The Botanical Gardens
St Andrews

Visitor information
St Andrews

 

The Botanical Gardens

The Original Botanic Garden was founded by the University of St. Andrews in 1889 in the precincts of St. Mary's College by a group of enthusiasts led by Dr John Wilson. The original garden was about 0.1ha (0.25 acres) in size and consisted of 78 regularly-shaped beds laid out according to the Bentham and Hooker plant classification. By 1960 the garden covered 2.8ha (7.8 acres).In addition, plants were grown in a variety of soil and climatic conditions in other parts of the University.

 

  

  About 8000 species of ferns, herbaceous plants, shrubs and trees are grown here. Some are native to Scotland but most grow wild in other regions of the world. All those outdoors are hardy and can be cultivated successfully in the climate around St Andrews. The soil is developed in glacial till overlying magnesian limestone. In the upper part of the garden the texture is a clay loam but near the Kinness Burn, it is sandy with some gravel.
The Present Botanic Garden of 7.5ha (18.5 acres) was created from two fields in the early 1960s to cater for expansion of the collection and release the town centre lands for other purposes. In 1987, the Garden was leased to the Local Authority, then N E Fife District Council, now Fife Council which has been responsible for management ever since.  
 

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