Tom and Vanya Daniel were at first apprehensive about opening their garden when approached a few months ago.

Mrs Daniel told the Tribune she did not think her young garden was ready but that she soon gave in after some gentle persuasion from her friends.

"We lost a lot of gum trees in the drought and have been experimenting with exotics and filling in the gaps. I've always thought our garden was too young [for an open garden] but I'll probably always think it's too young.

"I've taken the back paddock and part of the front paddock and put a lily pond there...I've tried to make it a tranquil garden in a bare oasis."

Mrs Daniel said she was a little nervous about Sunday and hoping and praying for kind weather.

"I hope people can say 'this garden is a simple garden and I can go home and do this myself,'" she said.

There will be lots to see on the day - fashion parades, cooking demonstrations, stalls offering the work of local artists and crafts people, plants from Turner’s nursery and a coffee shop. Yarraman Park and Collingwood, nurtured since the 50s by the Emery family at 2312 Cullerin Road Gunning, will be open to the public from 10am to 4pm. Entry to each garden is $5 and all proceeds will go to the Red Cross.

The local arts and culture community is also alive and well this weekend with an arts trail planned to coincide with and complement the Yass Valley Heritage Celebration and the Red Cross Open Gardens.

The trail will feature artists' open studios, music and sculpture in the wineries, open gardens and jewellery and ceramics exhibitions.

YASSarts is promoting the trail but creator Kim Nelson is quick to point out that not a lot of planning was required - things just panned out that way.

"They are things that were happening anyway. I just tried to encourage them to occur at the same time and give them a cohesive basis."

Mr Nelson said the area boasts a remarkable variety of talent in the field of arts, either in people who choose to live here or who have been raised in the region, with exhibitions and concerts, equal to any you would find in the city.

"The amount of professional practitioners in the region is quite astounding - people with national and international standing - but the idea of the YASSarts website is to also provide a platform and profile for those who do not make a living from their art but whose work is no less noteworthy," Mr Nelson said.