The Jerusalem Botanical Gardens

Green, blooming, breathing, and diverse vegetation in the heart of Jerusalem

The university botanical garden is the largest in Israel. It covers one hundred and twenty dunams of green, blooming, breathing, and diverse vegetation in the heart of Jerusalem, near the Givat Ram campus of the Hebrew University. The botanical garden contains the most extensive and richest collection of living plants in Israel and the Middle East: the various varieties are displayed in six separate sections according to their geographical origin – South Africa, Europe, North America, Australia, Southwest and Central Asia, and the Mediterranean Sea. Each of the plots simulates the growing landscape of the area it represents. Therefore, throughout the year’s seasons, you can find magnificent flowers and blossoms in the garden.

The garden also serves as a recreation center for children, adults, families, and groups, and it hosts diverse tours and seasonal cultural and art events. You can visit the botanical garden’s website for more information on all the events and activities.

The botanical garden operates in three main areas:

Nature conservation

The garden serves as a shelter and haven for over 6,000 species and varieties of plants from around the world. In addition, among the plants in the garden, you will find species such as the Salvia Bracteata and the bellflower and more than three hundred other species of local plants, which are in danger of extinction or have already become extinct in the wild in Israel. In the garden, they are raised for conservation, research, propagation, display, and teaching. There is even an attempt to return them to nature and influence public policy on nature conservation. In the garden plots, many plants are acclimatized in a controlled manner and distributed throughout the country for use in agriculture, forestry, and gardening. Besides the living collection, the botanical garden has a large seed collection, which propagates the plants in the garden plots and distributes them in botanical gardens worldwide.

Knowledge and Education

Adults and children who visit the garden on guided tours and independent trips discover the richness of the plant world in the Mediterranean basin in particular and in the world in general and learn about the contribution and decisive role of plants in the development of humanity both physically and culturally, and about the importance of preserving nature. In addition, cultural events and recreational activities on various botanical and artistic topics are held in the garden throughout the year. The Gardening and Landscape School, which operates in the botanical garden, train professional gardeners and holds various courses in botanical sciences for the general public as well.

Community

The botanical garden maintains an environmental chamber in which dozens of Jerusalem organizations and entrepreneurs are partners, working to promote a sustainable lifestyle and preserve the environment’s quality. It is a meeting place between nature and man, where people get closer to the world of plants and learn to know and care for them. Diverse social and community programs operate in the garden – therapeutic gardening groups, occupational rehabilitation, volunteers, scholarships from botanical gardens worldwide, guided tours, activities for the elderly, an agricultural farm, and more. We invite children and adults of all backgrounds and ages to enjoy the garden’s beauty and tranquility, take part in the diverse activities that take place there and use plants to enrich the lives of the city’s residents and build bridges between its diverse parts.