The $350,000 project, which began late last year, features a terraced garden on sloping land between the existing rock garden and the upper garden area, with views towards Woodhaugh Garden.
It includes an elevated plaza with an ornamental balustrade and a pond, with a fountain as its centrepiece, and plantings - including an olive tree and cedar of Lebanon - from coastal and alpine Mediterranean regions.
Council community and recreation services manager Mick Reece said when contacted yesterday an official opening was pencilled in for the second week of December, once finishing touches were added, including to the garden's plumbing and water feature.
The project was funded in part by a substantial bequest to the council by Nancye Sime, a noted chrysanthemum and rose judge who died in 2004, aged 87.
Her bequest included instructions the money be used for the new garden, and Mr Reece said relatives of hers would be invited to the opening ceremony.
Dunedin couple Dick and Barbara Calvert had started fundraising for the project with a $40,000 donation, while Friends of the Botanic Garden had raised funds, including obtaining $100,000 from the Community Trust of Otago.
