The terraced fields lying between the Golden Pavilion and old Signpost Corner were first cultivated as litchi orchards when Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Association, the predecessor of KFBG, was established in the 1950s. As the litchi trees have now aged considerably, a series of habitat rehabilitation projects have been put in place to gradually remove the litchi trees and re-plant with suitable native species. The species are being selected with a view to extending the adjacent Magnolia Garden and creating a native Seed Garden.

The purpose of our Seed Garden is to provide seeds from which to propagate offspring for eventual planting out across our hillside. We therefore aim to foster a diverse forest of native tree species, especially those that are rare and threatened in the wild. Because it may take several years before a sapling matures sufficiently to start flowering and fruiting, to begin with the garden is being monitored yearly and the resulting census data are being used to assess the performance of each species. We therefore simultaneously gain practical experience in species selection for our wider forest recovery activities.

Tree planting in what has become our Seed Garden can be traced back to a large-scale regreening effort commenced before 2009 with subsequent episodes also in 2012 and 2018. Seedlings of special conservation value have been transplanted here in the intervening years. As of 2020, the garden comprises about 750 individuals belonging to more than 100 different species. The oldest trees are now over 12 m tall.

Several magnolias were firstly planted onto a slope that runs alongside the carriageway and which directly abuts the upper boundary of the Seed Garden between March 2008 and June 2009. Species include Magnolia maudiae, Michelia macclurei and Michelia chapensis. Further inside the garden, the canopy is made up of more recent plantings of faster growing trees, such as Choerospondias axillaris, Machilus breviflora, Osmanthus matsumuranus, Pygeum topengii and Syzygium hancei. Here, the crowns stand at around 7–9 m height. All trees in the Seed Garden were initially planted with a tree guard and the growing saplings are pruned to encourage the development of a straight trunk.