“We wanted the money to go back to the community,” committee member Marg Anderson said. 

The weekend festival attracted more than 1400 visitors to the region in 2018. 

The numbers were about the same as previous years, Ms Anderson said.

At Casa della Pace there were about 930 visitors through, and every garden had about 1000 people through, she added. 

The annual festival opened eight gardens in early November: three town gardens (Cummins House, Claydon House, and Atfield Garden); and five country gardens (Markdale, Hillcrest, The Mill, Casa della Pace and Lachlands).

The committee will now meet in January for a presentation with the garden assessors to decide on which gardens which will open next year. 

“Several gardens have been nominated for consideration for the 2019 garden festival and will go into the selection process.”

It will be held the second weekend in November. 

Every year 25 per cent of ticket sales go to a local charity and for the past three years this charity has been the CCT.

CCT has been assisting families and individuals experiencing hardship, illness or adversity in the Upper Lachlan Shire for the past 20 years. 

The trust relies on the community for assistance in raising funds to complete their work.

“We cannot thank these groups and individual donors enough for their ongoing support,” honorary secretary Ingrid Clements wrote.