Presenting plants of its region, South Africa and some from further afield, this Garden is frequented by thousands to learn, to enjoy and to socialise; or to enjoy solitude. It is the site of lifelong memories made by both locals and tourists, many from abroad.

There is a fifty-hectare area of indigenous garden representing mainly the bushveld, grassland, forest and fynbos biomes. Situated in the suburb of Brummeria to the east of the city centre and established in 1946, it started off as the Transvaal National Botanic Gardens. That provincial name gone and more National Botanical Gardens having appeared north of the Vaal River (in Johannesburg and Nelspruit, so far), the name had to be changed. But Pretoria may yet become Tshwane (a little more seriously, albeit formally already), so more signposts may be changed later.

Initially the Garden was primarily a research facility under the management of the Botanical Research Institute, which dates back to 1903. In 1989 the Institute amalgamated with the National Botanical Garden of South Africa at Kirstenbosch, forming the National Botanical Institute, which became the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) in 2004.

As the Pretoria National Botanical Garden the gates opened to the public in 1984.