Test Garden

The Test Garden is a window into Laak Boorndap, the new 18,000 square metre urban garden being delivered as part of the Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation project.

A densely planted, multi-layered, and continuously flowering space for people, art and performance, Laak Boorndap will be at the centre of the Melbourne Arts Precinct and will create more space for nature in our city. Along with our landscape architects and horticulturalists Hassell, Super Bloom, James Hitchmough and Nigel Dunnett, we have partnered with University of Melbourne to place experimentation and research at the heart of this project through rigorous scientific testing at the horticulture campus in Burnley.

Our new pop-up Test Garden demonstrates the naturalistic planting style of Laak Boorndap and provides a test bed for programming, research and conversations about climate change, biodiversity and ecology. Throughout the year, come and visit this garden to watch it grow and bloom with the seasons, take part in public programs and workshops, and find out more about our research insights into climate resilience and biodiversity preservation.

Experimentation and adaptability are necessary tools for surviving the unpredictable conditions of the changing climate. As our city faces the challenges of the climate crisis, we are committed to cultivating climate-resilient gardens. In this garden, we’ve chosen plants that are already known to survive in hot, dry conditions in a shallow substrate. The diverse selection of plants requires minimal intervention and irrigation to flourish, making them uniquely adaptable to our changing climate.

One of the key issues of the climate emergency is the loss of biodiversity, which is essential to life through supporting complex ecosystems. By creating this unique urban ecosystem, we hope to provide a home to birds, insects, and bees. This project is one of many, as community groups, councils, and neighbours across Melbourne create gardens with a focus on thoughtful planting, fostering biodiversity, and changing our relationship to nature in an urban environment.

The Test Garden is presented by MAP Co and has been generously supported by Bupa.
Design: Hassell in partnership with Super Bloom, James Hitchmough and Nigel Dunnett
Construction: Colombo Design Partnership