Test Garden at Fed Square
Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation
NATURE: Major Public Realm, Partnership, In situ Demonstration
TIMELINE: Planted December 2024, opened January 2025, ongoing
SCOPE: Planting Design, Crafted set out, Procurement and Horticulture expertise. Interpretation and media.
DESIGN PARTNERS: Hassell, James Hitchmough & Nigel Dunnett, Melbourne Arts Precinct Co, Fed Square
OVERVIEW:
The Test Garden offers a joyous glimpse of Laak Boorndap, the new 18,000 square metre urban garden being delivered as part of the Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation project.
Located in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD at Federation Square, the garden is a whimsical, abundant testing ground that brings a sense of heady beauty and immersion in nature directly to a built-up inner city environment. Densely planted and multi-layered, the Test Garden conjures the feeling of being encompassed by the natural environment - akin to standing in a floral meadow and in direct juxtaposition with its concrete carpark locale.
The Test Garden is an ever changing explosion of nature, showcasing a rich tapestry of natural wonder and illuminating its beauty. Floating florals, abundant grasses, and lantern-like blooms all evoke a sense of proximity to the wonders of nature whilst being in the centre of the city.
The Test Garden places an emphasis on the naturalistic planting style of Laak Boorndap and importantly provides a fruitful testing ground for programming, research and conversations about climate change, biodiversity and ecology.
Demonstrating that beauty need not be forgone in climate-resilient, future-focussed planting design, the plants in the garden have been carefully curated to survive in hot, dry conditions.
As the blue print for Laak Boorndap, the Test Garden highlights how gardens in our dry summer climate can and should include an array of plants that are resilient, provide habitat for birds, bees and insects alike, whilst creating a more complex ecosystem and bring more biodiversity into the heart of the city - all in the name of beauty!
Image credit: SARAH PANNELL
‘The TEST GARDEN REPRESENTS THE CURIOSITY & BRAVERY BEHIND LAAK BOORNDAP. A willingness to test, Learn & challege conventional ideas of what a civic garden can be, a city space that is richer, wilder and for both people and biodiversity’.
Jon Hazelwood, Principal, HASSELL
‘The planting design is incredibly unique, it’s complex naturalistic approach to planting grounded in the southern hemisphere for a creative precinct. multi-layered, it shifts and changes throughout the whole year with wonder’.
Jac Semmler, Plant Practioner & Director, SUPER BLOOM
CULTIVATED VALUE
Test Garden Vision & PLANTING DESIGN
Super Bloom has been involved in the Test Garden since its initiation, playing a fundamental role in the conception, planting design and development of the project alongside Hassell, James Hitchmough and Nigel Dunnett. Our contribution helped shape the Test Garden as a space for experimentation, public engagement and planting innovation.
CRAFTED Planting & Knowledge Sharing
Super Bloom brought significant additional value through the highly crafted on-site delivery of the planting design, working closely with construction teams, plant procurement and establishment processes while sharing practical lessons and insights that informed the future delivery of Laak Boorndap.
Education, Mentorship & Industry Pathways
Through initiatives such as the Plant Camp program, Super Bloom created opportunities for emerging practitioners by training, mentoring and integrating students into the project, supporting pathways for students giving them experience in the public realm and landscape-based careers that will shape future cities.
Ongoing Care, Management & Support
Super Bloom has continued to provide active care, management and mentoring for the Test Garden, including regular engagement with gardeners and site teams. We also undertook the initial establishment and management of the garden following planting, ensuring the long-term success and resilience of the planting.
Interpretation, & Public Influence
Super Bloom has played a key role in the interpretation, communication and amplification of the Test Garden through media participation, public events and ongoing advocacy. Our involvement has helped broaden awareness, engagement and influence around the project and its role in innovative public planting design.
CULTIVATING LESSONS
Experimentation and research are central to the Test Garden is further extended with through a research partnership with the University of Melbourne.
The outcomes from this scientific testing will directly inform and influence the specialised planting scheme developed for Laak Boorndap, with species selected based on their performance in plant communities, observing their interactions together and how they perform in the dry-climate environment.
This research will showcase that beauty and resilience can work in harmony, with the Test Garden proving that resilience and climate-compatible planting design can also be wondrous, immersive and beautiful.
CULTIVATING A CLIMATE RESILIENT GARDEN
GROWING THE GARDEN
Located at Skyline Car Park in Fed Square, the Test Garden has been designed to thrive in an urban setting on a raised deck and respond to the unique qualities of an inner city environment - with all the challenges and richness through human interaction that it brings.
CULTIVATING THE SEEDS OF CHANGE
Super Bloom hosted a pilot ‘Plant Camp’ offering the next generation of horticulturalists and plant people the opportunity to learn through paid training, mentoring and a hands on experience at the Test Garden. This programme was facilitated and funded by Super Bloom.
The Test Garden provides a rich learning ground for exploring how the public use and experience the garden. With 24 hour public access, the garden is unique in the way the public interact with it. Positioned within a car park at Federation Square, adjacent to a roundabout the Test Garden is an unlikely location for a whimsical, floating garden of wonder. Observing how people experience the garden has been pivotal in shaping how Laak Boorndap will grow.
EXPERIENCE THE TEST GARDEN
PLANT SELECTION
There are more than 70 different plants used in the Test Garden garden, including perennials, annuals, succulents, bulbs and shrubs.
EVERCHANGING WONDER
The garden is open to the public 24/7, where the public can observe the garden as it shifts and changes with the seasons. With a curated plant selection that is forever changing, visitors will experience first hand ‘a year of wonder’.
EVENTS AT THE TEST GARDEN
Take part in public programs and workshops at the Test Garden, and find out more about the research insights into climate resilience and biodiversity preservation.