Its 128 acres are divided into three sections. Bukit Timah Core is geared for educational and recreational use. In Tanglin Core, visitors can find a bandstand and many statues sprinkled among favorite native plants and trees. The most popular core for tourists is Centre. The National Orchid Garden is in this section, atop the park's highest point, where more than 60,000 colorful orchids bloom.

The garden was founded in 1859 by an Agri-Horticultural Society, as a leisure garden and ornamental park. In 1874, the Society handed over management and maintenance of the site to the government. The scientific mission of the Gardens evolved when the colonial government assumed management and deployed trained botanists to administer the Gardens.

Today the Garden is geared towards entrenching itself as a tropical botanical institution of international renown, a key tourist destination and a flagship park.