The garden was established in 1950 as a research facility attached to the Faculty of Science and Technology of Osaka City University, and since then, it has endeavored to collect and preserve many plants as subjects for basic botanical research. In particular, it has focused on collecting trees native to Japan, planting over 300 species that can grow outdoors and restoring 11 of Japan's most representative forest types. It has also restored Neogene forests, represented by metasequoia. Many of these forest types were also found in Osaka in the past. By observing the transition of these restored forests over the long term, the garden aims to empirically elucidate the relationship between environmental change and vegetation.