Mayfield has added seven acres to the garden with the opening of The Gallery, Valley of the Five Ponds and The Grotto.

Special guest Graham Ross VMM, of the Better Homes and Gardens television program, visited the garden to help open the new areas.

Mayfield CEO Hamish Keith said the gardening guru has always been a supporter of Mayfield, which was why he was happy to help unveil the new areas.

“Graham Ross has been a huge advocate of Mayfield. I think Better Homes and Gardens has had Mayfield on it three times in three different seasons and they will be coming back out here in January to do a summer feature,” he said.

Mr Keith said the new areas were likely to draw people out to the garden if they’d never been before.

“These new areas just make Mayfield more of a seasonal garden,” he said.

“We’re really making it as appealing in summer and winter as it is in autumn and spring.”

In 1984, when the Hawkins family began their modest garden surrounding Mayfield house, there was always the vision to create something unique and world class.

Today, Mayfield is one of the largest privately-owned gardens in the world, consisting of 160 acres (64 hectares) of architecturally-designed cool climate garden.

Since it was opened to visitors in 2008, Mayfield has transformed from a world-class garden to a world-class destination. Mayfield has welcomed tens of thousands of visitors through its gates, especially now that it’s open 363 days a year. Mayfield is closed Christmas and Boxing Day.

The success of Mayfield saw the team win the Best Tourism Destination or Attraction in Oberon at last year’s business awards – and more awards are likely to be on the horizon.

The new areas support the Mayfield team’s goal of turning the garden into a must-visit tourist destination.

This year there were 15 new events added to the calendar and Mr Keith said Mayfield already has 45 booked for 2018.