Open Gardens Victoria

What Open Gardens Victoria does

Open Gardens Victoria Inc is a volunteer-run, incorporated not-for-profit founded in 2015 and headquartered in Point Cook, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its core activity is opening privately owned gardens across regional and metropolitan Victoria to the public on scheduled weekends, handling ticketing, promotion, and insurance on behalf of garden owners and sharing approximately half of gate takings with them. Approximately $8-$15 per adult and $5-$10 per student are charged per opening, with under-18s admitted free, and bookings are processed through the TryBooking ticketing platform. Supplementing the core openings are two subscription products: a $35 annual Friends of OGV card (including two 2-for-1 garden passes and a 10% discount at over 30 partner nurseries) and a $25 annual Student Pass for full-time tertiary students.

The organisation monetises primarily through per-transaction garden entry fees and recurring annual memberships. Its customer base is a long tail of home gardeners and garden enthusiasts across Victoria, with garden owners acting as supply-side partners rather than paying customers. A significant share of surplus revenue is channelled into a Giving Program that has disbursed nearly $200,000 cumulatively and up to $40,000 per year to community organisations, schools, and emerging designers, and into a partnership with the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show (MIFGS) that funds the Student and Emerging Designers Grant of up to $10,000.

Governance sits with a voluntary Committee of Management of approximately 8 people covering horticulture, governance, marketing, finance, and administration; there are no disclosed paid employees. Operating geographies are limited to Victoria, with marketing executed through the Squarespace-hosted website, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, a monthly email newsletter, earned media in outlets such as Gardening Australia and The Design Files, and reciprocal promotions through the partner nursery network.

Name

Open Gardens Victoria

Legal name

Open Gardens Victoria Inc

Website

https://opengardensvictoria.org.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Volunteer-run Victorian not-for-profit that opens private gardens to the public on scheduled weekends, selling per-opening entry tickets and annual Friends and Student memberships, with surplus revenue directed to community garden projects and emerging designers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Horticulture Events and Garden Tourism

NAICS

Nature Parks and Other Similar Institutions (71219)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990), Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Parks, Gardens & Botanical Attractions (THAJACAH)

Keywords

• Garden tours
• Horticulture events
• Community gardens
• Garden open days
• Gardening community

Headquarters

HQ city

Point Cook

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Others

Revenue model

1. Garden entry fees: OGV collects entry fees from garden visitors. Half covers administrative costs, half goes to garden owners who may donate to charity.
2. Friend of OGV annual subscription: Annual Friend of OGV card priced at $35, providing two-for-one entry passes and nursery discounts. Helps cover running costs and contributes to the Giving Program.
3. OGV Student Pass: Annual student pass for $25 providing year-round access to garden openings for full-time tertiary students.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Open Gardens Victoria organises scheduled weekend openings of private gardens across Victoria, handling ticketing, publicity, promotion, and insurance on behalf of garden owners. Visitors pay entry fees to attend, with half of gate takings returned to garden owners. The organisation also operates annual memberships (Friends Card and Student Pass) and runs a Giving Program that distributes grants to community organisations and emerging landscape designers.

Product overview

Open Gardens Victoria operates a platform of garden opening events and membership programs. The core offering is garden openings where private gardens are opened to the public, supported by ticketing through TryBooking. Additional offerings include the Friends Card and Student Pass memberships providing discounted or free garden access, the Giving Program providing grants to community garden projects, the MIFGS Student and Emerging Designers Grant supporting the next generation of horticultural professionals, Talking Garden Design educational events, and seasonal promotional competitions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Garden Openings Scheduled weekend openings of private gardens across Victoria, allowing visitors to explore inspirational gardens. OGV manages ticketing, publicity, promotion, and insurance on behalf of garden owners, who receive half of gate takings. Openings take place across metropolitan and regional Victoria.
• Friend of OGV Card Annual membership priced at $35 (expires 30 June each year), providing two 2-for-1 garden passes, 10% discount at 30+ partner nurseries, and newsletter access. Targeted at home gardeners and garden enthusiasts seeking year-round access and nursery discounts.
• OGV Student Pass Annual pass for full-time tertiary students priced at $25, valid 1 July to 30 June, providing year-round entry to all garden openings. Targeted at students interested in horticulture or garden design.
• Giving Program Annual grant program providing up to $40,000 to community organisations for garden and horticultural projects, including schools, community gardens, and environmental charities. Nearly $200,000 has been distributed since 2015.
• MIFGS Student and Emerging Designers Grant Grant of up to $10,000 enabling students and emerging garden designers to build a garden at the OGV stand at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, providing career-launching showcase opportunities in partnership with MIFGS.
• Talking Garden Design Events Horticulture-related events including design talks, workshops, and master classes featuring landscape designers and industry professionals. Targeted at garden enthusiasts seeking deeper educational content on garden design.

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly $200,000 provided to community garden projects since 2015
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show (MIFGS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOGV partners with MIFGS to provide the Student and Emerging Designers Grant, allowing winners to build and showcase garden designs at the largest horticultural event in the southern hemisphere.
• TryBookingcoreTechnology or IntegrationTicketing platform used for online booking and pre-payment of garden entry tickets and event tickets.
• Bellenene Art & GardenminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartner nursery offering 10% discount to Friends of OGV cardholders.
• Kuranga Native NurseryminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartner nursery (Mt Evelyn & Warrandyty) offering 10% discount to Friends of OGV cardholders.
• Bulleen Art & GardenminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartner nursery offering 10% discount to Friends of OGV cardholders.
• Breast Cancer TrialsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCharity recipient of portion of gate takings from Garden of Hope opening.
• Zoe's FightminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFoundation supporting paediatric brain cancer research, receiving profits from plant sales, CWA Devonshire teas and portion of gate takings from Moriac Heights opening.
• Community Organisations (Giving Program)coreOthersNot-for-profit organisations receiving funding through OGV's annual Giving Program for garden and horticulture projects including schools, community groups, and healthcare organisations.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Royal Botanic Garden Sydney: Australia's largest city-based public botanic garden. It overlaps with OGV on paid garden visitation, education programming, and event-based fundraising, though at a much larger institutional scale and with permanent rather than private/guest-curated exhibits.
• Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria: Operates the major public botanic gardens in Melbourne (and Cranbourne), offering ticketed attractions, events, and horticulture programmes. Although it manages its own gardens rather than private ones, it competes directly for the same Melbourne-based garden visitation audiences and donor/grant ecosystem.
• Australian National Botanic Gardens (Canberra): Federally-operated botanic garden with a national remit on plant conservation, visitor events, and paid garden experiences. Shares the same 'gardens as visitor attraction plus educational mission' positioning despite operating different geographic and institutional models from OGV.
• Botanic Gardens of South Australia: Multi-site botanic garden operator (Adelaide, Mount Lofty, and Wittunga) running ticketed events, plant sales, and education programmes. Comparable to OGV at the visitor-experience layer though with permanent garden assets rather than a private-garden curation model.

Direct peers

• National Garden Scheme (NGS): UK charity that opens private gardens to the public for a fee, sharing proceeds with owners and partner nursing charities. It is the closest international analogue to Open Gardens Victoria's model, operating on a similar community-impact-driven model with membership and ticketing layered across regional openings.

Others

• Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show (MIFGS): Annual flagship horticultural show and OGV's most important strategic partner. Not a competitor but a co-marketing channel — it provides OGV with brand visibility through the Student and Emerging Designers Grant and OGV stands within the show.
• Royal Horticultural Society (RHS): UK-based membership charity for horticulturists running gardens, shows, and education. Comparable community/education role to OGV but at a much larger institutional scale and with a portfolio of permanent gardens rather than a private-garden opening scheme.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCrl6Ex7Yq5TCWEW6qFXNPsg
• Facebookfacebook.com/opengardensvictoria
• Instagraminstagram.com/opengardensvictoria
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/open-gardens-victoria

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Open Gardens Victoria