The Garden was established on 15 July 1959 and is situated around 1300 metres above sea level overlooking Bratan Lake and the Ulun Danu Temple on the slopes of Tapak Hill.

The Bali Botanic Garden was first established on 15 July 1959 by Indonesia's first president, Sukarno.

Development of the garden stopped in 1965 due to political instability and was only reopened on 30 April 1975.

It also added a new function for ex-situ conservation of plants from the mountainous region of eastern Indonesia.

The garden is home to at least 79 species of birds,[2] treeshrews are regularly seen and occasionally macaques can be spotted entering from the adjacent Batukaru Nature Reserve.