Fitzroy Gardens

The Fitzroy Gardens are 26 hectares (64 acres) located on the southeastern edge of the Melbourne Central Business District in East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The gardens are bounded by Clarendon Street, Albert Street, Lansdowne Street, and Wellington Parade with the Treasury Gardens across Lansdowne street to the west.

The gardens are one of the major Victorian era landscaped gardens in Australia and add to Melbourne's claim to being the garden city of Australia. Set within the gardens are an ornamental lake, a scarred tree, a visitor information centre and cafe, a conservatory, Cooks' Cottage (a house where the parents of James Cook lived, brought from England in the 1930s), tree-lined avenues, a model Tudor village, a band pavilion, a rotunda, the "Fairies' Tree", fountains and sculptures.

The most notable feature of the Gardens is the trees that line many of the pathways.

The land was originally swampy with a creek draining into the Yarra River. The gardens were initially designed by Clement Hodgkinson and planted by park gardener, James Sinclair, as a dense woodland with meandering avenues. The creek was landscaped with ferns and 130 willows, but that did not stop it smelling foul from the sewage from the houses of East Melbourne. The creek was used for irrigation of the western side of the gardens for fifty years. In the early 1900s the creek water substantially improved when sewerage mains were installed to the residences of East Melbourne.

In the early years quick growing blue gums and wattles were planted to provide wind breaks. Elm trees were planted to create avenues along pathways, which created a pattern in resemblance to the Union Flag.

Clement Hodgkinson described the landscaping design:

During the 1880s and 1890s many of the blue gums were removed to create more room for existing trees, as well as sweeping lawns and ornamental flowerbeds. Sub Tropical planting became a feature of the Gardens with the creation of new planting in areas like the Mound and the Grey Street Walk. Further major changes occurred in the 1930s and 40's with the establishment of the Conservatory and the arrival of Cooks' Cottage in the Gardens. In 2014 an area previously used for depot activities was re- claimed as garden space and features a major stormwater harvesting system, a café and visitor centre which provides tourism information about Melbourne as well as specific information and services for Cooks' Cottage and Fitzroy Gardens.

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Wikipedia