The present institution was founded in 1956, but traces its history back to 1836, when Сhristian Wilhelm Schoch founded a commercial plant nursery, which later moved to Salaspils. Before World War II, it was the largest plant nursery in the Baltic states. In 1944 it was turned into a state-owned experimental garden and in 1956 became the botanical garden of the Latvian Academy of Sciences. Since the re-establishment of Latvian independence in 1992, it has served as the National Botanic Garden of Latvia.