By Luke Voogt
The largest development at Geelong Botanic Gardens in 20 years has been completed, according to council.
Council last Friday announced the completion of a new Pacific Rim Garden and sustainable visitor centre covering a total of two hectares.
The garden’s acting co-ordinator Ashley Filipovski was thrilled to be part of the development after he started as an apprentice there in 2000.
“I can’t tell you how ecstatic I am and how ecstatic our staff are,” he said.
“We’ve had people work for decades on this.”
Mr Filipovski congratulated Friends of the Geelong Botanic Gardens and council workers for their contributions to the project.
“The land has been pre-destined for this work since the 1980s but we never had the funding,” he said.
“A lot of these trees are going to take 100 to 200 years to mature – we’ve got some trees that will get to 30 metres.
“We won’t be there to see some of them. For the majority, it will be for our children and grandchildren to appreciate.”
For 30 years plant collector Alistair Watt travelled to the most remote corners of the Pacific region to find pines, conifers, sequoias, cedars and more in areas threatened by deforestation and climate change.
The plant’s origins include New Caledonia, Fiji, New Zealand, Vietnam, China, North America, Chile, South America and Australia.
Friends of the Geelong Botanic Gardens provided the funds for the propagation of plants and donated $3000 to restore a Furphy water tank used in the gardens 100 years ago.
