This video tells the story of the plantings on the western edge of Walter Burley Griffin’s city plan, the Green Hills, now known as Roman Cypress Hill, Dairy Farmers Hill and the Himalayan Cedars. Originally marked on plans as a forest and game reservation and later a continental arboretum, Griffin finally settled on the afforestation of the three bare hills with cypress (Cupressus sempervirens) and cedars (Cedrus atlantica), from 1918 to 1920. Narrated by Trevor Lipscombe, ACT National Trust Heritage Walks organiser and filmed and directed by Anne Claoue-Long and Bronwyn Blake from the Australian Garden History Society, this short video reveals the connection of these three green hills which are driven past and visited by thousands of visitors every year.

There is a rainbow of colour in bloom at STEP right now! There are some wonderful images ... and you can see them in reality at the STEP forest. See below for the link.

School holidays are here and there's lots to see and do at the Arboretum!

With Floriade: Reimagined now underway, our regular Forest Walks have morphed into Flowering Forest Walks. With an additional walk being offered on Wednesdays.

12 stunning photographs that capture the essence of the arboretum including both flora and fauna images.

Spring is sprung ... and so is our latest Newsletter, full of colourful events and information. You can find it here!

Take a guided bus tour with our friendly guides and learn the stories of the forests and enjoy two viewing stops with spectacular photo opportunities. Bus tours depart 5 days a week: Wednesday - Sunday at 1.30pm.

Is there a budding Bonsai artist in your family? Be inspired by the National Bonsai and Penjing Collection of Australia and pot up, wire, style and take home your own personal bonsai!

Do you love going to the Arboretum? Are you handy with a camera? The Friends would like to set up a Photographic Group - there are so many visually beautiful things to be seen and found at the Arboretum. Many of these photographic images are worthy of sharing with others, being used as attractive Friends' calendar photos or as part of an archive featuring regular photographs from fixed locations through the seasons as part of historical record-keeping. There is a Citizen Science strand in this too.

Our thanks again to the Friends of ACT Trees (FACTT) and especially to Steve Thomas who wrote these fascinating insights into trees, most of which are growing in the Arboretum. See below for the index to these articles, which feature: #1 - Casuarinas #2 - Casuarinas - more #3 - Casuarinas - local #4 - Allocasuarinas #5 - Cypress pines #6 - Exocarpos #7 - Root-soil interactions #8 - Araucarias #9 - Nothofagus (beech) #10 - Taxonomists #11 - Podocarpus Thanks again, Steve!