Benlea Garden Open Day

Benlea Garden is having an Open Day – the inaugural day being on Canterbury Show weekend – Saturday 14th of November 2026. Put the date on your calendar and join us at Benlea to wander around the garden, let the kids discover all the pretty items on the treasure hunts and bring a picnic to have on the lawn.

There will be a couple of stalls to browse and the Country Yard Gallery will be open, or purchase some plants for your garden from the plant stalls including Middle Rock Perennials and other plants.

The garden at Benlea covers over one hectare in area and is a mixture of English trees, perennials and NZ native plants. The first plants went in in the 1950s and we have greatly enlarged the area in the 32 years we have been here adding pathways and native plant areas and two rock gardens. It is a very down to earth garden – new areas as well as very established trees so everyone will be able to relate to it and find ideas and simply enjoy wandering around.

The site is on a hill side facing Southwest, in a windy and snow prone area at an altitude of 500m so has it’s challenges. Various weather events have led to big changes in the garden so it is continually evolving.

Tickets will be available from the 1st of September online or we can take cash or pay wave payments at the gate.