The garden was founded in 1968 and subsequently has been continuously expanded and improved. It opened to the public in 1971, with later developments as follows: tropical house, 1976; desert house, 1988; Chinese garden, 1990; savannah houses, 2000.
Its Chinese garden (1000 m2) was created from 1986 to 1990, and renovated in 2001, by skilled gardeners donated by the Tongji University in Shanghai as a sign of friendship. It is named Qian Yuan (Qian Garden), reflecting a memory of poet Tao Qian (365-427 AD), and laid out in the southern Chinese style. A pond covers half its area.
Savannah houses - sclerophyllous shrubs from the savannahs of South Africa and Australia with accompanying vegetation. Collections include many eucalyptus species, as well as Australian grass trees (Xanthorrhoea) and an arborescent Cussonia.
Alpine House (140 m2) - plants from high mountains
Der chinesische Garten Qianyuan im Botanischen Garten der Ruhr-Universität Bochum − The Chinese Garden Qianyuan at Ruhr-University Bochum, Martin Woesler, Eberhard Koch, Johanna Franke, Yi Song, Arno Caspelherr, Stefanie Moser, Europäischer Universitätsverlag, Bochum, 2004. ISBN978-3-89966-012-8.