Guided Botanical Tours

Join our specialists John Wakeling - founder of the arboretum and arborist (passionate tree lover)

Join our Manager Antoinette van der Weerden who has a background in landscape architecture with considerable experience in horticulture.

For lovers of gardens, plants and all aspects of horticulture, the Botanical tour is a informative, interactive 3 hour session with the opportunity to learn how the arboretum was developed and what makes it so unique.

This is a 5 Star Garden of significance and a recognized accredited Arboretum

The Botanical Tour

Your Botanical tour will begin at the Artist shelter where you will get a introduction to the 32 year project that is the Waikataruru Arboretum .

You will then journey off visiting

  • Nursery where you will hear about the seedling program - do you know about the “Habitat Wall”

  • Rock Garden -collective planting with unique specimens

  • The Portal - a feat of engineering

  • NZ Native section

To finish join John and Antoinette for Coffee at the Roosting Ruru Cafe and enjoy a open forum for Q &A