Learning
Education Kits
There is a variety of self-contained and downloadable education kits available for Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC) lessons at the garden.
Kit topics are Feathered Friends, Flower Power, Treasured Plants, Orienteering, and Weather Watch.
- Booking request - Education outside the classroom (new window)
School group visits to Dunedin Botanic Garden
HortHelp
For expert advice on problem or mystery plants, drop off a good sized sample to the information centre, open daily 10am to 4pm. Staff will endeavour to answer your query within 3 days.
How to read a plant label
All plants in the Dunedin Botanic Garden are labelled with a standard format.
Training
We have an international reputation for quality training and education programmes. We enjoy teaching and have the experience and skills to provide you with the skills and knowledge you need to further your horticultural career.
Volunteering
Information centre volunteer
The Botanic Garden Information Centre is staffed entirely by volunteers. They are the welcoming face of the Botanic Garden, answering visitors' questions, promoting the Garden and its projects, and selling postcards – not to mention handing out duck food to excited children.
Full training is given and no horticultural knowledge is required.
Enquiries are very welcome. Phone 471 9275, visit any day (except Christmas Day and Good Friday) between 10am and 4pm or email Friends of the Botanic Garden.
Dunedin Botanic Garden – Wandering Weeders
Garden collections are highly managed by staff, who aim to supress the growth of weeds using a variety of techniques such as ground covers, mulching and physical removal of pest plants. Hand weeding is a core part of the weed management repertoire. This is where you come in to lend a hand!
With a huge area to cover and only so much time in the day, there will always be a corner of the gardens that could use some hand-weeding love! Enjoy working in a beautiful outdoor setting in the company of likeminded volunteers, while making a positive visible difference, helping our garden to thrive!
The setting will be a garden collection that rotates on a roster. It will include both curated garden beds as well as potted plants in the nursery. Occasionally, the focus may be removing invasive plants in the bush, using grubbers to help with deeper roots.
The core tool of choice will be the handy wonder weeder, allowing the careful removal of plants without damaging roots of others nearby. Short sessions will be spent in targeted collection locations in small groups of up to four, led by a garden Ranger.
Register for Wandering Weeders
Time commitment
Sessions will run on Tuesdays, 12:30 – 2:30pm.
You can join us once, or on an ongoing basis. Group size is restricted to 4, so there may be a waitlist to join casually, or when a place becomes available.
Sessions will begin in early September. Our Ranger will confirm the meeting location the week prior to the session.
Required skills and attributes
- Positive attitude, respectful of environment and approach to health and safety
- Good communications skills
- Moderate level of fitness (able to push a wheelbarrow, walk over uneven ground, work at ground level)
Equipment required
- Gloves, safety glasses and tools will be provided.
- Please wear appropriate sturdy footwear, long pants and long-sleeved clothing and bring any food or drink you may wish to have with you.
- Please wear a rain jacket, if rain is forecast. We can work in light rain, but will postpone in poor weather conditions.
If you have any questions please get in touch by emailing botanic@dcc.govt.nz
Garden Tours
Tour bookings are not being accepted for now.
Research study proposals
The purposes of this research work must be for public good and for the extension of scientific knowledge and understanding of our diverse cultures and the natural world.
