Latest news with #RosieAlabaster
The Irish Sun
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
‘This is astonishing', says RTE Super Garden judge as contestant creates ‘never done before' feature in ‘daring move'
RTE Super Garden judges have been left blown away by a contestant's 'bold statement' design. The brand-new series of Super Garden continued tonight with five new budding designers battling it out for a coveted spot at Bord Bia's Bloom in 2025. Advertisement 3 Gardener Rosie Alabaster transformed Adrian and Gabriella's home 3 The couple live in Baker Hall, Navan 3 Rosie's garden was inspired by a poem The contestants hoping to have their designs shown off at And overseeing the competition are three judges; Brian Burke, former Super Garden winner Monica Alvarez, and Carol Marks. In tonight's show, viewers met 47-year-old Rosie Alabaster from Rosie wanted to design a beautiful garden for young couple Adrian and Gabriella, and their dog Leo . Advertisement READ MORE IN SUPER GARDEN The talented designer came up with a strong concept of a garden that was inspired by WB Yeats' famous poem, Lake Isle of Innisfree. Rosie created the lake from the poem by using a large wildlife pond. The spectacular pond was the first to feature on Super Garden. Kicking off her build, Rosie was immediately left distressed when she contracted Covid, leaving her behind schedule for five days. Advertisement MOST READ IN THE IRISH SUN Thankfully Rosie's pal, Ronan kindly stepped in and began to dig out the pond area. Once she arrived to the site, Rosie got to work adding a layer of sand over the pond, to smooth it out before putting the 'fleece' on top. Joe Duffy fights back tears on air Rosie then hired a plumbing team to dig out pipes that would drain the pond around the garden. She then put down a beautiful paving which created the small, but precise, patio area. Advertisement But disaster struck when an entire bucket of paint flipped off a table and spilled all over the new patio bricks. 'DARING MOVE' Rosie's team were then forced to completely re-do the patio with new bricks, making for another lengthy set-back to the process Over the next few days, Rosie went about planting a jaw-dropping sea of trees and flowers around the pond. In the end the garden resembled a jungle area, full of greenery and colour. Advertisement Once it was finished the judges surveyed the garden, with Carol noting: 'This is astonishing, its so serene.' Monica added: 'The fact she has created a pond in an estate house is so impressive, this has never been done before. 'You are a very brave woman.' While Brian said: 'It's so new, it's a bold statement and it's a daring move.' Advertisement
RTÉ News
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Super Garden designer stuns with WB Yeats-inspired garden
The 16th series of beloved gardening competition Super Garden has returned to our screens on RTÉ One, with this week's episode introducing viewers to the final designer of this series, Rosie Alabaster. Watch back on RTÉ Player now Originally from Stamford in Lincolnshire, Rosie is now based in Kildare and has a keen interest in theatre. As well as working as a theatre designer for over 20 years, and teaching at Royal Holloway college, the 47-year-old wrote children's books as well as illustration and animation. Transitioning her love of design from the stage to the garden, Rosie is pursuing her MA in landscape architecture online with the University of Arts, Bournemouth. The course combines her two loves: plants and outdoor spaces. Rosie moved to Ireland three years ago as her husband's job relocated them. Her husband, Pascal, is originally from Leitrim, and together they have two children, Jack (13) and Meabh (11). Rosie is currently designing a small garden for a charity in the north inner city of Dublin, which provides education for teenage mums, asylum seekers and anyone in the surrounding community. On Super Garden, Rosie has been tasked with designing a garden for young couple Adrian and Gabriella, and their dog Leo. Merging her love for literature and the outdoors, Rosie came up with a strong concept that she hopes will take her to Bord Bia Bloom, a garden inspired by the poem by WB Yeats, Lake Isle of Innisfree. "I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree, And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made; Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee, And live alone in the bee-loud glade." She planned to bring the lake from the poem to her garden with a large wildlife pond, which will be the most dominant feature of the design and something that is a first for Super Garden. Her concept included a reading nook, patio, dining area, and stone path. As impressive as these plans were, though, they didn't necessarily address the homeowners' request for making the space dog-friendly. And while Judge Monica Alvarez was impressed by Super Garden 's first pond, she was concerned that the rest of the garden took a little bit of a backseat. Judge Carol Marks noted that some of the trees were wilting in the summer heat, but Judge Brian Burke surmised that the design was a "bold" and "daring". In the end, with just three weeks and a €15,000 budget, Rosie delivered a unique garden that the homeowners were thrilled with.
