SUCH was the success of last year’s South Gippsland Open Gardens Association weekend, plans are afoot to substantially expand this year’s event to include more gardens and surrounding towns, and while it doesn’t take place until November, now is the time to express interest if you want your garden to feature.
One of the event organisers, Andrew Bowen said places including Foster and Loch will now be included.
While four gardens opened last year, that number is expected to leap to between 15 and 20 this time.
Andrew said that while his initial idea was to display historic homesteads and older style gardens, that concept has been broadened to include all kinds of gardens.
“Some people are hellbent on their veggie patch and others are more interested in the native side of (gardening), or self-sufficiency, and some are mad on flowers such as roses and camelias, so as many varieties of gardens that are available are of interest,” he said.
While he acknowledged there won’t be time for people to visit all the open gardens in one weekend, descriptions of each will be provided so gardening enthusiasts can select those best matched to their specific interests.
Andrew explained the need to start organising which gardens will be included as soon as possible.
“We thought we’d have a look at each of the gardens and make sure they are not too risky for everybody to wander around as most of the gardening community are getting older,” he said.
Andrew stressed that all gardens included in the event will be covered by insurance.
That insurance is provided through both Open Gardens Victoria and the Royal Horticultural Society.
There is no cost to anyone displaying their garden, with money raised this year set to assist local Community Houses and to help with the costs of running the event.
Organisers are working on plans to include winery gardens this time, running a bus so that people can enjoy sipping wine as they explore.
The Open Gardens event will coincide with the Leongatha Rose Show, creating an extravaganza for garden lovers.
The work of local artists will again be on show at Andrew’s Leongatha home, ‘Rostrevor’, formerly the residence of past local identity Hugh McCartin, with that display to be curated by Wooreen artist Meg Viney, a member of the South Gippsland Open Gardens Association.
