Keen gardeners will get a chance to have a peek in to some of Omarama's finest gardens next month.
Nine gardens will feature in the Omarama High Country Garden Tour, taking place on October 28, including three in rural settings.
Funds raised from the tour will go towards a $200,000 sports facility, to be developed next to the town's recently modernised community centre.
Draft plans for the facility feature multipurpose courts, including three tennis courts, netball and basketball courts.
Omarama Residents' Association chairman Ross Gold said it was hoped the Omarama High Country Garden Tour would raise about $50,000 for the project.
Garden tour co-organiser Jemma Gloag said reaching the $200,000 target was a work in progress. There was no timeframe in mind as to when that target could be reached, but it was hoped to get there ''as soon as possible''.
The garden at Merino Lodge, owned by Ann Patterson, is among those to be featured on the tour. It was established a year ago, following the brief of ''a natural high country environment''.
Lex and Jan Perriam's property will also feature on the itinerary.
The Perriams planned out their pocket-sized Omarama garden 17 years ago. At the time it was just a bare section.
''We did do a plan which was quite bizarre [for us],'' Mrs Perriam said.
The garden, which pays homage to the couple's love of Ohau's lake, bush and mountains, features foxgloves, hollyhocks and lupins, along with native broom, prostrate kowhai, tussock, and flax.
The featured properties are described as structured and formal, plant collectors' gardens filled with treasures, and rambling romantic areas developed over generations.
The day will conclude with an auction at Omarama Station.
-By Alexia Johnston