In northern Victoria’s tiny town of Girgarre, locals are cultivating pride and revival through a burgeoning, world-class, native botanic garden.
Story Corinna Boldiston Photo Campaspe Shire Council
The dead grey box known as the Guardian Tree is testament to the Girgarre community’s resilience and towering ambition. “It’s a symbol of the past, but also the future; of transformation and hope,” Gargarro Botanic Garden convenor Athol ‘Doc’ McDonald says. Once a lone sentinel in a flat, dry paddock on the edge of this northern Victoria town, the remnant tree now holds ground in a vibrant parkland with colour-themed native Australian gardens and a meandering stream. Rosellas nest in its high hollow, and its skeletal branches stretch skyward like open arms, welcoming locals and visitors, and celebrating the community-led Girgarre Revival project.
In a town of just 200 people, the scale of Gargarro (the Yorta Yorta word for Girgarre) surprises many. Its garden already showcases 28,000 Australian native plants, many rare or endangered and selected for climate resilience. Designed by internationally acclaimed landscape architect Taylor Cullity Lethlean (TCL), the 4ha garden – stage one of a five-stage development – sits within a broader precinct, which includes a lawned amphitheatre and world-class soundshell; two-storey cafe; food forest plantation for koalas at Zoos Victoria Kyabram Fauna Park; and the Friends of Gargarro Green Thumbs Nursery.
“We had 35,000 visitors in the first year the garden and cafe opened,” Doc says. “The whole project’s been ambitious for our population. But from day one, we knew it had to be exceptional – bold, beautiful and unique. We needed to set the benchmark really high to achieve what we wanted for the community.”
This story excerpt is from issue #167
Outback Magazine: June/July 2026
