Maranoa Gardens

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Maranoa Gardens is located next to Beckett Park in Balwyn, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. It is a fine collection of diverse species spread over 3.5 suburban acres created in 1904 by a private individual, Mr. J. Watson. It features Australian and New Zealand plants, which was unusual in this colonially influenced time in Australia, and may be seen as one of the many products of the nationalism that accompanied the Federation of Australia in 1901. Camberwell Council purchased the gardens in 1922 and doubled their size.

The light grey stoney loam over compact mottled clay is poor and the topsoil sets hard when dry while it is soft when wet - and is thus suited to native plants. With some 5000 plants, Maranoa Gardens are a haven for many. They have inspired poetry, ecologists, boyscouts making botanical collections, adolescents pondering the meaning of life as well as, increasingly, the aged.

[edit] Gallery of Photos from the Garden