The Botanical Cemetery McLaren Vale

Wander through the oldest cemetery (1841) in the township, being transformed into a public garden, with areas of planting linking with eras of settlement of the area (native, colonial, Mediterranean, contemporary etc.).

The Culture Garden community garden project is a placemaking project on this State Heritage site, including the first chapel in the town (now housing a botanical studio specialising in the sculptural and spatial use of local materials, led by visual artist Hope Lovelock Deane).

The site (including the active cemetery specialising in natural burials) is a privately owned public place and Hope, the owner, caretaker and current Curator, has family connections to it going back seven generations.

See the Harvest studio website for more information, including on workshops and tours.

Keep an eye out for seasonal activations and botanical installations around the site, and a moon garden section of plantings (for nighttime creatures) along the main pathway (with subtle night lighting).

You are welcome to book a tour of the cemetery, community garden & botanical studio, with owner Hope.

Coming soon…take a self-guided history tour highlighting some of the interesting stories and settlers buried in the cemetery, created by the City of Onkaparinga.

Records from the laying of the foundation stone for the chapel note Aboriginals attending the service (under an old gum tree, at a Harvest Thanksgiving service).