This was a short distance from the railway line near the cutting at the Three Mile, where the Edge Hill railway station was constructed in 1888–1889. Access to the gardens was made easier in 1887 when a crossing was made over Saltwater Creek. Between 1887 and 1891 Fitzalan landscaped the ground, planted colourful garden beds and constructed a perimeter fence to keep out goats. He built a small cottage in the garden and established the Edge Hill Nursery, constructing a long shed roofed with coarse canvas in which he raised seedlings and cuttings and in 1887 cut a main garden path, about wide, through the reserve at his own expense, planting specimen and fruit trees along its length. In 1891 this pathway was surveyed as Edge Hill Road (Collins Avenue from 1934). He also formed other paths opening off this track, including a circular walking track through the rainforest. Among the plants cultivated by Fitzalan were 50 varieties of roses, 11 varieties of hibiscus, orchids, ferns, rain trees, native myrtle and local plants from the adjacent Mt Whitfield Range. He also grew coffee, and grafted orange, lemons and mangoes, which he made available to residents of the area. He exported large numbers of orchids, palms and palm seeds, ferns and other plants to Europe, and received specimens from other parts of Australia to trial in a tropical environment. Fitzalan relinquished his caretaker role in 1897 due to poor health. In 1906 the Cairns Council Nursery was established. The function of this nursery was the propagation of plants and shrubs to supply municipal needs. Fitzalan's garden and nursery continued on this site under the curatorship of James Morgan (1897 - 1900) and Charles Gurd (1901 - 1906) until it was moved to its current site in 1906. Charles Gurd continued as curator until 1923 when Les Wright was appointed nurseryman. In December 1921 the reserve was declared a permanent recreation reserve of under the trusteeship of Cairns Town Council. In 1923 Les Wright was appointed as Council's nurseryman a position he held until 1947. Wright was permitted to construct a house (no longer standing) on the reserve, adjacent to the nursery. From the early 1930s there were community calls for the establishment of a formal botanical garden within the recreation reserve. Momentum came largely from Dr Hugo Flecker (1884 - 1957) and the North Queensland Naturalist Club, which he founded in 1932.