Features of a Good Botanical Garden

A botanical garden specialises in assembling, rearing, preserving, and exhibiting a particularly varied plant range, specifically identified by the plant’s name.

Features of a good botanical garden include a collection of greenhouses, shaded houses, tropical plants, alpine plants and other exotic plants. These gardens contain special botanical collections such as cacti and different succulents, herb gardens, and plants from certain parts of the world. 

Botanical gardens are often run by universities and other scientific research institutions and usually associate herbs and research programs with other aspects of plant taxonomy and plant science. Most of them are partially open to the public and offer tours, educational exhibitions, art exhibitions, book clubs, open-air theatres, music performances, and other entertainment. Botanists and gardeners work together to make all the features of a botanical garden work smoothly. As a rule, the mission is to maintain a documented collection of living plants for scientific research, conservation, exhibition and educational purposes. These can depend on the available resources, profitability and individual gardens’ objectives.

Definition of a botanical garden 

A botanical garden is normally described as an area for developing flowers, vegetables and fruits. It is an academic organisation for people with a keen interest in science and the general public with broader consciousness and an interest in plant life.

Botanical gardens are of immense value now and are not only useful to botanists, domestic gardeners, nurserymen, horticulturists, panorama gardeners and foresters but also to hundreds of tourists.

Salient features of a good botanical garden 

A good botanical garden must fulfil the following features: 

1. A morphological garden for seed dispersal, breeding and genetics 
2. A taxonomic garden that displays plants and its family
3. A research area for botanical research of the native plants in the area
4. A herbarium, plant library, and a section displaying all the photographs
5. Recreation facilities, a lecture pavilion and book clubs for botanists and local people 
6. All the basic and applied aspects of botany are within the scope of the botanical garden’s activities and are central to the cultural activities of the area in which the botanical garden is located.

Functions of a good botanical garden

Improvement in the mental health 

Many studies have shown that being outside is good for our mental health, memory, and attention. For example, walking for 90 minutes in the natural environment (compared to walking in urban areas) reduces activity in areas of the brain that are associated with depression and mental illness. Walking in nature makes you feel better, even after stressful events. 

Protection of the environment

 Public gardens are environmentally friendly in several ways. They protect endangered plant species through live collections and seed banks, produce our plants, and play important roles in maintaining species’ health, such as butterflies, bees, bats, and birds that benefit from pollen matters. Green spaces also help filter pollutants, reduce temperatures and protect waterways from polluted spills. 

Health improvement 

The garden is a great place to exercise and follow fitness routines. You can go jogging along the trails or take classes such as Pilates and yoga. Some offer “boot camp” fitness classes at botanical gardens. 

Apart from providing numerous benefits to humans, botanical gardens have other specific advantages:

• Botanical gardens function as open-air laboratories. 
• One can study tropical and temperate biota and preserve them before they are lost to science. 
• They serve as centres of gene pools or germplasm banks for wild relatives of economically important plants.
• They can act as nature centres and youth museums to draw attention to the destruction of tropical and temperate ecosystems and the deterioration of the environment. 
•  Botanical gardens help conduct research on environmental biology in collaboration with universities. 
• They can act as conservation centres for endangered and rare species of plants.

Conclusion 

Botanical gardens have long served the benefits of botanists and horticulturists as cultural and scientific institutions. Strong connections with the general public can provide visitors with information on environmental issues, especially plant protection and sustainability. The botanical garden is managed under scientific guidance to manage a collection of living plants for educational and research purposes. Each botanical garden naturally develops its particular area of ​​interest, depending on its staff, location, scope, available funding, and conditions.