EWANRIGG BOTANICAL GARDEN

A tourist in the botanical garden

Zimbabwe is a country with many tourist resort areas. Among them is the Ewanrigg Botanical Garden situated on the north-east of Harare. The magnificent place has contributed to the country's economy due to the number of tourists it has. Ewanrigg Botanical Garden is noted for its wide collection of indigenous and exotic plants and owes its origin to the late Mr. Harold Basil Christian. Mr. Christian came to the then Rhodesia in 1914 as a farmer. He later turned his attention to botany and horticulture. It was in the field of botany and in the study of the genus aloe that he made many valuable scientific contributions. Building on his success with aloes, he later turned his attention to a cycad collection. In his garden which covered, 1,5 hectares, a very comprehensive collection of aloes, cycads and many species of small succulent plants was acquired - all of which were planted with considerable care and particular attention to their physical arrangement.

Fresh lilies in water

 Some months prior to his death in 1950, he donated his garden with some additional land to the Government. The cultivated area was very small, comprising some 1.6ha. During the past 40 years, considerable development has been made. When the garden was eventually opened to the public and became widely known throughout the region, the need for expansion was identified in order to capture the interest of visitors throughout the year. With this in mind many hectares of land were brought under cultivation incorporating several features that include spacious lawns with grouped trees and shrubs, a water garden and collections of cacti and bougainvillea. 

Cacti vegitation

Progress made over the past few years has brought 100 hectares under cultivation.Ewanrigg has become widely known abroad and possibly the most favorable outcome of Mr. Christian's work has been the garden's capacity to create meaningful plant specie exchanges with other botanical gardens and numerous plant collectors as well as to create a richly endowed botanical habitat for both indigenous and exotic species. Ewanrigg has now become one of the largest aloe and cycad gardens in the world.