Zurich's Botanical Garden is owned by the University of Zurich. The city has an old Botanical Garden on the former zur Katz Bastion which is now a park and the newer garden which was opened in 1977. The new Botanical Garden was planted on the grounds of a former private villa. The garden is home to about 9,000 plant species and is spread over 53,000m². The herbarium holds approximately 3 million plants. The planting is arranged so that no matter which season you visit in there will always be some plants in bloom.

The Botanical Garden has a large meadow with a pond or water garden which is home to frogs which fill the air with their singing in the spring. There are a number of futuristic-looking bubble greenhouses where tropical and exotic plants grow. The planting of the garden does not conform to the traditional European botanical gardens as there are no systematically planted beds. As most of the plants here are wild species they have been allowed to grow freely and there is no attempt to show the latest garden hybrids. Neat paths lead you through the garden and passed the various plants.