Dunedin City Council botanic garden and cemeteries team leader Alan Matchett on Thursday confirmed tenders for the $350,000 project had closed last Friday, and were being evaluated by council staff before a contract was awarded.
Construction of the new garden-within-a-garden was expected to begin late next month and be completed in time for Christmas.
A formal opening ceremony would be held in February, he said.
The completed terraced garden would include an elevated plaza with an ornamental balustrade and a pond, with a fountain as its centrepiece.
Plantings - including an olive tree and cedar of Lebanon - would come from coastal and alpine Mediterranean regions, including North Africa, Turkey and Lebanon, he said.
Some were already being propagated in the botanic garden's nursery, while others were to be imported as seeds.
The new garden would be located on sloping land between the existing rock garden and the upper garden area, with views towards Woodhaugh Garden.
The progress comes more than a year after plans for the garden stalled in March last year, following concerns it was to be built on the possible site of a cottage dating back to 1865.
The hold-up led to criticism of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust Otago-Southland branch by councillors and those backing the garden development.
On Thursday, Mr Matchett said council staff had been working closely with NZHPT Otago-Southland staff since then on the details of the project, and an archaeological adviser would be checking the site during construction.
The adviser would offer advice if any finds were unearthed, although that was considered to be unlikely, Mr Matchett said.
"We hope we don't, to allow the construction to proceed smoothly. I'm not anticipating anything. There won't be a huge amount of site disturbance," he said.
The cost of the project was funded in part through a substantial bequest to the council by Nancye Sime, a noted chrysanthemum and rose judge who died in 2004, aged 87.
Her bequest included instructions the money be used for the new garden.
A $40,000 donation from Dunedin couple Dick and Barbara Calvert had started fundraising for the project, and the Friends of the Botanic Garden had raised funds, including obtaining $100,000 from the Community Trust of Otago, for the project.
