Open Gardens Australia Fundraising
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Richard Barely is the CEO of Open Gardens Australia. He resides in Woodend near the lush renowned gardens of Macedon. Richard is happily based (for work) at the National Office perchance also in Woodend. Richards love of gardens - he was at the Royal Botanic gardens for 30 years and then Director of Melbourne Gardens before his present role—came through in the course of his address on the Open Gardens Australia program to our meeting. The Rotary Club of Hawthorn joins with Open Gardens Australia in mid-November to showcase Melbourne's premier gardens to raise funds for Rotary charities. |
In an address to the Rotary Club of Hawthorn, Richard explained that in 1987 its precursor Vic Gardens was established, spread to NSW in 1989 and flourished as a concept so that by 2000 it was active in every State.
His underlying theme was that gardens were critical to life in the broadest sense, both in a physical way (“Plants give us oxygen for the lungs”) and in a philosophical way in that they created an atmosphere toward a sense of well-being and provide an obvious forum for relaxation. A classic drawing of the photosynthesis process reminded us of our first school based exposure to gardening!
Richard’s organisation seeks to promote the enjoyment, knowledge and benefit of a garden to the public at large, and encourage one to develop an appreciation of the environment of the natural world. Displays and open days of great (big and small) gardens can inspire visitors to achieve this.
The concept is for private gardens to be made available for viewing. Open Gardens Australia coordinates and promotes such activity. Many such gardens are in regional Australia, and moreover highly diverse in their nature. The wide ranging climatic extent of Australia meant that there were arid zone gardens, English style ones in cooler areas and tropical variation in the warmer wetter regions. We were treated to a photo display of outstanding gardens as examples.
The historic parallels were interesting. In 1920 the UK garden Scheme commenced. Cities world-wide (Hyde Park in London, Central Park in New York) embrace the importance of a community having access to gardens. In contrast Richard showed a modern housing development in which most space had been consumed by large homes with little or no land set aside for gardens or greenery. It was a sad reminder of the need for developers and town planners to think broadly.
It was explained that Gardens Australia provides small grants to those looking to join the program and thus far has given more than $1 Million.