Guilfoyles Volcano

Climb Guilfoyle's Volcano

Melbourne is built on a 50-million-year-old lava flow!

You might have noticed the basalt volcanic rock in some of the garden beds. Inspired by this fun fact, in 1876, the Garden’s second director Guilfoyle constructed a reservoir within a volcano-shaped hill at the garden’s highest point to gravity feed water throughout the gardens.
The ‘volcano’ is still used for water storage but is now part of a clever garden-wide water reticulation and treatment system.

Speaking of clever, on the sides of the ‘volcano’, the landscape architect has used red rock mulch combined with plantings of masses of succulents to mimic bubbling and flowing lava. Other striking accent plants used are reminiscent of a desert landscape.

Connecting to Country 

This Collection is on the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people. As you explore the Gardens you will see four colours and four words in Woi-wurrung language on the signs to reflect the Traditional Owners’ connection to Country and this particular place. The word narnerbunnul refers to the high points in landscape in Woi-wurrung and the signs in this area have orange highlights.

Young botanists

Is this really a volcano?
No, but, millions of years ago there was a volcano near here, and most of Melbourne is built on the lava which flowed from it.

Not long after the gardens first opened, a man called Guilfoyle shaped the hill that was already here to look like a volcano, and then he put a water reservoir (a place for storing water) in the middle of it so that he could water the entire gardens. Now that’s clever thinking.

Climb to the top. Look down the sides of the ‘volcano’. Does the way the plants have been arranged make it look like there is lava flowing from the ‘volcano’?!

Want to know more? 

For more on this living collection, head to the Guilfoyle's Volcano page and read about the curation of these plants.

Guilfoyle's Volcano
View Guilfoyle's Volcano on map