He named the gardens Maranoa after a river in Queensland, from native words meaning flowing, alive or running.

[3][5] Contributors to the Gardens' development were Ivo Hammet (a pioneer of Australian native plant growing), Mr Arthur Swaby (a teacher and botanist, who was a founding member of the Society for Growing Australian Plants), Charles French (an associate of the great botanist, Baron Ferdinand von Mueller) and Earnest Lord.

[3] In 1962, the original Gardens were doubled in size by expanding east into Beckett Park, with the construction of the rockery as the major thrust of this expansion.

[3][2] The central arboretum and lawn under trees area date from a time just after Mr Watson transferred ownership to Camberwell Council.

The light grey stony loam over compact mottled clay is poor and the topsoil sets hard when dry while it is soft when wet - and is thus suited to native plants.

Improvement of the drainage and mulching with crushed quartz has provided the conditions suitable for many species from Western Australia to thrive.