A walled garden shelters a croquet lawn. There are rose-clad pergolas, old Bunya Pine and Atlantic Cedar plus crinkle-crankle stone walls, flagstone paths and herbaceous borders.

Palerang, near Bungendore, will be open to the public on the weekend of November 26-27 as part of the Open Gardens Australia scheme.

“When we moved here 13 years ago, the house was uninhabitable (except for wombats and possums) and the garden was neglected and overgrown,” say owners Sue and Ulli Tuisk.

“A visiting friend once commented ‘do you know you have grapevines growing under the hillside of blackberries?’

“A few years on and a lot of hard work and we have revealed and revived the small, old 1970s vineyard.”

Palerang, 154 Hazeldell Road, Mulloon (near Bungendore), open November 26-27, 10am-4.30pm. Entry $6 adults, children free.

[box]Other open gardens in this area

St Omer, Nerriga Road, Braidwood: Shrouded by cypress groves, the heritage-listed woodland garden at St Omer has been tended by the Bunn family since 1828.
Open November 26-27, 10am-4.30pm, entry $6, children free.

Donnelly’s Cottage, 27 Modbury Street, Bungendore: Shady deciduous trees and densely planted boundaries of plums, hawthorns and photinias provide privacy for a charming garden surrounding an 1880s cottage. Heritage varieties of pears, apples, plums and roses.
Open November 26-27, 10am-4.30pm, entry $6, children free.[/box]