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Canberra Today 21°/25° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Gardens grow new heart in Red Centre

A NEW garden is unfolding in the Australian National Botanic Gardens which represents the heart of Australia, says landscape architect Kaiya Browning.

Kaiya, who designed the project and travelled to Uluru, says a lot of research went into deciding what the Red Centre Garden would represent.

“I had to consider, what’s the most iconic thing about the red centre? It’s all about the desert rivers, plains, chenopod shrublands and rocky escarpments,” she says.

“I wanted to format all that in an aesthetic but accurate way. There is a strong design element, as it’s a representation, not a re-creation. The design has to be functional, and it has to work with the site we have – which initially was prone to flooding! Not ideal for an arid garden, but with years of preparation it’s now all coming together.”

Kaiya says she wanted to capture the incredible sense of space and the connection to the landscape and nature.
“It’s a wonderful way to give people a taste of Australia’s native flora, of what’s really out there,” she says.

The Red Centre Garden will open in October as part of the Canberra Centenary celebrations, and will include a central meeting place, a viewing platform, ochre earth and rocks, a palm gully, winding paths and a selection of plants from the region, including the desert oaks, ghost gum woodlands, spinifex grasslands and saltbush scrub.

There will also be a red sandpit and a giant thorny devil for kids to play on.

“For 12 months prior to construction, we studied the site and the trees, the shadows at different times of the day and the year,” says Kaiya.

“We had to be sure that we would get it absolutely right, and ensure that the plantings will thrive.”
Gardens staff have spent more than two years propagating plants for the garden, says Kaiya.

“We have species propagated from cuttings from Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, and from seed, including nicotiana, grevilleas, ptilotus, allocasuarina decaisneana and many grasses,” she says.

Kaiya says she sees the Red Centre Garden as a legacy for the next generation.

“I probably won’t get to see it fully established, but I love the idea that my children and grandchildren will be able to come here and experience it. There’s something quite magical about that.”

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Kathryn Vukovljak

Kathryn Vukovljak

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