The best secret gardens in Melbourne

Little-known fact: the Royal Botanic Gardens has an equally cool sister in Melbourne's southeast. The Cranbourne division of the Royal Botanic Gardens specialises in native Australian flora and spans more than 350 hectares. The gardens are home to more than 170,000 plants, including those residing in the rugged Australian Garden, as well as a number of endangered Australian animals. If you'd like to rest your legs, there's a hop-on-hop-off open-air bus that can take you around on a sweep of the gardens. 

Blue Lotus Water Garden is a seasonal display garden, generally open from December 26 to April 18 each year.

At Blue Lotus Water Garden, a multitude of water lilies and lotus flowers bloom over dozens of ponds and two lakes, and the gardens extend over 50,000 square metres. Take a stroll around the gardens and peek inside the four greenhouses that grow rare plants, including the giant Amazon lily, the world’s largest lily species.

In 2013, a team of gardeners that included landscape designer Phillip Johnson and horticulturalist Wes Fleming became the first Aussies to take out the prestigious Best in Show Award at the Chelsea Garden Show with a display patriotically titled, ‘Australian Garden’. Now, ten years later, that initial landscape concept has bloomed into a real-life, permanent garden that is 20 times bigger than the original. Chelsea Australian Garden is located within the Dandenong Ranges Botanic Garden on Wurundjeri Country, and features an enormous waratah sculpture (which stands at nine metres tall), a waterfall, billabong and more than 15,000 plants – including more than 400 native Australian species and endangered varieties like the Wollemi Pine.

Yarran Dheran connects to Mullum Mullum Creek Reserve and the EastLink Trail, which is adjacent to its eponymous freeway. Yet Yarran Dheran and its adjoining parklands feel more like a stroll in the peaceful Dandenongs than Melbourne's busy eastern suburbs. Clever noise-dampening walls insulate the parks from the sound of nearby traffic, and all you can see in any direction are trees, gently rolling hills and the Mullum Mullum Creek. There are more than 85 species of birds that make the 7.5 hectares of Yarran Dheran their home, and you'll hear plenty of evidence of their presence.

Sitting on a hilltop in the Dandenong Ranges are the rock gardens, fern gullies and bountiful lawns that make up the Dandenong Ranges Botanic Garden. This botanic garden was only dubbed a botanic garden in 2017, as it was previously known as the National Rhododendron Garden. These days you’ll find more than just rhododendrons, with azaleas, camellias, cherries and daffodils providing some delightful rainbow colour to the grounds. The gardens boast an impressive collection of rare and exotic plants too, the majority of which are endangered. Luckily these plants have adapted to the Dandenong Ranges’ relatively cool climate.

Almost three hours outside Melbourne you’ll find a slice of the old Wild West at Cactus Country. Home to the biggest collection of cacti in Australia, Cactus Country has over four hectares of gardens ready to be explored. The gardens showcase more than 4,000 species of sprouting cacti and succulents, and you’ll be able to wander through eight different trails across the gardens to find your favourite prickly friend. As you can imagine, the place is crazy photogenic, and you can even hire out the location for film or photo shoots.

These European-style gardens are situated in the not-so-European hills of Shepherds Flat in northwest Victoria. Lavandula sits on a 40-hectare property originally operated by a Swiss-Italian family who came to Victoria in search of gold. Today it boasts an incredible lavender farm, vegetable and herb gardens and an on-site café. Skim your hands over the building’s original 1850s stone brickwork and scour the gift shop for essential oils, scrubs, creams and hand washes.

As close as you'll come to a true secret garden, the Alfred Nicholas Memorial Garden is located deep within the Dandenong Ranges. Take a walk through the park and see the awesome canopy of mountain ash trees or take a picnic by the picturesque lake and quaint boathouse. The park is home to a heap of Australian native flora, which changes all year round. In spring, the park is full of colour with flowering azaleas and cherry trees, while in autumn the park turns golden with the changing colours of the maples and beeches.

One of Victoria's first public gardens, Williamstown Botanic Gardens is a lush green spot to read or have a picnic. It was originally established by early colonies as a way of assessing how well plants would fare in the Australian climate. As a result, the garden's main features include a plethora of exotic plants, an Edwardian ornamental pond and a formal palm avenue. It's also a stone's throw away from Williamstown Beach if you need some sandy respite.

Located only 20 minutes from Melbourne’s CBD sits the last of Australia’s grand suburban estates. A visit to this National Trust-liste treasure offers a glimpse back into the lifestyles of the wealthiest Australians of the era. As for the extensive 19th century pleasure gardens, these feature an impressive early example of water self-sufficiency – a complex wind-powered irrigation system fed by a lovely looking man-made lake. Above ground, the gardens are laid out in the romantic Picturesque and Gardenseque styles popular at the time. Put on your best frolicking frock and enjoy acres of scenic gardens, lavish lawns, a fernery, orchards, or a paddle around the lake.