Australia’s Open Garden Scheme is a non-profit organisation that began in Victoria in 1987. Their aim is to promote the knowledge & pleasure of gardens & gardening across Australia. They do this by opening Australia’s most inspiring private gardens to the public.

For more information about Australia’s Open Garden Scheme including an Australia-wide calendar listing all the open gardens coming up, visit their website >>

They open private gardens of every size, style & description. Old & young, large & small, from inner city courtyards to grand country estates, from tropical gardens to the more traditional gardens of the temperate south.

The Scheme has about 5,000 gardens on its books, with new gardens being discovered all the time. Each season they open around 650 private gardens to the public. Each of the gardens usually opens for just one or two weekends each season.

The owners who so generously open their gardens to the public charge a nominal fee (the standard fee is $5). All the Scheme’s income is derived from these entry fees – it receives no other financial support.

• 35% of the entry fee is returned to the garden owner or to the charity of their choice.
The garden owners donate around $325,000 annually to charities and local causes. Total donations since the Scheme’s inception in 1987 are over $3 million.

• 65% is returned to the Scheme. After operating costs, surplus funds are distributed to the community as grants to garden-related projects.
Since 1987 over $700,000 has been given to community garden projects by Australia’s Open Garden Scheme. In addition, the Scheme has substantially funded its own national expansion.

Gardening is one of Australia’s most popular leisure activities. Each year around 275,000 adults & countless thousands of children visit these gardens.

The greatest knowledge and inspiration comes from seeing the work of other gardeners & being able to talk to them. Whether you are a novice or an expert, garden visiting is the best way to get new design ideas, to discover new plants & rediscover old favourites.

Buderim is known as the “Garden Town of the Sunshine Coast” & is very supportive of Australia’s Open Garden Scheme. Our local gardeners just love to open their gardens once a year & share them with the public.