Download a printable visitors' brochure about the gardens.

 The Gardens:

bullet The Sculpture Garden
 
bullet The Fern Glade
 
bullet The Ephemeral Wetlands
 
bullet Walking Tracks
The Lagoon Walk
Whipbird Walk
The Creek Walk
 
bullet Rare and Endangered Flora
 
bullet Birds in the Gardens
 
bullet Other Visiting Fauna
 
bullet Guided Walks
See news item on this page
 
bullet Facilities for Visitors
 
bullet Maps:
 Location
 Map of the Gardens

 
bullet Coming Events
 
bullet Future Developments

PHOTO GALLERY
bullet WET WET WET
bullet Brad Kinross Photos
bullet Then and Now Photos

 The Friends:

bullet Our wonderful Sponsors and Supporters
 
bullet About Us
bullet Recent Work
bullet Social Pages
 
bullet The Story of the Gardens
 
bullet Contact Us
bullet Inquire about Joining Us
 
bullet Interesting Links

Welcome to our Maroochy Botanic Gardens Friends' website. The Friends of the gardens are a group of volunteers who provide a labour of love in maintaining and improving the gardens to be enjoyed by all.

The gardens are a place of natural beauty, where people can enjoy peace and relaxation. Visitors can increase their knowledge and appreciation of plants, their significance and conservation, especially those native to the Sunshine Coast region and subtropical forests of South East Queensland.

The gardens are open every day, 7am to 5pm (April to October) and 7am to 6pm (November to March). Visitors are very welcome, to just sit and relax, or enjoy walking the tracks and trails, or to have a picnic on the grass or under the trees. You may like to book in for one of the guided walks or attend one of the special events held in the gardens from time to time. There is no admission charge at the gardens, but there may be an entry charge for some of the special events.

Visitors are asked to respect some simple procedures that have been developed to protect the environment and flora and fauna of the gardens, and to make everyone's visit pleasant:

bullet Dogs or other domestic animals are not allowed in the gardens, excepting guide dogs for the blind
 
bullet Rubbish bins are NOT provided in the gardens - visitors are asked to take their rubbish away with them. This encourages a balance of fauna species in the gardens, rather than encouraging and favouring rubbish scavenging species.
 
bullet No camping or open fires (you can bring your own gas BBQ)

The Friends of the gardens are a very inclusive group who welcome new members to join them in their volunteer labours. If you would like to know more about the Friends surf the Friends' web pages, but better still, come and introduce yourself. We work in the gardens every Tuesday (excepting over Christmas/New Year) from about 7:30 am. To inquire about the Friends of MRBBG, just click here

 

 
 Latest News:

Art & Craft in the Gardens
Details of the mid year sessions are not available yet ,but we will publish them here as soon as we know of them. For further information and bookings phone council on 07 5675 7272

Gardens information desk trial
The Friends are presently trialling the manning of an information desk for visitors to the gardens. The Info Desk is located in the Arts and Ecology Centre building, and is currently manned on Tuesdays and Fridays, 10am to 2pm. Call in for a brief tour around the A&E building, and to talk about the gardens. We are also looking for some more volunteers to help man the Info Desk at other times. Please talk to us if you think you can help out with this very enjoyable work. Training available. Contact Anne via our email

Guided Walks on Wednesdays

Trained volunteer Guides take walks on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month. If you enjoy plants, and learning about our special native plants, their stories and uses, please meet the Guides at the Information Sign near the car park for a leisurely walk with us. Walks begin at 9 a.m. and last for an hour. During the hot months we take advantage of the shady, cool areas of the Gardens, including the Mossy Log area, the Fern Glade, the Friendship Colonnade and the Ephemeral Wetlands. Note: walks are no longer conducted on Fridays.

Guided walks for groups can be arranged for suitable times, mutually convenient for guide(s) and walkers. But time is required for organisation so please let us know at least a month in advance. Contact Margaret on 5445 3375.

If you are interested in training as a volunteer Guide, applications for a new intake begin soon. Please contact Margaret (5445 3375) for details.

Many of our local natives are now in flower, so it is a great time to visit the gardens. The local grevilleas and lillipillies flower for much of the year, but for many sub-tropical species their display reaches a peak in winter and spring. Many of the ground cover plants are also in flower or coming into flower soon. Other species may have passed their bloom season, but their tender new foliage looks beautiful at the moment. The four flood events in the gardens over the last twelve months caused quite some damage in the Fern Glade, but efforts are being made to get it back its former beauty. Don't miss the beautiful swamp orchids, in flower late September and October

So it is a great time to visit the gardens, to get some ideas for your own garden, or just to enjoy our local natives when many of them are at their best.