Our Places: Dubbo Regional Botanic Garden grows from simple path to sprawling facility

Recently the Wiradjuri Garden was added and Dubbo Regional Council has plans to add in a Wiradjuri Tourism Centre.

But it all started with a simple path.

The Memorial Avenue was constructed in Elizabeth Park in 1999 to commemorate Dubbo's sesqui-centenary. Local families planted the trees along the walkway.

In 2001, Dubbo City Council adopted plans prepared by the Kamo Agriculture and Forestry High School for the Japanese Garden.

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The school is located in Minokamo - Dubbo's sister city in Japan.

The plan included 109 species, mostly exotic, associated with Japanese character and design.

A year later on November 23, 2002, the Japanese Gardens were opened.

"It is very much more than I ever expected," Minokamo City mayor Yosiki Kawai said at the time after his first glimpse of Dubbo's completed Sister City Japanese Garden.

"It is the number one, best Japanese garden in Australia."

Mr Kawai inspected every detail of the gardens from the 'Rojimon' - the name for the main gate - to the ornamental wall of the cherry blossoms.

He then expressed it was "one of [his] favourite tea gardens". Before saying "peace is made".

In what turned out to be right on the money, the mayor said he hoped the people of Dubbo would come and enjoy the tea house, and Japanese culture, for many years to come.

The Jurian Ceremonial Tea House is one of the unique features of the Shoyoen Garden.

It was designed by Yoshi Itazu and prefabricated in Minokamo by Aiwa Company.

It was then shipped to Dubbo in three 12-metre shipping containers, and reassembled on site by five Japanese craftsmen in 11 days in August 2002.

In 2006 came the Biodiversity Garden.

Council describes it as "a living model of the major vegetation communities that thrived in this region before European settlement".

It is also labelled as one of the best places for birdwatching native species. The birds are attracted by the food and habitat the native plants provide.

The Regional Botanic Garden was again expanded in September 2011 to include the Sensory Garden. It was established in partnership with the TAFE Western's Dubbo campus.

The Sensory Garden includes water features and the Barking Gecko sculpture.

Here's what the Daily Liberal reported at the time:

The Oasis Valley section of the garden was officially opened in April 2013.

It's designed to resemble a dry rainforest.

It wasn't until 2019 that the garden saw one of its biggest changes - the opening of the $1.75 million Adventure Playground.

The attraction offers about 40 play elements, and has been designed to be inclusive of all abilities.

The NSW government provided $1.3 million and Dubbo Regional Council contributed a further $450,000 for the facility.

Mayor at the time, Ben Shields said the playground would become "a tourist attraction in its own right".

"It's designed for kids to come here and get a bit dirty, to explore, to get amongst nature and be kids out in not necessarily a place that's got, overly-protected with cotton-wool buds or anything like that," he said.

The playground also has a strong emphasis on being suitable for all abilities.

It includes a Liberty Swing that was completed through $30,000 of fundraising from disability advocate Tracy Hanna, and an amenities block that complies with the Changing Spaces guidelines, completed with lifting devices and an adult change table.

With the adventure playground also came the construction of the Botanic Gardens Cafe.

The latest section in the precinct is the Wiradjuri Garden.

It opened in June 2021 and features sandstone yarning circles, a fire pit and a rainbow serpent focal piece made of native plants.

The goal of the Wiradjuri garden is to be a place for the community to meet and have a yarn together.

The future plans for the garden will see the Indigenous elements expanded.

Progress is currently under way for the establishment of the Wiradjuri Tourism Centre.

It will tie in with the Wiradjuri Garden and be a place to display sacred Aboriginal carved trees and artefacts.

Local Indigenous artists will also have space to develop their works.

Peter Stutchbury Architecture has been awarded the tender to construct the facility.