Joel Barnett of InStyle Gardens and host of Australia’s most popular The Landscaping Podcast interviews Peter Donegan as his 1st guest of 2023. The podcast is available in all good podcast stores (audio) and in YouTube.
From 1980’s Ireland, being 1 of 8 children and cutting grass to earn money to buy seeds to Teagasc Kildalton College of Horticulture, becoming 1 of 14 designers selected globally representing Ireland, designing at 13th Century Château de Péronne (Historial de la Grande Guerre – Musées de Péronne & Thiepval) twice.
We of course talk about my designs for Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show 2023, meeting The Honourable Gary Gray VO Australian Embassy, Ireland, my first meet with Trevor Cochrane Gurus Garden in 2007 and working alongside the completely talented Semken Landscaping Pty Ltd
Talks / guest lectures as noted to take place at Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria with Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne Inc. (Tim Entwisle) and The University of Melbourne.
To quote Joel:
In this episode I speak with Peter Donegan from Peter Donegan Garden Design. Peter is a Landscape Designer based in Ireland and will be designing a garden at the 2023 Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, so we discuss how that came about.
Peter started his passion for gardens and design at a very young age, 5 or 6, and still has the same passion for it 40 years later.
He comes across as a very knowledgeable individual, and shares plenty throughout the chat, such as the importance of designers, landscapers and other trades all knowing their role when working together on a project, to ensure it runs smoothly.
Peter also tells a story about a friend of his who started a music festival and invited him to come along, and his first questions was “Who’s going?” to which his friend replied “If you’re offered a ticket on a rocket ship, you don’t ask who’s going, you just get on the rocket ship”, and this is a philosophy Peter lives by, saying yes to opportunities that come along, while also acknowledging that if you’ve got responsibilities like a mortgage, sometimes you have to say no!
I mention a great talk that Peter does on Biodiversity which can be found here.
You can see Peter’s ‘controversial’ MIFGS Q and A here.
And you can follow Peter on Instagram @peterdonegan or on his website doneganlandscaping.com
You can follow along with the projects we’re currently working on via our Instagram page
@instyle_gardens
@thelandscapingpodcast
You can view each episode on our YouTube channel or on our website
instylegardens.com.au/the-landscaping-podcast
