Tag: gardens

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niall mellon township trust gardeners weekend

and what a weekend it turned out to be…. It was amazing.

To say I was blown away by peoples generosity is an understatement. Whether it was time, money or simply calling to wish only the very best  – thank you all so much. You really did and will make such a difference. From my heart thank you! The *thank you* list here could only be endless so… if I have forgotten to mention you please hollar… you really do deserve it…

The setting of the Garden Exhibition Centre was always a great start and the sun made a very welcome appearance. Saturday started really well highlighted with 2 garden lectures. One from myself and the second from nice guy and fellow garden designer Damien Keane. But Sunday left most mesmerised when The Riptide Movement played the second tier of the mountain side based centre. Kilquade certainly came to life 😉

But it didn’t stop there… Dawn Ashton was also there creating amazing mosaics with the children. These will be brought to South Africa and used to decorate the walls of the garden. The staff of the Centre and so many garden designers turned out in their droves simply to be on hand to give out free advice where necessary.

Isn’t it amazing when an entire industry arrives to support such an amazing cause. Even Dominic Loughran, head of operations for the Niall Mellon Township Trust turned up with his entire family – and he flying out to S.A. today!

I think the video summises it so very well…

to donate or to see how much was raised click here 🙂

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the recycled red satellite returns…. ?

peter donegan, the lord mayor of dublin and liam rielly of bagatelle
with the lord mayor and liam rielly

remember the red satellite…. ?

for one weekend only it made it’s first ever public apearance…

Many thanks to Conor McCabe of Jason Clarke Photography for these…

I don’t know where Ken disappeared to…. ? anyhow 😉 above is myself, Cllr Emer Costello, Lord Mayor of dublin and Liam from Bagatelle

Of course it was all for the Urban Garden Smithfield [reviewed here] event that took place over the weekend and part of the garden I was built there

Here’s a brief taster of what also took place there…

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Brackenstowns gardens & the sculpt exhibition

The award winning gardens of Brackenstown have hit the big screen. The gardens open for two weeks only for the Mid summer sculpt exhibition and this is one not to be missed. Tickets are limited and must be booked in advance through Gormleys Fine Art. Oliver is right, ‘what a setting’!

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hedges – formal or informal

formal
formal

 If cutting nee maintaining fine lines of pristine planting isn’t for you then a formal hedge is not what you want. If however you like trimming or cutting from time to time and don’t mind ‘organised chaos’ then maybe you do! But a hedge as we [becoming elder] Irish know it, is something that requires looking after one sunny Saturday per year or so.

For the record and for clarity in this discussion please note the dictionary reference and definition: hedge n 1 a row of shrubs or bushes forming a boundary [source Collins English Dictionary]

informal...
informal...

If you do follow the dictionary (that I am so fond of reading) translation, then the logroll etched license interpretation that we inherited from the 1980’s becomes something delightfully and excitingly different. The science is that the internodal distance [distance between each set of buds] doesn’t really allow the plant to become ‘formal’ and so informality reigns though anti-symetric uneveness.

In theory if the correct horticultural decisions are made pre-planting then those hedge cutting fathers days can be spent on the golf course or playing croquet rather than bringing green waste to landfill. To clarify, all plants require some maintenance – just not as much, as often or as costly of your time or someone elses. In this day and age they can be bought in as established or mature plants. The two informal hedges above are one year old – to its new owners.

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rootballs, bare roots & whips

tree planting
tree planting

All across Ireland on motorways, farmland and construction sites planting is taking place – but time waits for no man, to plant. Some say winter is the quite period for landscaping – I don’t really agree.

There are exceptions to every rule but in general, plants [bare roots/ whips] are dormant in winter. This allows, within reason the plant to be lifted out of the ground and planted without too many concerns apart from keeping the wind from the roots and/ or preventing them drying out. Because the plant it is lifted and sold [no potting] no added maintenance, costs can be reduced […there are exceptions].

There is one thing to remember – most bare roots and whips are native Irish so if you’ve been following my articles on design, you’ll know you pretty much need a large garden if you wish to buy in larger numbers – or else you’re a big bonsai fanatic! Native Irish [in my Moms language] meaning they’ll generally grow over 30′ tall. If you live near Griffith Avenue, you can have them but be sure you know what you’re buying – intelligent horticultural purchasing is required here.

If you dont fancy maintaining a matching hedge of beech [fagus sylvatica], a row mountain ash trees[fraxinus cvs] or a few specimen hollys [ilex cvs] then you can plant pretty much anytime you want, with anything. Now you must decide if you want formal or informal.

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