[1] The garden was founded in 1925 and has been located on its present site since 1970; the visitor centre was opened in 1988 by the then Chancellor of Durham University, Dame Margot Fonteyn.

[2] The garden attracts over 80,000 visitors annually[3] and has been featured in The Guardian's Country Diary[4] and on Channel 4's Matt Baker: Travels with Mum & Dad.

It was then part of the university's Botany Department and the gardens included greenhouses used for teaching and research.

[2][8] A guidebook from the 1970s stated that: "Because the garden is still in its early developmental stage, it is not appropriate to encourage visits from the general public at this time.

[6][7] The garden has an array of exotic plants with collections ranging from Chile in South America, China and Japan in the Far East, as well as from Southern Africa and New Zealand.