As you enter the Gardens off Rapanui Road you have the choice of continuing on the sealed drive towards the conservatories and Homestead garden and beyond, or turning right onto the unsealed ring road that takes you through the Arboretum. This road loops around through a mix of significant trees and open grassed areas to re-join the Gardens main driveway close to the Pergola. The Arboretum features three main tree collections.

Exotic Conifers

The bulk of the trees on the ring road are a collection planted from the 1970s onwards and include: Araucaria heterophylla (Norfolk Pine), Arauceria araucana (Monkey Puzzle tree) and Araucena columnaris (Captain Cook’s Pine).

Eucalyptus Collection

Along with more familiar red and white gum trees (Eucalyptus camaldulensis and Eucalyptus fraxinoides ) this collection includes more rare species such as Eucalyptus papuana (Ghost Gum) 

Native Collection

This section of the Arboretum links up to the Native Walkway and down to the Wetlands and lake, it includes native conifers such as Araucariaceae (Kauri family) Dacrydium cupressinum (Rimu), Prumnopitys taxifolia (Mataī), Podocarpus (Tōtara family) as well as other natives such as Vitex lucens (Pūriri) and Alectryon excelsus (Titoki).

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