The Lowveld National Botanical Garden, Nelspruit's main tourist attraction, is one of eight Gardens managed by the National Botanical Institute of South Africa. The 159-hectare garden straddles the Crocodile and Nels Rivers. The Crocodile surges through a narrow, solid rock gorge that has been scoured out and pot-holed over millennia, while the Nels River tumbles down a waterfall to converge with the Crocodile in a serene pool on a bend in the river.

The Garden lies in the overall vegetation type known as Sour Lowveld Bushveld which, at an altitude varying from 550m to 800m, is a link between the escarpment and the true lowveld, thus containing many elements of both. This linkage results in a wide variety of trees and shrubs. There are cycads scattered over large parts of the Garden.

In addition to approximately 600 plant species occurring naturally in the Garden, more than 2000 additional species have been planted. Of the approximately 1000 tree species indigenous to South Africa, over 650 can be seen in the garden - it includes numerous species from sub-tropical southern Africa. The Lowveld Garden is like an enormous arboretum and is characterised by its evergreen lawns and wealth of trees.

(source: adapted from the National Botanical Institute's website, see link below)