[3] During the construction of the Auckland Southern Motorway, the section of the estate to the west of the new road was subdivided, and became the suburb of Hillpark.

[3] The family ran the estate as a farm, until the land was sold to establish the Auckland Botanic Gardens.

The park includes areas of regenerating native bush, recreational spaces and farmland.

[6] In 1960 an ad hoc committee was formed to try to find a suitable site and to secure its development as a botanic garden.

On 19 February 1973 the then Auckland City Councillor, Tom Pearce, turned the first sod.

At that time the facilities included a visitor centre, the courtyard, the carpark and public toilets.

In 1986 an entrance at Katote Place was constructed in memory of Mr. Harry Beaumont, a former member of both the Auckland Regional Authority and Manukau City Council, and a strong promoter of the establishment of the gardens.

That same year the Unitec Horticultural Classroom and an associated demonstration home garden were opened.

[10] In the early 1990s a covered courtyard and the Friends Horticultural Reference library were opened.

This was followed by another significant development of a new Children's Garden, formally opened by the Prince of Wales on 10 March 2005.

From 2010 onwards, a series of low-impact and water treatment/ stormwater design initiatives were added around the garden such as two living roof buildings, vegetated swales, rain gardens and riparian planting around the central lakes.

[12] From 1988 to 1994 a rapid increase took place (numbers counted over the season July to June):.

As a result of this research a great number of Advisory Leaflets was published, together forming the dossier "Gardening in Auckland – Horticultural advice for Auckland gardeners" (published regularly since 1981), freely available at the visitor centre.

[15] Auckland Botanic Gardens holds plants from both New Zealand and elsewhere in the world which are threatened with extinction.

The huge impact of the activities of the Friends is clearly demonstrated by the fact that in 1989 the library housed only 400 volumes in the Information Centre, that were solely used for reference by staff.

The Botanic Gardens were used for the show for a number of years until 2008, when it moved to Hagley Park in Christchurch. ]