The Friends of the Kyneton Botanic Gardens are holding their 2024 Annual General Meeting tonight at 7pm at the Little Swallow Cafe, 62 Piper Street, Kyneton.
This meeting signifies a re-set for the friends group following several years of Covid-related hiatus with a new committee to be elected with a commitment to strong working relationships with Macedon Ranges Shire Council.
THe group also has a reinvigorated plan to implement the key elements of the 2011 Master Plan for the gardens.
Significant work has already been undertaken in the gardens this year by MRSC staff with repairs to pathways and drainage, removal of old and overgrown plants and, working closely with the friends group at monthly working bees, weeding and re-planting in several key areas, among the completed works.
A members bulb planting day in May saw a complete makeover of the area along the Clowes Street boundary close to the front entrance gates.
Regular meetings with MRSC staff and friends representatives to date have identified key projects for future funding requests and capital works priorities going forward.
One of the friends group’s key goals is to elevate the visitor experience of the gardens and enhance their use both by tourists and the local community.
This will kick off on September 6 and 13 as part of the Kyneton Daffodil and Arts Festival with a tour of the Kyneton Botanic Gardens conducted by Dr Peter May and Barry Murphy on behalf of the friends group as the first stop on the festival’s exclusive bus tours of open gardens.
The tours will begin from the Kyneton railway station at 10.15am. It is hoped that conducted tours of the gardens by members of the Friends of the Kyneton Botanic Gardens will become a regular feature in the near future.
Guest speaker at the AGM is Simon Rickard, who will speak on the future of the gardens with a talk titled `For the public good – the life of the Kyneton Botanic Gardens’.
Simon is a renowned horticulturist, consultant, author and presenter with international experience conducting gardens tours. His talk promises to be informative and relevant given his knowledge of the gardens over many years.
