Julia Watson interviews Sue McDougall, Chief Horticulturist, Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority, Western Australia for Issue 66 of the BOTANIC GARDENer Magazine themed “Resilient Gardens – adapting to a changing world”. We will be exploring this theme in our Resilient Gardens series of blogs, highlighting insights and stories from the magazine.
You’ve worked with gardens and landscapes for decades. How has your definition of a resilient garden changed over time? What does resilience mean for a botanic garden in 2026?
This is actually a concept we have been grappling with for a long time. When we talk about climate resilience, it is resilience on all levels. So it is not just plant resilience, it is people resilience, it is teams, it is systems.
We are managing a heritage landscape, and it is understanding what resilience is to. It is all the external pressures – biodiversity, climate, people challenges, labour, visitor expectations, funding opportunities or lack of funding opportunities. And then how do we keep that botanic garden relevant in a contemporary world, and for the future?
When we think about it, we think about climate resilience, but that is only one small aspect of it.
A resilient landscape is a holistic approach. It is not just biodiversity in isolation – it is how everything holds together. As soon as you start adding inputs – fertiliser, land clearing, people input, vermin, biosecurity issues – it starts to collapse if it is not managed properly.
So resilience opens and closes. It moves to where it is most needed. You need to be reactive for the immediate, but you need to be proactive for the future.
We are setting up now for 60 or 75 years’ time. What do we need to be ready for? What is the worst-case scenario? These are questions we should all be asking ourselves.
It is almost like a sphere – it is whole. It is not just the plants. It is the research, the people, the systems. Have we got everything in place to make that resilient for the next six decades? That is the real question.
Western Australian Botanic Garden is probably very different to many other gardens. It is one of the few botanic gardens that focuses on local flora and has responsibility for research through Kings Park Science, as well as the Western Australian Botanic Garden. Our collection is all Western Australian flora, so that comes with a particular responsibility.
Do you see botanic gardens as passive landscapes or active infrastructure for environmental and human health?
I think of it as active green infrastructure.
We are driving that active green infrastructure so visitors can get the passive benefits. So we have to be proactive, and we have to really drive that health and wellbeing.
But I do not think we do it well enough. We tell people that it is good for them, but how do we do a better job of bringing people along on the journey?
People visit Kings Park, they enjoy the space, they feel good, but we do not tell the story of what they are enjoying. The bacteria that are given out in the forest, what they are breathing in, all those little research gems – there are not enough touchpoints to remind people that the reason they are feeling good is because we are being proactive and investing in this.
We allow people to enjoy it as passive recreation, but we are not proactive enough in telling that story. That is where the opportunity is.
People often think it must be stress-free to work in a botanic garden, but we work very, very hard to make this experience amazing for everybody. We are like a duck – really calm on the top and paddling upstream underneath.
There are some very clever ways we can remind people why they feel good in a botanic garden, and why they need to come to a botanic garden. That is the ultimate goal.
What feels most urgent or different now in how gardens are experiencing climate change?
Biosecurity is probably one of the most serious issues. When landscapes are under pressure, there is a higher prevalence and chance of any pathogen causing broad-scale destruction.
The example for us is polyphagous shot-hole borer. Recognising it early and understanding what is happening across botanic gardens is crucial. That is why networks and relationships between botanic gardens are so important.
But it is also water security and increased temperatures. Southwest Western Australia is one of the places where the change is happening fastest. We are seeing more days over 35 degrees, even over 40 degrees. That puts pressure on collections. Traditionally, from a management perspective, you would respond by putting more water on. But water supply is limited, and quality of water is always an issue, so operations have to change completely.
And it is not just plants – it is people. Increased temperatures reduce outputs. Altered work regimes are a real thing for the future.
Visitor patterns are changing too. In summer, we have more visitors from six o’clock at night until two o’clock in the morning than we do during the day. That creates another set of pressures on infrastructure and collections.
So climate change is not just one thing. It is a holistic pressure.
We also need to think about biosecurity as an opportunity. How do we turn a disaster into an opportunity? That requires forward planning, having people ready on the ground, and being opportunistic when those moments come.
Can you share a specific climate event or season that changed how you approach planting or design?
A few summers ago, we had extreme heat – days over 40 degrees, even 45 degrees – and we started to see decline; forest decline and dead plants.
It was a visual cue to say we cannot keep doing what we are doing.
That triggered a program looking at landscape resilience and trialling species to ask: what plants might cope with our changing climate? It became a call to action.
It also changed how we looked at collections. Our Boronia collection, for example, had been in the same place for 20 years, but it got hot afternoon sun and needed hand watering through summer to keep it looking good.
So we moved it, trialled it in a cooler, damper space, improved the soil and started evaluating what species were actually suitable for the future.
Collections are no longer static. There might be a collection that goes in for 20 years, not 60, and then it gets moved on as the scenario changes.
We have also started a stocktake of the whole botanic garden, using the BGANZ living collections toolkit and resources to ask: is this the collection we need for the future? Do we need to duplicate it somewhere else off-site through partnerships and relationships?
We know we cannot grow every species successfully on an 18-hectare slope forever. So where are the opportunities to build partnerships that support conservation, display and resilient urban landscapes for Western Australia?
It takes years to be ready for that. We have to be ahead of the game.
After extreme events, what does practical recovery look like in a garden?
It starts with a conversation.
When plants are lost through drought or storms, we do not just replace what was there. Our collections manager and team ask: what might work better? What species might be more resilient? What has performed well?
Sometimes it means broadening the species base or trialling species that are harder to propagate but longer-lived. It is still an 18-month cycle before something gets planted back into the ground, so recovery is slow and considered.
After storms, there is immediate clean-up and safety work, but then it becomes an opportunity to reimagine. Instead of putting the same thing back, we ask: is this the right species? Is this the right place? Every replacement is a considered replacement for the future.
We have lost many established trees in storms – trees you cannot replace in anyone’s lifetime. So practical recovery is about making things safe, but also deciding what belongs there next, and whether that space should even hold a tree in the future.
Often the solution is preventative intervention rather than reactive intervention – larger mulch zones, protecting root systems, restricting access around stressed trees, and trying to reduce all the pressures before the next event comes.
Is there pressure for living collections to evolve from display to conservation?
Yes, absolutely.
Display is still important because that is what brings people in. That is the quick hit. But then we need to shift that to understanding that this is part of a whole ecosystem, and why we need to conserve these plants.
That pressure is one we put on ourselves, because we believe that is what botanic gardens should be doing.
How do you balance conservation priorities with visitor expectations?
That is a tricky one. I do not think we have got that right.
There is biodiversity people do not see – what is happening in the soil, for example – but people expect the botanic garden to look amazing all the time.
We expect a lot from our gardens. Plants need a rest. They cannot perform all year round.
With West Australian natives, there is an on-season and an off-season. Deciduous trees go dormant in winter. Our plants go dormant in summer.
So it is about having broad enough collections so that some things are looking amazing while others are resting. That is difficult with limited labour, limited resources and increasing climatic pressures.
We have not cracked that balance yet.
Sometimes it is about heroing a particular plant for its conservation value, rather than purely for display. But by our nature, people still want gardens to look good all year round.
Are you under pressure to become more commercially self-sustaining? What does that look like?
Yes, definitely.
In real terms, budgets are going down while costs are rising. Fertiliser, potting mix, all those costs have increased dramatically. So it means leveraging relationships, partnerships, leases, sponsorships, and making everything work harder.
We earn nearly half of our budget ourselves. That includes events, concerts, cafes, bookable spaces and partnerships that help support research. Research by itself does not happen without a commercial partner.
We also need to think a little bit more commercially. Not as a criticism, but because we have to ask: what gives us the best return on the money?
One example is our Kings Park Favourites range – tried and tested Western Australian plants that we know will succeed in people’s gardens. Through commercial partnerships, that messaging goes out into the broader community while still carrying the Kings Park story and branding.
We have to have a good story to tell.
Do new models need to emerge for gardens to remain resilient?
Yes, I think so, but I do not know what the answer is yet.
The value of what we do is not easily monetised. There is no ticket price on clean air, cooling cities, biodiversity or healthy communities.
So where do botanic gardens fit?
I think it has to be a partnership and leveraging model – where one project supports another, and where research, conservation, restoration, education and application all connect.
Seed banking is a good example. Seed gets collected, banked, researched, shared with commercial partners, duplicated into wider conservation projects, and eventually loops back into ex-situ collections. That interconnected model is where the future is.
We also need to rethink where botanic gardens sit – are they health and wellbeing infrastructure? Conservation infrastructure? Restoration infrastructure? Probably all those things.
What gives you hope? And what advice would you give the next generation of garden leaders?
What gives me hope is that we have this incredible resource in green infrastructure.
We know it works. There is so much research showing it can help communities, urban spaces and environments recover from many of the challenges we are facing – urban heat mitigation, stormwater management, water-sensitive urban design and healthier cities overall.
My advice is: do not think about now. Think about 20 or 30 years’ time.
Botanic gardens are conservative by nature, but we need to be a little bit braver. We need to say what is happening and stand by our decisions.
We know the climate is changing. We know temperatures are rising. So make the best decision now for the future, even if it is not perfect.
We have the tools to make communities better places to live. We just need to get better at telling the story. The next generation needs to position botanic gardens as solution-driven organisations. We do not have all the answers, but we can bring people together to work towards them.
What will a truly resilient garden look like in 10–20 years that might surprise people today?
It is not just the plants. It is not just the soil or the materials used. It is all those layers together.
It is the people managing it, the planning, the location, the systems, the climate modelling, the genetic diversity – all those considerations working together.
Gardens and Parks Authority
Only about 10% of resilience is visible. All the real resilience is behind the scenes – the research, the thinking, the preparation, the planning and the systems that support it. And that is okay. People do not need to understand all the technical detail. They just need to trust it, feel good in it and know that those layers of resilience are there beneath the surface.
About Sue: Sue McDougall OAM is a highly respected horticulturist and landscape architect with more than 40 years’ experience in conservation horticulture, public education and advocacy for native flora in Western Australia. Formerly Director at Kings Park and Botanic Garden, she became a trusted public voice through decades in talkback radio, television and community outreach, inspiring greater appreciation for resilient landscapes and conservation.
Read Part 2 of our Resilient Garden Series here: Weathering Southland’s big storm in Queens Park Invercargill.
Read more about Resilient Gardens in Issue 66 of the BOTANIC GARDENer Magazine.
