Garden visiting can be not only an enjoyable way to spend a few hours appreciating the talents of other gardeners, but also provide terrific opportunities to gather ideas for your own garden.

Visiting others people's gardens can also allow you to assess growth habits and mature specimens, particularly of trees, that you might be considering as potential residents in your garden.

It is always worth finding the owner/creator to discover the reasons behind any particular successes (or failures).

There is a list of gardens opening across New England in the next several weeks on the New England Gardeners Facebook page - search for spring open gardens. You can also find a list of the St Peters gardens opening on November 5 and 6 at www.armidalegardens.org.au