Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, which lies at the foot of Table Mountain in Cape Town, is one of eight National Botanical Gardens in South Africa. The first governor, Jan van Riebeeck, planted indigenous wild almonds in 1660 as a boundary hedge to the newly established Cape Colony. Parts of this hedge, known as van Riebeeck's hedge, still exists in Kirstenbosch today. It is believed that Kirstenbosch was named after the manager of the land, J F Kirsten, in the 1700's and that the bosch part of the name is a Dutch word for "bush" or "forest".

Cecil John Rhodes, who died in 1902, bequeathed the land now occupied by the Kirstenbosch Gardens to the Nation. In 1903, Henry Harold Pearson, a botanist from Cambridge University, came to the Cape Colony to fill the newly established Chair of Botany at the South African College (which today is the University of Cape Town). In 1911 Neville Pillans, a friend of Pearson's suggested he hire a cart and visit Kirstenbosch to assess it's suitability as a site for a botanical garden. On 1 July 1913, the Government set aside this wild and overgrown estate of Kirstenbosch for this purpose together with a grant of £1000 per annum. However, no money was set aside as a salary for the Director, Pearson accepted the position without a salary. As finance was a problem in those days, Pearson supplemented the Government's grant by selling firewood and acorns.

When work started on the garden, Pearson was confronted with an area that was overgrown, thousands of pigs populated the area, weeds in the orchards and bush that obscured the bath. He started planting cycads in what is known as the "Dell", these are still visible today. Unfortunately, Professor Pearson died in 1916 at the age of 46 from pneumonia. Professor Pearson was buried in his beautiful garden and his epitaph, which is still there today, is "If ye seek his monument, look around".

The National Botanical Institute became the South African Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) on 1st September 2004. The area of cultivated garden has since 1970 increased to approximately 40 hectares. The estate, which covers approximately 528 hectares, supports a diverse fynbos flora and natural forest.