Durban’s Botanical Gardens

I have been going to the Durban Botanical Gardens for many years now. But I’ve only recently started appreciating what it has to offer in the form of a relaxing afternoon with your family. I took the time to read up on the history of the gardens and summarised as follows: The Durban Botanic Gardens is the oldest public institution and the oldest surviving botanic gardens in Africa. It’s located on the lower slopes of the Berea ridge. Its existence came about when some locals met in what is now the Royal Hotel in 1848 and wanted to re-establish the Kew Gardens in England, so as to establish a series of botanic gardens across the world. They wanted to introduce plants of economic value, and which would also supply Kew botanists with plants, new to science. The site originally selected for Durban’s first botanic gardens was some 4kms from town, besides the Umgeni River, near what is today Quarry Road. In 1849, the curator at the time, Dr Charles Johnston, began work on planting out plots. Dr Johnston was superceded by a Scot called Mark McKen. In 1851the botanical gardens were relocated closer to town, to its present site. In the years that followed, few visited the gardens, with the exception of the school children who made their way across the vlei to pick mulberries when they had ripened. Despite the lack of interest shown in the gardens by the public, there was however, one time in the year when the town came to the Gardens for the annual show. All the towns folk flocked to participate in the games, agricultural competitions and to enjoy the goods on sale and in the evening a grand dinner was held at the Royal Hotel. From 1872 the Durban Botantic Garden suffered many negative events, among which was the death of the professor, surviving a drought and the Anglo Boer war. Yet fortune smiled on the gardens in 1882 and a local trade store owner, John Medley Wood took on the task of curator with quiet determination. For 31 years the gardens enjoyed a golden age and by the 1890′s it boasted being one of the greatest botanic gardens of the British empire. However in 1913 Wood retired, but not before it earned its place in botanical history in the field of indigenous KwaZulu- Natal flora. This was a time of political change, the Boer War approached and botany was not at the fore of everyone’s minds. Medley Wood passed away on 26 August 1915 and was succeeded by William Keit on 27 August 1916. An era had passed. The gardens were transferred to the Durban Municipality. The Gardens’ herbarium was transferred to the state and run from Pretoria. The gardens declined into a mere public park. Despite all odds, the botanic gardens survived and it’s largely thanks to men like Frank Thorns and Ernest Thorp, and later to Kenneth Wyman and Errol Scarr. As the years have progressed & improved, it has seen the renaissance of the Botanic Gardens, Christopher Dalzell as curator, a Trust and ‘Friends’ have ensured new hope. Today it’s one of Durban’s top tourist attractions. Families enjoy picnics, occasionally groups perform for the public and family and friends gather for a snack at the tea garden situated on the premises. We often take Tristan, Kyra and Kayden to kick a ball around and just to enjoy the outdoors. When one walks through the gardens, it’s very hard to believe that one is in the middle of a city. It’s all thanks to the people in history who took the time to make the gardens what they are today.