“That’s just given the garden a lift altogether,” owner Thea Newton said.

“Just very, very fortunate, the timing was great.”

Mrs Newton and her husband Tom will offer one of the 11 gardens featured in the annual Upper Murray Garden Getabout.

Located in Corryong, Cudgewa, Colac Colac and Towong, the gardens will be open from 10am to 5pm both days, with a progressive dinner planned for Saturday evening.

The event began about six years ago as a fundraiser for the newly merged Corryong Neighbourhood House and Corryong Education Centre.

But Corryong Neighbourhood Centre co-ordinator Sara Jenkins said the weekend now raised money for community charities, for example last year’s proceeds, about $3000, supported the memorial hall restoration.

“This year it’s going into the Corryong Traders Group who are energising our local shops,” she said.

The gardens range from colourful displays of flowers in town to larger areas on rural properties.

“They’re hugely diverse, because of where we are,” Mrs Jenkins said.

“Most of them featured have evolved over a number of years, so you can see where they’ve started and where they’ve grown to.

“A lot of them have photo albums out of the garden to show the development of the garden as well.”

This year’s program includes four new gardens and some stops also have additional attractions or stalls, such as the catering offered alongside Corryong College’s Stephanie Alexander kitchen garden. A $15 pass provides entry to all gardens for the weekend.

The Newtons, who have about 1.4 hectares of gardens, share a passion for the pastime.

Mrs Newton said the Garden Getabout attracted a mix of visitors to the Upper Murray.

“It creates a lot of interest for the town,” she said.

“Anybody who’s keen on gardening, they will have a pleasant weekend, I’m sure.”

Mrs Jenkins said while many residents attended, people also travelled to see the displays.

“Over the years we’ve had bus groups down from Wagga, Gundagai and Tumbarumba,” she said. “The weather is important – this weekend’s looking beautiful – although we had some drizzly years and it hasn’t really made that much difference.” 

For more information contact the Corryong Neighbourhood Centre on (02) 6076 2176 or visit the Garden Getabout page on Facebook.