Wombat Hill Botanical Gardens, Botanical garden in Daylesford, Australia.

Wombat Hill Botanical Gardens covers 10.4 hectares on the summit of an extinct volcanic cone above Daylesford. It preserves 19th-century features such as a carriage drive, elm- and conifer-lined avenues, shaded picnic areas and formal garden beds contrasting with open lawns. Only about 1% of its plant collection is Australian flora; the rest is exotic, and a moist fern gully lies within the grounds.

Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens was established in 1863 by Baron Ferdinand von Mueller, who was also responsible for the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne. It lies on the summit of an old volcanic cone in the Shire of Hepburn, land marked by the gold rush and alluvial gold digging of the first European settlement, in the area now occupied by Lake Daylesford. The gardens keep their 19th-century character and are listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.

The gardens are managed by Hepburn Shire Council as Committee of Management, with a Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens Advisory Committee and a Friends group; the 150th anniversary was held in 2013. The Begonia House displays a tuberous begonia collection each autumn, and the National Trust of Australia has listed some mature trees on its Register of Significant Trees.

The best way to explore the gardens is to walk the marked paths that lead through different planting areas and sections. Visitors should allow plenty of time to move slowly through the hilltop site, especially if they want to reach the damper, shadier areas with fern gullies.

The fern gully within the gardens is a particularly damp pocket that feels like a miniature forest where rare fern species thrive. This tucked-away section contrasts sharply with the rest of the hilltop and reveals how moisture and shade shape plant communities.