About the park

During the mid 80's the need for a permanent park to house the wild sourced Grevillea plant collection became necessary. These plants had been collected and grown in pots by the Grevillea Study Group of the Australian Plant Society. 

The Sydney and Canberra Botanic Gardens became interested in the valuable scientific collection and an approach was made to Wollongong City Council to secure a lease over land owned by the Council. Park Manager Ray Brown then designed the layout of the park and undertook the daunting construction task of building the infrastructure  for the 2.4ha park that you see today - a most impressive achievement!

In 2022 the Park became a Botanic Garden. 

The Grevillea Park has a number of purposes.

For the public, the Park is about showcasing the rich and wonderful array of plants we are blessed with in Australia. Hopefully visitors will  then be encouraged to try growing a few native plants or to expand their collection. The Park is one of the very few places many of the plants on display can be seen. They represent flora for every state in Australia. 

The Grevillea Park also has a scientific mandate. It is a member of the South East NSW Bioregion Working Group. The group aims to increase knowledge of rare and significant flora. It undertakes collaborative field collecting, promotes conservation, and shares information and resources in order to better facilitate research. Ultimately its about securing these rare plants for future generations.

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The Grevillea Park is set on 2.4 ha. A large are of the park is fenced in and this contains extensive display gardens and a rainforest.  The display gardens have plants from all over Australia, and while Grevilleas play the prominent role there are many other wonderful plants. Many of the plants in the garden are grafted . This allows difficult to grow plants from other states in our more wet and humid conditions. There are roads around all of the gardens that provide good vantage points. In the rainforest there are well maintained flat and wide tracks. In 2022 a new sensory walk was added in the rainforest area. At any time there are over 300 plants labelled in addition to interpretive signage around the Park. In 2023/4 work was undertaken in the Vine Forest. New tracks were constructed that pass through stands of cabbage tree palms and remnant cedar trees. A special feature of the Forest is an old giant blackbutt tree.

The park is maintained by a small group of volunteers who meet every Monday from 9am to 1 pm. Volunteers undertake a broad range of jobs including planting, pruning, mulching, building new gardens and paths, undertaking special projects. Some volunteers come specifically to help out on Open Days since they work during the week. Every week the volunteers do something different!

WANT TO VOLUNTEER?

We are always after volunteers, so please contact us via this webpage, through our facebook page, or ask during one of the open days. There are jobs to suit every fitness level, so why don't you give it a try!

At each of our open days plants are for sale at good prices. Many of the plants for sale are hard to source anywhere else. A good range of grafted plants is usually available.

This book is only available for purchase at the Park. It has over 400 photos and plenty of growing tips on the plants that can be found in the Botanic Garden

The Park continually undergoes improvements. Currently we have a number of projects. These include the development of 2 new display gardens, a new bush tucker garden, a new shelter and an additional picnic area. Following the floods of recent years, a great deal of work has been done to rehabilitate the  Vine Forest, including a new path to a giant blackbutt tree.