About the Braes Garden

The Braes Gardens lie adjacent to the World Heritage National Park which straddles a wide variety of hamlets and towns attracting many tourists who come to enjoy the area's beauty, unique topography and clear air.

The Braes is appropriately named as the original Sorensen garden was established high on the slopes overlooking the Jamieson Valley. At the edge of the World Heritage listed Blue Mountains National Park The Braes is one of only three Sorensen gardens classified in the 1983 study in Leura.  The others being Sorensen's nursery site and the historic Everglades.

One of the largest private gardens in Leura, the Braes features two flowing creeks and distant escarpment vistas and provides an example of a European inspired landscape wedged between urban, semi-rural and wild native bushland.

*'Brae' is a Scots word for slope or hill.

A Unique Garden

The Braes represents a period in the history of the Blue Mountains where gardens are reflections and memories of notable gardens and parks left behind in Europe. 

Reflecting a period in the history of the Blue Mountains the Braes evokes memories of notable gardens once enjoyed by travellers, scholars, immigrants, professionals and industrialists in the northern hemisphere.

Adapting European garden ideals to local conditions resulted in an unusual juxtaposition contrasting with the tall stands of eucalyptus bushland and dramatically changing landform.

In this context, The Braes, one of the largest private gardens in South Leura,  provides an example of a European inspired landscape wedged between urban, semi-rural and wild native bushland in a World Heritage National Park.

Autumn colours on The Braes creek

Main pond adjacent to Wollemi retreat in summer.

Reflections of Autumn at the Braes