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Garden Ideas: 5 Uses of Mirror in Garden Design

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Mirrors are a great way to brighten up any garden and add that extra added and varying dimension to your space outdoors. The following are 5 examples of how I have used mirrors in gardens to change, for the greater a gardens space.

If you have an area which needs that little something to brighten it up, this should get the mind flowing and maybe thinking in a slightly different light.

1. Surrounded by Walls on all Sides

garden mirrors

This garden area is walled in on all four sides making available light almost at a premium. To change that, three of the walls in this garden were painted white whilst one was covered with three full length, slightly separated mirrors. The light increase now as the sun moves around is phenomenal. More than that, it made the garden interesting and the views so different depending on where you stood. Brighter for the better on so many levels.

2. Low Level Light Reflection

garden mirror

With lights installed at ground level a 4 metre wide paved area separates the light source from the  mirror surface installed on the far side. This allows the light, as you see it in the image, to be viewed from a very different angle. Extremely effective at night and made even better by choice planting which dappled the lights shadows as the winds movement caused it to appear to flicker.

3. The Small Courtyard Garden

garden mirror

This small courtyard is around 1 metre by 3.5 metres in size. Raised beds in place the mirror choice allowed the transformation from a dull and non descript potential no mans land to one were dappled planting gave it just that extra added dimension. The photograph was taken from inside the kitchen area and the rain at the time dapples the image captured slightly.

4. Mirror Garden Surface Furniture

mirror garden furniture

Sometimes less is more and this table top covering was just enough to create a little intrigue from one point within the garden. On a non garden design side note, the use of mirror here also ensured a clean easy of the eating area. That aside, personally [and although I might have been told off for it in my youth], I liked it most when my elbows rested on it.

5. The Narrow Garden Space

garden mirror

Just at the point where the garden narrows and the design may appear like it has just, well… ended. In this case this garden very simply needed that something to take ones eye away from a path that I was not able to change nor move – [client is king]. Note the distance it created as you look at it. Simple, yet effective.

mirror n 1 a sheet of glass with a metal coating on its back, that reflects an image of an object placed in front of it

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Fingal Independent – November 22nd

This article appeared in The Fingal Independent Tuesday 22nd November 2011:

Garden podcast puts Peter up for award

By JOHN MANNING

Tuesday November 22 2011

A BALLYBOUGHAL man is up for a national award for his Podcast that introduces the listener to the joys of gardening. Ace landscape gardner and community stalwart down Ballyboughal way is Peter Donegan and his popular podcast called The Sodshow is up for a national web award this year. Peter is the man behind Ballyboughal.net and a great champion of life in Ballyboughal as well as an enthusiastic promoter of all things green-fingered. He is an award winning landscape gardener and designer with Peter Donegan Landscaping and has had several eye-catching exhibits at the Bloom festival. Apart from imparting his gardening wisdom on the Podcast, Peter has had more face-to-face encounters with budding horticulturalists in Fingal classrooms over the last few weeks. Fingal Libraries in conjunction with Peter Donegan are hosting a series of classes with primary school children to teach them the real facts of nature through October and November. The sessions cover topics such as gardening, water, the great outdoors, how plants make their own food and how we grow ours, fruit and vegetables, trees and flowers, making a living edible garden and staying green at home. The classes give the children the opportunity to get their hands dirty and do some planting themselves and at the same time have fun while exploring the natural world and biodiversity. The garden classes entitled, Adventures in Green Gardening, started Tuesday 16th October and run for six weeks. Even if you missed the classes, a list of books has been compiled by Peter Donegan and Fingal Libraries for children to read themselves and also a list of more detailed books for parents. All of the books are available from Fingal Libraries.

– JOHN MANNING

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Garden Talk: Peter Donegan, Clontarf Gardening Society

peter donegan landscapingOn Thursday October 27th I will be giving a talk to Clontarf Gardening Society.

The talk will be titled Getting Ready For Spring and should last about 45 minutes leaving room for Q & A’s at the end.

And as all good gardeners know, if you are not ready for spring – summer will be pretty boring.

I spoke with Joe Kelch who told me that it will be be great craic altogether. I was very pleased to hear that.

I’m already aware of the team at Clontarf and as Gardening folk go, you simply couldn’t pick finer. This talk is one I am really looking forward to.

  • Speaker: Peter Donegan
  • When: Thursday 27th October @ 8pm
  • Where: St. John’s Parish Centre, Seafield Road, Clontarf
  • Cost: members €3/ non-members €4 – cost includes refreshments

As membership of clubs go – the current charge for Clontarf G.S. is €15 per annum and they meet on the last Thursday of every month at the venue. Highly recommended.

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Fingal Independent – July 6th 2011

For those who have asked…. Despite the media report [below] I still own my lawnmower. Also, I still use it and didn’t trade it in. I am still a gardener, landscaper, garden designer or anything else that maybe describe one who works with plants.

Nonetheless, The fingal Independent did write this piece this week 😉

Donegan’s gardening radio show sparks rave reviews

By Robin KIELY

Wednesday July 06 2011

HE’S more used to hedgerows than headphones, but now a Fingal gardener has turned over a new leaf on the airwaves.

Award-winning landscaper, Peter Donegan, has traded in his mower for a microphone, fronting a weekly gardening radio show, which has drawn rave reviews.

Indeed, so popular is the ‘ Sod Show’ podcast that it regularly beats off competition from a host of international stations and programmes in the download charts.

Airing live on Dublin City FM every Friday, the Ballyboughal native aims to open up the world of gardening to everyone, mixing expert guests with local enthusiasts and businesses.

‘I’ve been doing the podcast on its own for about a year and the Sod Show has been on radio nearly six months,’ Peter explained.

‘We do it live and then it goes straight to a podcast on iTunes. It’s got a happy vibe and is a feelgood gardening radio show.

‘It’s for people who like the great outdoors. Brian Greene, who has 20 years of radio experience behind him does the sound and audio.

‘We’ve done a couple of good specials. We have Jane Powers on, who writes for the Irish Times, and we had the guy who grew shamrock for Barack Obama.

‘We’ve also had locals on. Ann Lynch from Ballyboughal Hedgerow Society was on, as was Phillip Murtagh who was talking about making elder flower champagne, both from Ballyboughal.

‘We’re aiming to make gardening and the show a fun place to be and it seems to be working well.’

A glance at the download charts on iTunes certainly emphasises that fact, where the Sod Show’s podcast regularly claims the number one berth in the ‘outdoor’ category.

What’s even more impressive is its standings in the ‘sport and recreation’ section, where it’s pulling in more hits than the likes of gardening shows on BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio Ulster and Sky Sport’s ‘Sunday Supplement’ podcast.

‘It’s phenomenal really,’ Peter reflected. ‘It’s important to recognise the amount of work being done locally in Ballyboughal and it’s nice to be able to get that out on the airwaves.

‘ We’re mixing local guest with nationally and internationally known guests. The show really is open to everyone.’

It’s another chapter in an impressive story for Peter, who celebrates 10 years in business this year and he’s still as busy as ever.

He passed on his knowledge at a number of talks with Fingal Libraries earlier this year and addressed 250 people on the benefits of podcasting at a recent south Dublin event.

And on the gardening front, he spent the weekend demonstrating garden displays in the middle of the city centre, as part of an urban living event in Wolfe Tone Park.

-The Sod Show is broadcast every Friday at 3pm on Dublin City FM.

– Robin KIELY

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Gardening Demonstrations & Talks

Although I did teach horticulture some years ago now, my first public gardening demonstration took place about five years ago in Dublin City Centre at an event was hosted by dublin City Council.

With a little encouragement from yours truly to brighten up their little space, unusual objects were planted up by the attending public with some information on their plant of choice and all some tips on the aftercare of their creation.

Since then I have worked with Fingal Libraries, DTE Events and the OPW to name but a few.

One off talks, a series of informative garden on a specific subject and public demonstrations to varying groups and ages have all taken place. From those younger than and including primary school age  to those a little taller, all have genres it seems have been covered.

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Gardening For Your Event…

  • public demonstrations and talks for events/ public or other can be done. Probably best you phone me on this one or drop by for that mug of coffee.
  • got a suggestion or query – just give me a call
  • some inquiries have been made recently as to sponsoring products and/ or a course/ class. You’ll probably want to have a mug of coffee or call me first – but I’m open to suggestions.
  • Anything else just ask

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Recent Examples of Garden Talks and Gardening Demonstartions

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Contact Peter Donegan

  • email info@doneganlandscaping.com
  • use the contact form
  • call 087-6594688 or 01-8078712 – if you don’t get an answer please do leave a message and I will call you back as soon as is possible. I am possibly up a tree and it may be dangerous to take your call at that time.

also you can find Peter Donegan:

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