Rural Whanganui garden ramble raises about $10,000 for Fordell School

Jenny Baker opened her house and garden to visitors for the Fordell Garden Ramble on November 10. Photo / Lewis Gardner

The success of Fordell School's fundraising Garden Ramble has blown away principal Yvette Moorhouse.

"It was an amazing day, a huge success, and thoroughly enjoyed by everyone," she said.

The school was its drop-in point, and quite a few people looked at the gardens there. There were 270 tickets for the event, and they sold out more than a week earlier.

"They just flew out the door. We had people even turning up on the day, wanting to buy tickets."

The 13 houses and gardens included some historic ones: Oneida, Headlands, Fernielea and Lambhill. Owners were on hand, to tell their stories.

All the properties were in the general Fordell area, and the owners had volunteered or been shoulder-tapped to be part of the event.

The ramble had raised between $9000 and $10,000 for the school, Moorhouse estimated. She wanted to thank the owners, the school's fundraising committee and the sponsor, Bayleys.

"We haven't done this before, but we may do it again because we really enjoyed it."