SITTING under the shade of mature eucalyptus trees watching birds swoop by, kangaroos laze about and the sun filtering through the leaves, it's hard to believe we're just 20 minutes from the centre of Queanbeyan.
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The peaceful country sanctuary was exactly the thing Brad and Sue Pillans were looking for 13 years ago and have created at their Aspen Rise, Jerrabomberra home.
This weekend the avid gardeners will welcome the public into their oasis as part of the Open Garden Australia Program.
"People will come who've never been here before and they immediately say, 'how nice is this in the suburbs?' and how quiet it is," Mr Pillans said.
"We're fairly close to the flight path for the airport, so we get the occasional passing plane but apart from that, you could be miles from anywhere and that's the way we like it."
The Pillans' garden is unique boasting more than 900 different plants, many of them native. Mr Pillans believes it's probably the largest collection of Australian native plants in the Canberra region outside of the Botanic Gardens.
"We plant things because we think it will make the garden more interesting and we like trying to grow plants that others might be hesitate about," he said.
"There's lots of plants in our garden that don't usually grow in the Canberra/Queanbeyan area but we seem to be able to do it."
Visitors can enjoy the plant life, animal visitors as well as a number of Austrian sculptor, Andreas Buisman's, artworks. The artist creates rock sculptures and will be present on saturday to talk to visitors about his rock sculptures.
Mr Pillans, a geologist and chair of the National Rock Garden, is a fan of the rock artworks which range in size from fist-sized right up to large pieces that weight a couple of hundred kilograms.
"This is a lovely time of year, if a garden doesn't look nice in spring, then it's never going to look nice," Mr Pillans said.
"Right at the moment we've got lots of things in flower, you can see this acacia - it's just dripping with blossoms, we've got some warratahs in bloom and lots of grevilleas. All the birds are just living in the grevilleas, the ones that come for the nectar."
This is the third and final time the Pillans will be showing their garden as the Open Garden Australia program will end this year. But the couple hope it doesn't signal the end of open gardens forever as they particularly love meeting new people and sharing their knowledge with others. All proceeds from the day will go to the National Rock Garden.
"Look, it is a bit sad ... but I guess we'd like to think that if people feel that there's a need for opening gardens, and I think there is, perhaps regional schemes will replace the national one," Mr Pillans said.
"I suspect that they're be opportunities to open our garden or other gardens in different ways in the future. That would be nice because I like to share what we've got with the people and they seem to like what they see when they come here."
Visit the Pillans' native garden at 30 Aspen Rise, Jerrabomberra on Saturday and Sunday, October 25 - 26 from 10am to 4.30pm. Entry is $8 (under eight-years-old, free)
