George Pentland Botanic Gardens (Frankston)

The undulating grassed open space and garden beds create a pleasant environment for community and family group activities.

Originally part of a nine-hole golf course, the site became known as the George Pentland Botanic Gardens in 1975. Now home to a large array of Australian native plants, George Pentland Botanic Gardens is a relaxing place to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life and to see the ever-changing and developing botanic displays.

The Botanical Gardens focus on plants from South Eastern Australia and plant communities from the Mornington Peninsula.

Features of the park include:

Playground at the eastern end for young children
Picnic and barbecue facilities throughout the gardens
Walking tracks
Different types of vegetation and plant collections
Public toilets
Ornamental lake

Opening Hours:

Gate Opening/Closing Times

Review:

This place is a gem and it is wonderful to explore the very extensive gardens and enjoy a picnic.

Around the park, the parking places are typically free but limited to three hours from Monday to Friday. The gates are open from early morning to 6pm in winter and 9pm in the warmer months. Access is not possible outside theses times.

The site of these Gardens was previously part of the original Frankston Municipal Golf Course, established in 1938 and operating until 1974. Many of the present trees were planted in that period, but some are natural to the area, remaining from even earlier times.

In 1975 Frankston City Council decided that the area should become botanic gardens for native Australian plants. About that time, the then town clerk, George Pentland, retired from Council after thirty-six years of service to Frankston, and so the naming of the gardens in his honour was seen as a fitting recognition.

In 1994, the Council committed itself to further development of the Gardens. Community input was invited, and many local residents. including George Pentland himself, were involved in drawing up a Master Plan to make the Gardens a major feature of the City.

The entrance at the corner of Williams Street and Foot Street has some lovely art work on the walls with the highlight being the Banksia Gates.

The Gardens are large in area with a length of 600m and a width of 120m and cover a range of zones including a couple of areas of rainforest and an ornamental lake with fountain. The middle section has beds representing Frankston and Mornington Peninsula's plant communities and the western section has beds with representatives of major families and genera of Australian plants.

The lake has a lot of ducks and they have been showing signs of incorrect diet, especially with constant feeding of bread. The joy of feeding ducks is understood but the use of more natural feeds is highly encouraged. Alternative feed includes cracked corn and wheat or organic chicken pellets. One cup per feeding session is enough. For the ducks to stay truly healthy they also need to eat natural foods such as slugs, snails, grasses, natural seeds and insect larvae.

The eastern end has some playground equipment including a nice long slide, picnic area with plenty of tables, BBQs, water tap, toilets and huge shelter with two tables. This area is known as the Blue Gum Picnic area and is set partially in a shady area.

The park sweeps down across green grassy areas to areas highlighting different trees. There are areas of picnic tables, BBQs and water taps plus toilets scattered about the park. There are some lovely secluded spots also. Other highlights include poles in the ground with indigenous paintings and a circle of wooden carvings of Australian fauna in the rainforest area near the lake.

The trees are well labelled and interesting. There are also a lot of interesting information boards spread throughout the gardens. My favourite tree was the Illawarra Flame tree.

The whole park has paths running through it, which are mostly non asphalt. The paths seem to run off in all sorts of directions with many dead ends which makes it fun to explore the different areas.