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Donegan Landscaping, Dublin: Back Garden Makeover.

donegan landscaping dublin, back garden (1)

I’ve most probably noted this a bizillion times over but, there are two things that make any garden that little bit extra brilliant:

  1. A really, really great client – I hate that word – And…..
  2. An entire disaster of a pre my getting there garden.

The latter if I’m honest, very simply gives the before and after video that extra wow factor and maybe makes me look a little more of a genius at what I do. Whereas the former, really is what makes it all, feel just that extra special and tailored just for you. Something I can only describe as the difference between a house and a home.

What may be worth considering here is:

  1. that the (pre my getting there) garden rose by approx 27 degrees over a 9 metre distance to the rear
  2. the soil was really something terrible; better known as a gley soil to the horticulturist; or a level below subsoil. And…
  3. therefore the drainage and nutrient soil value was virtually non existant.
  4. the only access was through the house

Those factors however really did not affect in any way what the garden was to become. That, in it’s entirety came down to the Clients (yup) wishes and a meeting of minds for the what the space would become.

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Garden Landscaping. Howth, Co. Dublin

hand made, garden structure and seating, dublin

Above pictured the complete garden structure building, one part of an overall landscaping project in Howth, Co. Dublin.

Entirely hand-made and built. It consists of a fully slated roof, solid timber uprights, hardwood deck to the base, surrounds closed in on two sides; one hardwood shelf to the rear right hand side and back; and two hand-made accoya hardwood seats, one of which is a swinging seat; and yes even here I bought the chain and cut it to length etc.

Of note to the lean of the roof, as versus the angle (degrees), the house is 3 story at the back. The video below may show that in better detail.

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Interview: Peter Donegan. Horticulture Connected, Summer 2015

peter donegan, horticulture ireland magazine, 2015

Horticulture Connected, Ireland’s Hort Trade Magazine, Summer 2015 Edition.
Peter Donegan talks with Editor Barry Lupton.

Generally speaking, most industry folks agree that gardening coverage on TV and radio in Ireland is pretty poor and this has a negative impact on the market for goods and services. Ask those within media circles why it is so, and it all comes back to the same factors: production costs, scale of the potential audience and the need to generate ratings using the lowest common denominator. If you want gardening on TV, it better come with sex, violence, emotion, upset and scandal.

But all is not lost. The downward pressure has produced a knowledge vacuum and a necessity. Necessity precipitates creativity. Thankfully, one industry figure is adressing the issue.

Peter Donegan is well known in the fields of horticulture, construction and design. Owner and operator of Donegan Landscapes, he established his name with a series of dramatically imaginative show gardens in the early days of Bloom in the Park. Like many in the design and construction sector, Peter felt the full force of the recession and took steps to contract his business to see it through the lean years. But he didn’t just hunker down, he saw an opportunity to redirect his energy online and to address the poor level of gardening media coverage.

The Sod Show was created in 2010 following a suggestion from a friend that he build on his existing gardening blog with a weekly radio podcast through Dublin City FM. And the rest, as they say is history. A burgeoning audience, multiple awards and an interview list which includes people from every corner of horticulture, the Sod Show has become an important component of Irish gardening media. One which continues to grow in both audience and influence.

I was delighted to meet up with Peter recently to get the back story on his success with the Sod Show and his plans for the future.

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Back Garden Landscaping. Ballinteer, Dublin

garden landscaping ballinteer

There are very many reasons why I love so much what it is I do as my work, if I might call it that.

Second place to the top of that pile for most gardens, for me, is the what it was before hand to the what it has become. That in mind, this little ditty sits right up there with the very best of them.

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Front Garden Landscaping: Monkstown, Dublin

front garden landscaping, monkstown dublin (1)

It seems I missed out on the before I started this front garden project but did manage to get this sort of before image, just as works had commenced – pictured below.