Unlike conventional gardens, the botanical gardens are maintained by botanists and horticulturists. These gardens are basically cultivated for the purpose of scientific study of plants and trees. They also try to conserve plants.
The early European Botanical Gardens have started expeditions around the world to collect different types of plants from different parts of the world. These plants are preserved and their seedlings are further distributed. So far, Royal Botanical Gardens, at Kew in London, are the largest botanical gardens in the world. It was registered as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. But there are some non public botanical gardens also. One of them is the Chelsea Physic Garden in London.
The botanical gardens not only are for scientific and educational purposes but also give advice for the home gardener. They publish journal on their findings and research. They also maintain databases for the purpose of educating visitors. They rely their funding on the common public.
These gardens also have shops for plants, flowers, vegetables, seedlings etc. Plant breeding programs and introducing new plants are also done at botanical gardens. For the common public these gardens serve to entertain and educate about as well sell the plants and seeds.
