Ningbo's botanical garden covers over a hundred hectares in the western part of the city and is one of the larger public green spaces in the urban area. The garden is divided into themed sections covering native Zhejiang flora, subtropical and tropical species in heated glasshouses, bonsai collections, a bamboo grove, and a substantial water garden centred on a large ornamental lake. The spring flowering season (March–April) brings plum, peach, and wisteria blooms; autumn provides good foliage colour in the Japanese maple and ginkgo sections.
The garden functions primarily as a recreational space for local residents and is worth visiting for a morning of unhurried walking, particularly in the less developed eastern sections where the planting is more naturalistic and the visitor numbers lower. The bamboo section gives a controlled preview of the type of landscape more dramatically experienced at Moganshan, and the bonsai collection includes several specimens of considerable age.