Adelaide Botanic Garden wins international tourism award
21 November 2023
Adelaide Botanic Garden has been announced as a 'Garden of the World Worth Travelling For in 2024' at the International Garden Tourism Awards.
Date posted: 23 December 2016
Often when visitors view our lucerne City Crop they're captured by the green foliage or purple flowers. But many don't stop and think about the world beneath the plants – the soil.
You might be surprised to discover that soil is one of nature’s most complex ecosystems, hosting a quarter of the world’s biodiversity. It's filled with a myriad creepy crawlies, bugs and slugs and microscopic marvels – making it a living wonderland.
But what does a soil ecosystem look like? The International Year of the Soil campaign (2015) states that a typical healthy soil, like under our lucerne plot, might contain:
In fact, assessment of productive soils has found there may be as many as 100 million to 1 billion bacteria in one teaspoon of soil. This means, there are more organisms in a tablespoon of healthy soil than there are people on the planet (FAO 2015).
Soil organisms perform vital functions in the soil ecosystem, such as:
Overall, soil organisms and the ecosystems they form are essential to ensure a functioning soil that can support plant growth. Since 95% of the world’s food is directly and indirectly produced on soils (FAO 2015), protecting the world’s soils is a must to ensure the future of sustainable and healthy food production.
Our Botanic Gardens horticulturists work hard to care and nurture the City Crop soil - visit the Crop during your next Garden visit or stay tuned for our next blog.
21 November 2023
Adelaide Botanic Garden has been announced as a 'Garden of the World Worth Travelling For in 2024' at the International Garden Tourism Awards.
18 July 2023
Have you ever driven past the beautiful heritage-listed Goodman Building when passing the Garden on Hackney Road? Did you know this building was formerly the base for the Municipal Tramways Trust but now serves as the Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium administration building.