Botanical Garden and Mini Zoo in Zielona Góra

On ul. Botaniczna in Zielona Góra you can see more than a thousand plant species and feed the peacocks in a single walk. The University of Zielona Góra Botanical Garden was recreated in 2007 on part of a pre-war garden, and right next door is the city's Mini Zoo – described in some tourist materials as the Fairy-Tale Farmyard (Bajkowa Zagroda). For families with children it is one of the most pleasant green spots in town.

History: a garden from the 1920s

The first botanical garden was created here in the 1920s on the initiative of the Municipal Agricultural Society. The green spaces around ul. Botaniczna were designed by Leberecht Migge and Hermann Jansen, and the garden itself by an inspector named Rickheben, formerly head of the Botanical Garden in Wrocław. After the Second World War the garden fell into neglect, and at the end of the 1950s a vocational school was built on the site.

From 1998 the League for Nature Conservation campaigned for its revival. The result was a "replacement garden" of 2.43 hectares, opened on 18 October 2007 and handed over to the university. The rebuild cost about PLN 6 million, a third of it from EU funds.

What to see

According to the university, the collection now numbers over 1,500 species and varieties, mainly trees and shrubs, all labelled. The plants are arranged in sections: plant systematics, moisture-loving plants, mountain plants (including a Sudeten section), useful plants and a geographical section with plants from Poland, Europe, Asia and North America. A pond with footbridges and a rock garden have been recreated. There is also a "green classroom" shaped like a wigwam.

The Mini Zoo, opened in 2014 and run by the municipal housing company, is entered from ul. Botaniczna. Its residents include meerkats, fallow deer, miniature goats, Cameroon sheep and peacocks, and since an extension in 2022–2023 also lemurs and capuchin monkeys. Next to the garden is the "Ptasi Azyl" (Bird Asylum) wildlife rehabilitation centre.

Tripto tip

The garden is open all year and there is an admission charge; check current hours and prices with the operators before you go. Allow 1.5–2 hours for the garden and the Mini Zoo. In spring the rock garden and pond look their best; in summer you'll appreciate the shade of the old trees. The centre of Zielona Góra is about 2 km away.