A testament to the cooling power of plants, this glorious microclimate can be up to 6 degrees cooler than Melbourne's city centre. Although you'll find ferns from South-West Tasmania to Far North Queensland, and even New Zealand, more than half the ferns in Fern Gully are Victorian species.
This is a peaceful place of intricate patterns, filtered light and flitting birds. Head off the main boardwalk to find your own sanctuary in the secluded contemplation nooks.
"Fern gully is a collection of ferns from Australasia as well as many other bold foliage plants, to create a lush rain forest feel. There's a sense of being enclosed in this greenery. The delicate ferns and the fern fronds and the light streaming through. The shade and light and the sound of the creek..." Horticultural Curator, Fern Gully, from Sonica Botanic Episode 3: Herb Garden, Fern Gully Sensory Garden
Hear about the sensorial effects of plants in Episode 3 of Sonica Botanica: Herb Garden, Fern Gully and Sensory Garden (24m 15s). Perfect to listen to through your headphones whilst wandering through these three living collections.
[Intro]: Sonic Snippets: from the Sonica Botanica archive
[Chris Cole]: My name is Chris Cole. I'm the Executive Director at Melbourne Gardens. I think the Fern Gully for me, it's such a different place to anywhere else within the Gardens. It's so lush, it's so green. And when you enter there you can be totally immersed in that space. The rest of the Gardens almost melts away, and the change in the feel of the air.... One of the great benefits of the Fern Gully is the microclimate that it creates. It is definitely cooler and damper than anywhere else in the Gardens, and it can be up to six degrees cooler on a hot day, than Melbourne's CBD. So people do seek refuge there, it is so beautiful just to get that respite.
The topography and also the plants chosen within the Fern Gully, definitely do change the prevailing conditions, it does remind me of my time when I was curator at the Townsville Botanic Gardens, it is so lush, and it does feel tropical to a point, and does evoke memories of my time up in Far North Queensland. Just that feeling of being enveloped in a rainforest-type environment. And whenever I'm walking in the Gardens, I'll always make a point to go through Fern Gully.
The Montezuma Cypress (Taxodium mucronatum) at the northern entrance to Fern Gully is the tallest tree in the Melbourne Gardens.
The viewing platform on this tree was installed in 2019 to allow visitors to get close to this gentle giant without damaging its roots.
You can find this tree and more of Australia's most beloved trees on the the National Trust's significant tree register.
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