Ferntree Gully: Art and Nature

Ferntree Gully offers travellers a variety of points of interest: public art in Ferntree Gully Village, the Tim Neville Arboretum, Koolunga Native Reserve and the Ferntree Gully Trail. To plan your trip, you can start by considering what interests you most: would you like to discover artworks and local motifs, learn about a recreational area with a waterscape, explore a nature reserve, or plan a route on foot, by bike or by car?

Art in Ferntree Gully Village

Ferntree Gully Village has a lightbox gallery and murals created as part of the Ferntree Gully Creative Placemaking Plan. The gallery in Horologist Lane was established in 2022 as part of the plan. Its exhibition program is designed to be updated every six months and features work by local artists and artist groups. Public art in the Village therefore includes both murals and a gallery program with a local focus.

A mural by Juzpop depicts a superb lyrebird. The village community recognises the bird as a historical motif. The image thus brings together two aspects: the depiction of a specific animal and a motif that the community regards as historical. This distinguishes it from a general depiction of an animal and gives the work a clear connection to the village community.

The carved pinewood sculpture is called “Swagman” or “the Thinker”; both names refer to the same work. It was made from the wood of a tree that grew at its location. The origin of the material is therefore an integral part of the sculpture’s description and its connection to the place.

Recreational area and nature reserve

Located on Dorset Road, the Tim Neville Arboretum is a diverse 11-acre recreational area in Ferntree Gully. Its landscape features include a lake and a wetland system. Ducks live there, and ducklings can also be seen in spring. Water and wetlands define the arboretum’s connection to nature; the ducklings are an explicitly seasonal feature.

Koolunga Native Reserve is a six-hectare nature reserve in Ferntree Gully, at the foot of the Dandenong Ranges. The two areas have different focuses: the arboretum is classified as a diverse recreational area with a lake and wetland system, while Koolunga is a nature reserve at the foot of the ranges. When choosing a landscape destination, this distinction between a recreational area and a nature reserve is more informative than a direct comparison of their sizes, especially as their areas are given in different units.

The Ferntree Gully Trail

The Ferntree Gully Trail is about five kilometres long and is suitable for walking, cycling or driving. Its approximate length and the three activities listed provide a different point of reference from the descriptions of the two areas: here, the focus is on a route, while each of the other locations is a recreational area or nature reserve. When planning your stay, you can therefore choose between an activity along the trail and a visit focused on nature or art, without combining the different destinations into a single route.

Discover more destinations: Parkdale, Highett, Healesville, Forest Hill, Kalorama, St Albans, Olinda, Mitcham.

For the main travel overview: Melbourne.