Kings Domain contains open lawns and stands of both native and exotic trees, which surround Government House

Government House, Melbourne

, the Shrine of Remembrance

Shrine of Remembrance

The Shrine of Remembrance, located in Kings Domain on St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Australia was built as a memorial to the men and women of Victoria who served in World War I and is now a memorial to all Australians who have served in war...

and the Sidney Myer Music Bowl

Sidney Myer Music Bowl

The Sidney Myer Music Bowl is an outdoor performance venue in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is located in the lawns and gardens of Kings Domain, close to the Arts Centre and the Southbank entertainment precinct...

. Queen Victoria Gardens

Queen Victoria Gardens, Melbourne

The Queen Victoria Gardens are Melbourne's memorial to Queen Victoria. Located on 4.8 hectares opposite the Victorian Arts Centre and National Gallery of Victoria, bounded by St Kilda Road, Alexandra Avenue and Linlithgow Avenue....

(4.8 ha) and Alexandra Gardens

Alexandra Gardens, Melbourne

The Alexandra Gardens are located on the south bank of the Yarra River, opposite Federation Square and the Melbourne Central Business District, in Victoria, Australia. The Gardens are bounded by the Yarra River to the north, Princes and Swan street bridges, with Queen Victoria Gardens and Kings...

(5.2 ha) continue the parkland along St Kilda Road

St Kilda Road, Melbourne

St Kilda Road is a street in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is part of the locality of Melbourne which has the postcode of 3004 and along with Swanston Street forms a major spine of the city....

to the banks of the Yarra River

Yarra River

.

The Carlton Gardens

Carlton Gardens, Melbourne

The Carlton Gardens is a World Heritage Site located on the northeastern edge of the Central Business District in the suburb of Carlton, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....

(26 ha) and the Royal Exhibition Building

Royal Exhibition Building

The Royal Exhibition Building is a World Heritage Site-listed building in Melbourne, Australia, completed in 1880. It is located at 9 Nicholson Street in the Carlton Gardens, flanked by Victoria, Nicholson, Carlton and Rathdowne Streets, at the north-eastern edge of the central business district...

are located to the north of the central business district in the suburb of Carlton

Carlton, Victoria

Carlton is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne...

and are listed as a World Heritage Site

World Heritage Site

A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...

. The gardens contain varied European and Australian tree plantings consisting of deciduous English oaks, White Poplar

White Poplar

Populus alba, commonly called abele, silver poplar, silverleaf poplar, or white poplar, is a species of poplar, most closely related to the aspens . It is native from Spain and Morocco through central Europe to central Asia...

s, Plane

Platanus

Platanus is a small genus of trees native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae....

trees, Elm

Elm

Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus Ulmus in the plant family Ulmaceae. The dozens of species are found in temperate and tropical-montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ranging southward into Indonesia. Elms are components of many kinds of natural forests...

s, Conifers, Cedars

Cedar wood

Cedar wood comes from several different trees that grow in different parts of the world, and may have different uses.* California incense-cedar, from Calocedrus decurrens, is the primary type of wood used for making pencils...

, Turkey Oak

Turkey Oak

Quercus cerris, the Turkey oak is an oak native to southern Europe and Asia Minor. It is the type species of Quercus sect. Cerris, a section of the genus characterised by shoot buds surrounded by soft bristles, bristle-tipped leaf lobes, and acorns that usually mature in 18...

s, Araucaria

Araucaria

Araucaria is a genus of evergreen coniferous trees in the family Araucariaceae. There are 19 extant species in the genus, with a highly disjunct distribution in New Caledonia , Norfolk Island, eastern Australia, New Guinea, Argentina, Chile, and southern Brazil.-Description:Araucaria are mainly...

s and evergreens such as Moreton Bay Fig

Moreton Bay Fig

Ficus macrophylla, commonly known as the Moreton Bay Fig, is a large evergreen banyan tree of the Moraceae family that is a native of most of the eastern coast of Australia, from the Atherton Tableland in the north to the Illawarra in New South Wales, and Lord Howe Island. Its common name is...

s, combined with flower beds of annuals and shrubs. At the south end of the gardens, the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show

Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show

The Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show is held in early April each year, in Melbourne, Victoria .It is located in the World Heritage Site of the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens ....

is held each April, while the Melbourne Museum

Melbourne Museum

Melbourne Museum is located in the Carlton Gardens in Melbourne, Australia, adjacent the Royal Exhibition Building.It is the largest museum in the Southern Hemisphere, and is a venue of Museum Victoria, which also operates the Immigration Museum and Scienceworks Museum.The museum has seven main...

and Imax

IMAX

IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...

theatre are located to the north of the Exhibition Building. A children's playground can be found in the northern gardens.

Royal Park

Royal Park, Melbourne

Royal Park is the largest of Melbourne's inner city parks . It is located north of the Melbourne Central Business District, Victoria, Australia, in the suburb of Parkville....

(181 ha) is located four kilometres north of the CBD and features sporting ovals, the State Netball Hockey centre, the Royal Melbourne Zoological Gardens

Melbourne Zoo

The Royal Melbourne Zoological Gardens, commonly known as the Melbourne Zoo, contains more than 320 animal species from Australia and around the world. The zoo is north of the centre of Melbourne. It is accessible via Royal Park station on the Upfield railway line, and is also accessible via tram...

and the 2006 Commonwealth Games

2006 Commonwealth Games

The 2006 Commonwealth Games were held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia between 15 March and 26 March 2006. It was the largest sporting event to be staged in Melbourne, eclipsing the 1956 Summer Olympics in terms of the number of teams competing, athletes competing, and events being held.The site...

Athlete's Village was constructed on former hospital grounds that were once also part of Royal Park. The exclusive suburb of Parkville

Parkville, Victoria

Parkville is an inner city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne. At the 2006 Census, the population was 4,980....

was excised from the parkland, as well as the Royal Melbourne Hospital

Royal Melbourne Hospital

The Royal Melbourne Hospital , located in Parkville, Victoria an inner suburb of Melbourne is one of Australia’s leading public hospitals. It is a major teaching hospital for tertiary health care with a reputation in clinical research...

, the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne

Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne

The Royal Children's Hospital is a major children's hospital in Melbourne, Australia.As the major paediatric hospital in Victoria, the Royal Children's Hospital and offers a full range of clinical services, tertiary care and health promotion and prevention programs for children and adolescents...

, and University High School. These sites separate it from neighbouring Princes Park

Princes Park, Carlton

Princes Park is a 38.6 hectare park in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Carlton North, Victoria. It is located directly north of the University of Melbourne and bounded on its eastern and western sides by Melbourne General Cemetery and Royal Parade respectively...

(38.6 ha).

To the east of Spring Street and the CBD are the Treasury Gardens

Treasury Gardens, Melbourne

The Treasury Gardens consist of 5.8 hectares on the south-eastern side of the Melbourne Central Business District, East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The gardens are bounded by Wellington Parade, Spring Street, Treasury Place, and by the Fitzroy Gardens across Lansdowne street to the west...

(5.8 ha) and the Fitzroy Gardens

Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne

The Fitzroy Gardens are 26 hectares located on the southeastern edge of the Melbourne Central Business District in East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia...

(26 ha). The Treasury Gardens are a short walk from Victoria's Parliament House

Parliament House, Melbourne

Parliament House in Melbourne, located at Spring Street in East Melbourne at the edge of the Melbourne city centre, has been the seat of the Parliament of Victoria, Australia, since 1855 .- History :In 1851, even before the colony of Victoria acquired full parliamentary self-government, Governor...

and are overlooked by the old Treasury buildings, and State Offices. Due to their central location close to the city, they are a popular spot as the starting or ending point for political rallies, demonstrations and festivals, including the annual May Day

May Day

May Day on May 1 is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday; it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures....

march, which has been held there since 1999.

Across Lansdowne Street from Treasury Gardens are the Fitzroy Gardens

Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne

The Fitzroy Gardens are 26 hectares located on the southeastern edge of the Melbourne Central Business District in East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia...

, one of the major Victorian era

Victorian era

The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

landscaped gardens in Australia designed by Clement Hodgkinson. Within the gardens are Captain Cook's Cottage

Cook's Cottage

Cooks' Cottage is located in the Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne, Australia. The cottage was constructed in 1755 in the English village of Great Ayton, North Yorkshire, by the parents of Captain James Cook, James and Grace Cook...

, an ornamental lake, kiosk and cafe, Model Tudor village, the fairy tree, and a tree scarred by the original Wurundjeri

Wurundjeri

The Wurundjeri are a people of the Indigenous Australian nation of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin alliance, who occupy the Birrarung Valley, its tributaries and the present location of Melbourne, Australia...

inhabitants.

Further east of the CBD is Yarra Park

Yarra Park, Melbourne

Yarra Park is part of the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct - the premier sporting precinct of Victoria, Australia. Located in Yarra Park is the Melbourne Cricket Ground and numerous sporting fields and ovals, including the associated sporting complexes of Melbourne & Olympic Parks...

(35.469 ha) with the Melbourne Cricket Ground

Melbourne Cricket Ground

The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...

located within its boundaries. Initially the area was used as police paddocks for the agistment of police horses, but by the 1860s five recreational ovals were marked out including the MCG oval. The park features several sculptures of Australian sporting heroes and examples of old eucalypt trees which show scars caused by harvesting of bark for canoes by the original inhabitants of the Yarra River Valley. The park stretches to the northern banks of the Yarra River via Gosh's paddock, but is divided by several railway lines linking Richmond station to Flinders Street Station, Swan Street and Batman Avenue.

The Olympic Park stadium, home to the Melbourne Storm

Melbourne Storm

The Melbourne Storm are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the city of Melbourne. They are the first fully professional rugby league team based in the Australian rules football-dominated state of Victoria....

in the national rugby league

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

, was once the precinct of the Friendly Society Gardens. The redevelopment of the railway yards and Federation Square

Federation Square

Federation Square is a civic centre and cultural precinct in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....

allowed for the creation of a new riverside park, Birrurung Marr

Birrarung Marr, Melbourne

Birrarung Marr is an inner-city park between the central business district in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and the Yarra River. It was opened in 2002...

(8 ha), opened in 2002. Birrarung Marr has been designed to incorporate long lines of sight towards various, such as the spire at the Victorian Arts Centre and the towers of St Paul's Cathedral

St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne

St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, is the metropolitical and cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, Victoria in Australia. It is the seat of the Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne and Metropolitan of the Province of Victoria...

. The park incorporates in the south-eastern corner the original speakers mounds of Speakers Corner, the location for Sunday soapbox oratory and public protests and demonstrations up to 1998, when the site was closed for redevelopment.

In the suburb of Albert Park

Albert Park, Victoria

Albert Park is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Port Phillip. At the 2006 Census, Albert Park had a population of 5827....

, St Vincent Gardens

St Vincent Gardens, Melbourne

St Vincent Gardens in the Melbourne suburb of Albert Park, is an Australian park of national significance.It is an example of nineteenth century residential development around a large landscaped square. Development occurred as a result of a boom following the Victorian gold rush...

is a park of national significance which provides an example of nineteenth century residential development around a large landscaped square. It was influenced by similar urban design in London, but on such a scale unparalleled in Australia.

The Australian Grand Prix

Australian Grand Prix

The Australian Grand Prix is a motor race held annually and is held to be the pinnacle of motor racing in Australia. The Grand Prix is the oldest surviving motor racing competition held in Australia having been held 76 times since it was first run at Phillip Island in 1928. Since 1985 the race has...

is presently held around the Albert Park Lake on the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit

Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit

The Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit is a street circuit around Albert Park Lake, only a few kilometres south of central Melbourne. It is used annually as a racetrack for the Australian Grand Prix and associated support races.-Design:...

in Albert Park

Albert Park and Lake

Albert Park and Albert Park Lake are situated in the City of Port Phillip, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of the Melbourne CBD....

. This park provides space for the Albert Park Public Golf Course and numerous sporting grounds and ovals. The decision to hold the race there was controversial. A series of protests were organised by the "Save Albert Park" group in 1995 and 1996, who claimed that the race turned a public park into a private playground for much of the year.

Other parks of note in the inner suburbs include Edinburgh Gardens

Edinburgh Gardens, Melbourne

Edinburgh Gardens is a large park located in North Fitzroy. It is bounded by Brunswick Street and St Georges Road to the west, the curve of Alfred Crescent to the north and east, and Freeman Street to the south. It was created from a grant of land in March 1862 by Queen Victoria and laid out by...

(c. 24 ha) in North Fitzroy, Fawkner Park

Fawkner Park, Melbourne

Fawkner Park is a popular park in Melbourne's South Yarra and part of the City of Melbourne. It provides recreational areas for teams playing Cricket, Softball, Soccer, Australian Rules Football, Tennis and Rugby.-History and Layout:...

(41 ha), Como Park and Victoria Gardens in South Yarra, Alma Park and the St Kilda Botanical Gardens in St Kilda, Hedgeley Dene Gardens

Hedgeley Dene Gardens

Hedgeley Dene Gardens is a public open space in the suburb of Malvern East in Melbourne, Australia. It is one of the most popular parks in the Malvern East locality. It is also significant as an example of public open space design that recreates the qualities of an informal, picturesque English...

and Central Park in Malvern, Princes Park in Caulfield, and Footscray Park

Footscray Park

Footscray Park is one of the largest and most intact examples of an Edwardian park in Australia. The 15 hectare park is located on the south bank of the Maribyrnong River in Footscray in Victoria...

in Footscray.

Outer suburbs

While most attention is paid to parks and gardens in the inner urban area around the CBD, extensive and significant parks and rivers can also be found around the outer suburbs of Melbourne. These include:

Brimbank Park on the Maribyrnong River
Maribyrnong river
The Maribyrnong River rises about 50 km north of Melbourne, Victoria , near Mount Macedon. It flows generally southward and combines with the Yarra River to flow into Port Phillip....

in the north west
Westerfolds Park
Westerfolds Park, Melbourne
Westerfolds Park is a metropolitan park situated in Templestowe, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. .Westerfolds is classified as a metropolitan park and conserves riparian habitat within the Melbourne urban environment...

and Yarra Bend Park
Yarra Bend Park, Melbourne
Yarra Bend Park is a 260 hectare park in the Melbourne suburb of Kew. Located 4 km northeast of Melbourne's CBD, it is the largest area of natural bushland left in inner Melbourne. The most notable feature of the park is the Yarra River which flows for 12 km through it...

on the Yarra River
Yarra River
The Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in east-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches...
Wattle Park
Wattle Park, Melbourne
Wattle Park is a public park in Melbourne, Australia, located in the suburb of Burwood. It is known for its plantation of 12,000 wattle trees. It is currently maintained by Parks Victoria....

in the eastern suburb of Surrey Hills
Surrey Hills, Victoria
Surrey Hills is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 12 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area lies within the cities of Boroondara and Whitehorse...

with its historical connection to trams in Melbourne
Trams in Melbourne
The Melbourne tramway network is a major form of public transport in Melbourne, the capital city of the state of Victoria, Australia. , the network consisted of of track, 487 trams, 28 routes, and 1,773 tram stops. It was therefore the largest urban tramway network in the world, ahead of the...

.
Cherry Lake
Cherry Lake (Victoria)
Cherry Lake is part of historical coastal wetlands in Altona, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. The wetlands were converted to a lake with construction of retaining walls, levees, and flow channels...

, Truganina Coastal Parklands
Truganina Coastal Parklands
The Truganina Coastal Parklands are located 15 km west of Melbourne CBD, on the shores of Port Phillip Bay, stretching from Altona to Altona Meadows and adjacent to the Cheetham Wetlands and the Point Cook Coastal Park...

and Altona Coastal Park
Altona Coastal Park
Altona Coastal Park, a 70 hectares intertidal and salt marsh area located 11 km from Melbourne CBD in the western suburb of Altona, is an important recreational and nature conservation area, providing habitats for a large biodiversity of flora and fauna...

in the bayside western suburb of Altona
Altona, Victoria
Altona is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 13 km south-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Hobsons Bay. At the 2006 Census, Altona had a population of 9685....

.
Willamstown Botanic Gardens at the bayside western suburb of Williamstown
Williamstown, Victoria
Williamstown is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km south-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Hobsons Bay. At the 2006 Census, Williamstown had a population of 12,733....

.
Footscray Park
Footscray Park
Footscray Park is one of the largest and most intact examples of an Edwardian park in Australia. The 15 hectare park is located on the south bank of the Maribyrnong River in Footscray in Victoria...

in the western suburb of Maribyrnong
Maribyrnong, Victoria
Maribyrnong is a suburb 8 km north-west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Maribyrnong, part of River Ward. At the 2006 Census, Maribyrnong had a population of 8242....

opposite the Flemington Racecourse
Flemington Racecourse
Flemington Racecourse is a major horse racing venue located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is most notable for hosting the Melbourne Cup, which is Australia's richest horse race. The racecourse is situated on low alluvial flats, next to the Maribyrnong River...

on the Maribyrnong River
Maribyrnong river
The Maribyrnong River rises about 50 km north of Melbourne, Victoria , near Mount Macedon. It flows generally southward and combines with the Yarra River to flow into Port Phillip....

.
Blackburn Lake Sanctuary
Blackburn Lake Sanctuary
Blackburn Lake Sanctuary is an excellent example of regenerated and remnant bushland in suburban Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is located in the suburb of Blackburn...

- one of the few remaining areas of natural bushland in suburban Melbourne, located in the eastern suburbs at Blackburn
Blackburn, Victoria
Blackburn is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 17 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Whitehorse. At the 2006 Census, Blackburn had a population of 11,958....
Royal Botanic Gardens, Cranbourne
Royal Botanic Gardens, Cranbourne
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Cranbourne, is a division of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne. It is located in the Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne, about 45 km south-east of the Melbourne city centre....

, emphasising Australian plants.
Other suburban rivers with fantastic trails and reserves and within 20 km of the CBD
Central business district
A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...

include Merri Creek
Merri Creek
The Merri Creek is a waterway in southern parts of Victoria, Australia which flows through the northern suburbs of Melbourne. It begins in Wallan north of Melbourne and flows south for 70km until it joins the Yarra River at Dights Falls...

, Moonee Ponds Creek
Moonee Ponds Creek
The Moonee Ponds Creek is a creek and major tributary of the Yarra River running through urban Melbourne, Victoria, Australia from northern to inner suburbs...

, Kororoit Creek
Kororoit Creek
Kororoit Creek is a major waterway of over 80 km in length in the north-west and western parts of Melbourne. Its headwaters are north of Sunbury at 400m above sea level in ordovician geology...

, Plenty River
Plenty River
The Plenty River is a tributary of the Yarra River in Victoria, Australia. Originating in the forested slopes of Mount Disappointment, the Plenty River is the source of Melbourne's first major water supply in the form of the Yan Yean Reservoir....

, Darebin Creek
Darebin Creek
Darebin Creek is a creek that runs through the northern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is the main watercourse of the Darebin Valley and a major tributary of the Yarra River...

and Dandenong Creek
Dandenong Creek
Dandenong Creek, originally known as Narra Narrawong, runs from the Dandenong Ranges in the Dandenong Ranges National Park, in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, through the urban areas of Boronia and The Basin, eventually meeting Mordialloc Creek and the manmade Patterson River...

.
Currawong Bush Park
Currawong Bush Park
Currawong Bush Park is an important riparian bushland park, located in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne on the borders of Doncaster East, Warrandyte and Donvale, on the eastern bank of the Mullum Mullum Creek...

in Warrandyte, important remnant native riparian bushland and archaeological site.

Dandenong Ranges

The Dandenong Ranges

Dandenong Ranges

The Dandenong Ranges are a set of low mountain ranges, rising to 633 metres at Mount Dandenong, approximately 35 km east of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia...

to the east of Melbourne are famous for their gardens, which are established on rich volcanic soil in a high rainfall area. A popular pastime during autumn is to drive through the hills viewing the vibrant foliage of deciduous trees

Deciduous

Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...

. Some public gardens in the Ranges include:

William Ricketts Sanctuary at Mount Dandenong
Mount Dandenong, Victoria
Mount Dandenong is both a mountain and small township/suburb of Greater Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 35 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges...
National Rhododendron Gardens at Olinda
Olinda, Victoria
Olinda is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 36 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges. At the 2006 Census, Olinda had a population of 1568.-History:...

.
Alfred Nicholas Gardens
George Tindale Garden
Mount Dandenong Arboretum
Pirianda Garden, Olinda.

Private gardens

Residential gardening is a popular pastime throughout Melbourne, and the city is known for its leafy suburb

Suburb

The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...

s. Many private gardens open for public viewing through Australia's Open Garden Scheme

Australia's Open Garden Scheme

Australia's Open Garden Scheme is a non-profit organisation that began in Victoria Australia in 1987. Its aim is to promote the knowledge and pleasure of gardens and gardening across Australia. Under the scheme, private gardens are opened for public viewing for one or two weekends a year. About 650...

, which started in Melbourne.

Inner suburbs

Outer suburbs

Dandenong Ranges

Private gardens

See also