Carolyn Robinson's magnificent garden Eagles Nest will open to the public for one weekend only in October 2026.
Carolyn Robinson has created two nationally significant gardens near the NSW country town of Tenterfield. The first, Glenrock, grew from eight bare acres into "perhaps the finest recent example of a traditional Australian country garden" according to an exhibition in the State Library of NSW, brimming with hedges, terraced garden beds, woodlands and drystone walls. The second she began at 58, from nothing, on a granite rise above the Bluff River.
Eagles Bluff is now a magnificent contemporary garden of five acres, bounded by river on two sides and backed by wilderness. It's where Carolyn has been able to express, in garden form, all that she has learned over decades of gardening with the rare benefit of hindsight. For one weekend only, she's opening Eagles Bluff to the public.
Entry is $20, payable online or at the gate. Both days, 9.30am to 4pm. Plenty of parking onsite. The Red Cross will be putting on tea and coffee and feel free to pack a picnic. Plantsman David Johnstone will be selling plants on the day, including the ornamental grasses that Carolyn adores.
707 Bluff River Road, Sandy Flat, NSW – about 25 minutes south of Tenterfield.
A note on the drive. Bluff River Road is a well-graded country dirt road, and it's 7km from the turnoff to the garden. Along the way there are several places where traffic needs to give way — at property grids and at two river causeways. Ordinary cars and small buses are fine, but the road is not suitable for buses carrying more than 30 people. Please drive with care, caution and courtesy.
Forty-one varieties of Carolyn's favourite plants are for sale as tubestock, grown for this weekend by Sarah Caldwell of Mole Station Native Nursery. $8.50 a tube.
Order online by 20 September and collect on the day. No postage, and no sales at the gate. Garden entry ($20 a head) is separate.
To help you choose what plants to buy for where, Carolyn has put together a very helpful planting guide as a companion to the plant drive, with nine different planting combination ideas, and other planting tips.
Separately, nurseryman David Johnstone will be selling plants on the day, including the ornamental grasses that Carolyn adores.
Carolyn's first book, A Garden is not a Painting, comes out in March 2027. It's a gardening how-to guide, in that it contains a wealth of practical information. But it's more than that. It's also about why we garden. And what three decades of planting, failing and starting again teaches you about a place, and about yourself.
A beautifully made hardcover book published by Galah Press, with photography throughout by Brigid Arnott. Pre-order now and we’ll post it to you after launch in March 2027.
Open Garden Entry + Book Pre-order is $90 with postage included – $15 less than buying them separately.
A note on the drive. Bluff River Road is a well-graded country dirt road, and it's 7km from the turnoff to the garden. Along the way there are several places where traffic needs to give way — at property grids and at two river causeways. Ordinary cars and small buses are fine, but the road is not suitable for buses carrying more than 30 people. Please drive with care, caution and courtesy.
