Australia's Open Garden Scheme was a

non-profit organisation A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

that began in Victoria

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in 1987 but closed its doors in June 2015 due to financial issues. Its aim was to promote the knowledge and pleasure of

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

s and

gardening Gardening is the process of growing plants for their vegetables, fruits, flowers, herbs, and appearances within a designated space. Gardens fulfill a wide assortment of purposes, notably the production of Aesthetics, aesthetically pleasing area ...

across Australia. Under the scheme, private gardens opened for public viewing for one or two weekends a year. About 650 gardens were opened annually across Australia but declining numbers and competition from groups promoting their own events outside of their booklet meant that it was not viable. Each year over 275,000 adults visited open gardens, together with accompanying children. A schedule for openings across Australia was published annually.

Tamie Fraser Tamara Margaret "Tamie" Fraser (née Beggs; born 28 February 1936) is the widow of Malcolm Fraser, who held office as Prime Minister of Australia between 1975 and 1983. Early life Tamara Margaret Beggs was born in Adelaide, South Australia, t ...

was President of the Open Garden Scheme. Neil Robertson was the CEO and

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

senior executive Thomas Murrell was a director and West Australian

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

for 9 years from 1997 - 2006. His own

, Chartwell House in Subiaco,

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

was open to the public on 18 October 1998. Murrell was also responsible for expanding the scheme into regional areas in

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

and started gardening at the age of 5. Ruston%27s_Rose_garden_8

The scheme grew out of the practice in Victoria of "grand" private gardens in the hill country near

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

opening occasionally for public viewing for the benefit of

charities A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a cha ...

. However the scheme did not limit itself to large gardens, with many normal-sized

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

an gardens, and even tiny

inner-city The term inner city (also called the hood) has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Soc ...

plots, included. Most openings in the southern,

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

zone occurred between October and May, while

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

gardens open during the winter months. A nominal fee was charged for each viewing. This money was divided with 35% going to the garden owner or their nominated charity, and 65% going to the Open Garden Scheme. After funding the scheme operating costs, the remainder was given as grants to community garden projects, with over $800,000 in grants being made by the end of 2006. Additionally garden owners passed on over $3.5 million to their nominated charities since the commencement of the scheme. In 2015 new non-for-profit organisations have sprung up to carry on some of the tradition in individual states including Open Gardens SA and Open Gardens Victoria. Both schemes aim to educate and promote the enjoyment, knowledge and benefits of gardens and gardening and are promoting a long list of garden openings from spring through to autumn each year. They have attracted good membership numbers and visitor numbers. Unfortunately, no Open Gardens Group has formed in Sydney, but a
Open Gardens group exists in the Southern Highlands
of NSW, and th

are generally available for viewing all year round; Spring and Autumn are the most popular seasons. * An independent business
My Open Garden
also promotes open gardens and gardening events across Australia. * A detailed list of 650 or mor
Open Gardens in Australia
is still being constructed. Open Gardens claime
almost 20,000 gardens were opened
because of the Scheme's development. * Guide books and web guides to Open Gardens are also publishe
in the UK
and ''were published'' in Australia by the ABC. All such lists have now migrated to the web, and are published regularly b
Weekend Notes

References

External links

Blue Mountains and Mount Wilson open gardens
Gardening in Australia Non-profit organisations based in Victoria (state) {{garden-stub

See also

References

External links