Auburn Botanical Gardens, Botanical garden with Japanese garden in Auburn, Australia.

Auburn Botanical Gardens spreads across a large site divided into different themed sections, including Japanese garden elements, rose areas, and water features. The layout mixes open spaces with more wooded zones where wildlife also lives.

The site was mined for clay tiles in the early 1900s and later used as a waste landfill. From 1969, council engineer Eric Black's plan took shape with the excavation of the Japanese Gardens Lake; hundreds of trees were planted in 1973. Governor Sir Roden Cutler opened the gardens on 11 September 1977.

The Japanese garden, one of the main attractions, has hosted wedding couples from overseas, and its lake was the first feature excavated when construction began in 1969. Community groups later added a bonsai garden and an aviary, opened on 5 December 1988, holding Australian and Asian bird species. The gardens were opened by Governor Sir Roden Cutler on 11 September 1977.

The gardens are open throughout the day and offer walking paths to explore at your own pace. Wear comfortable shoes and allow several hours to wander through the different sections without rushing.

The Fauna Reserve, opened in 1994 and built with advice from Taronga Zoo, is a walk-through enclosure for kangaroos, wallabies, emus, rufous bettongs, common wombats and red-bellied black snakes. Outside it, only peacocks, swans and other birds move about the gardens freely.