What is a botanic garden?
From 2014 to 2017 I was the Managing Editor of BGANZ’s THE BOTANIC GARDENer, the magazine for botanic garden professionals. Three issues were published annually and each issue addressed a particular theme.
‘Amazing Interpretation’ was the theme for Issue 46 November 2016 and as interpretation has been dear to my heart throughout my career as an educator, I commend this whole issue to you. I have chosen this article as an example of what’s inside.
Janelle Hatherly 2021
Introduction
In his feature interview (on Page 2) Paul Redman, Executive Director of Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania USA said it best when he defined interpretation as creating meaning and emotional connections and that everything we do in our organisations is interpretation. In botanic gardens we interpret our organisational values, the significance of our special places and what botanic gardens stand for in the greater global garden.
As public places we are also responsible for providing visitors (real and virtual) with an enjoyable experience that’s relevant, value for time and money, meaningful, personal and well-organised.
Botanic gardens have to be both mission-driven and market-driven, as without both they risk going out of business or slowly losing their identity in a world of competing markets. Good business principles are universal and every garden by its very location is an individual and can be branded and uniquely positioned in the marketplace.
The definitions below (by brand consultant Michele Bain) are the best I have found to distinguish interpretation from other functions.
But what is our collective identity as botanic gardens? Do we actually have one? Do we need or want one? BGANZ exists to unify our profession and set best practice standards and benchmarking as agreed to by our peers. Our congresses, website, professional networks and e-magazines (The BOTANIC GARDENer and now our GardenDrum BGANZ blog) are where we share ideas, create meaning and emotional connections – aka interpretation – as to what botanic gardens mean to us.
There is no accreditation process specifically designed for botanic gardens and botanic gardens can align themselves with museums, national and municipal parks, open gardens and historic houses, tourist attractions and theme parks. We have a pretty good idea of best practice standards as was discussed at the last BGANZ Congress in Wollongong. It would be relatively easy to set up the accreditation process provided we share a clear idea of our identity. (See follow-up article in Issue 43 Nov 2015)
The opportunity to showcase botanic gardens from ‘the inside looking out’ on the GardenDrum BGANZ blog site is a great way for us to highlight features that make botanic gardens stand apart from other public green spaces … and we can engage the wider community in our discussions.
A Google search for a generally accepted definition of a botanic garden yields the unexciting but essentially correct: A botanic garden is an establishment where plants are grown for scientific study and display to the public.
It conveys the bare bones of botany, horticulture, education/understanding of plants and public appreciation of the place. As botanic garden professionals we have a much deeper appreciation of the complexities of our naturally and culturally significant establishments – for better or worse – and our strategic plans attempt to encompass all these facets.
On a recent road trip to Central Australia, I decided to visit seven botanic gardens between Sydney and Alice Springs and do some research on ‘What is a botanic garden’? ... but this time, from ‘the outside looking in’.
Before I left home (to be a tourist) I developed criteria (as a botanic gardener). I tried to work out what I felt was needed so that, as well as providing visitors with an enjoyable outing, botanic gardens would also provide visitors with tangible evidence of horticulture, science, education and recreation opportunities.
My four visitor-centric criteria were easy to apply:
Did I experience a sense of arrival?
Did I ‘live the moment’ and did I learn anything?
Are plants centre stage?
Did I leave with a positive lasting impression?
The seven gardens I visited just happened to be the ones on my tourist route and that I could visit without too much trouble. I arrived unannounced in much the same way most visitors do and the gardens I visited were just a small part of my whole holiday adventures.
The second article I wrote for the Garden Drum BGANZ blog, A road trip with a difference describes key features of a botanic garden as I found them in:
Olive Pink Botanic Garden
Alice Springs Desert Park
Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden
Adelaide Botanic Garden
Pangarinda Botanic Garden
The Inland Botanic Garden
Wagga Botanic Gardens.
I could have used any botanic garden anywhere in the world for the purpose of this exercise and below I articulate some of the specific features I was looking for. It’s just the start of a useful checklist and possibly one you might find useful to develop and apply to your own garden presentation and visitor experience.
EVIDENCE of a sense of arrival
This criterion addresses visitor expectations based on how and why they choose to visit.
Offsite information:
an easy to find and navigate website
good advertising and media coverage
word-of-mouth recommendations
road and local area signage.
Onsite entrance:
some distinguishing features (with respect to surrounding landscape)
some sense of grandeur/importance/pride in the place
a name and welcome sign
visible evidence of what lies ahead after entry
someone to meet and greet me.
EVIDENCE of experiential learning
By its very nature this criterion is subjective as everyone’s knowledge, interests and life experiences are different. However, we create the ambiance that provides everyone with the opportunity for a meaningful and enjoyable experience ... regardless of the weather conditions!
an aesthetically pleasing setting
a variety of things to look at and attract attention
the opportunity to engage all the senses (though not necessarily all at once)
something/someone to answer questions ‘in context’
physical features that invite exploration and discovery
evidence of scholarship about plants
a sense of community (a diversity of people engaged in a diversity of activities)
an organisational message/theme.
EVIDENCE of plants centre stage
This ended up being the most significant criteria – the one that helped me distil the essence of ‘What is a botanic garden?’ and sets botanic gardens apart from all other competing markets.
It highlights the pleasures of gardening and being in nature; the joys of learning about plants and the challenges of helping others to not take plants for granted or exploit them; and the need for society to address environmental issues and social inequality. It made me realise botanic gardens are the one place where we should be able to count on plants having centre stage.
The more plants mattered, the more I encountered:
labels on plants
noticeable plant diversity
well-maintained garden beds
designed landscapes
interpretive signage
gardeners at work
an experienced volunteer guide
opportunities to engage with plant experts
brochures and apps about plants on display
plant-related exhibitions and themed garden beds/areas
books on plants and plant-related gifts for sale in the shop
plant-inspired sculptures and other works of art
sustainable building design and organisational practices
community workshops, school programs and holiday activities
eating areas surrounded by plants or in garden settings.
The list goes on ... and the lack or presence of the above revealed a lot about each organisation’s priorities and values.
EVIDENCE of a lasting positive impression
Every visit to a botanic garden is a unique experience and, if we are doing our jobs well, every visitor leaves with a positive impression that resurfaces in a variety of circumstances well into the future.
Evidence of this is immediate, ongoing and personal. At each garden I looked for:
signs of people enjoying themselves
happy relaxed people
people visibly engaging with their surroundings
a wide demographic of visitors
people taking photos
positive and focused comments.
It is amazing what you overhear when you choose to listen to others’ conversations. My ears pricked up when I heard comments like:
‘I can’t work out where we are on this map ...’
‘Here’s the place I told you about that I clearly remember visiting when I was on a Year 6 school excursion. The teacher made us ...’
‘Grandma, come and look at this’ or
‘Wow! Awesome!’
After a visit, many garden visitors are keen to share their impressions and feelings freely via social media and other channels. With feedback so readily available it is easy for each organisation to measure success – what features work well or otherwise. It also clearly shows how effective any plant interpretation is ... from a visitor’s perspective.
If plant interpretation is effective, visitors will write about plants and post photos, come again, spread the word and seek out other botanic garden experiences. Even more significantly they will be called to action to learn more about specific plants, gardens and gardening; spend time in nature and in the garden; care for their local environment and help address global challenges of plant conservation.
I am an optimist and, after reading Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point, I look forward to the day when the PLANTS=LIFE message, in all its manifestations, is as contagious as a virus and all the little things we do in botanic gardens actually make a big difference!
© Janelle Hatherly
Please credit www.janelle.hatherly.com if you use any information in this article.
If you have any questions please get in touch.