Latest news with #gardendesign
Irish Times
6 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
Bloom festival: Putting the finishing touches on show gardens with a message
'At one point, I was 60 stone and I was a lock-in. I was at the worst point in my life,' says Gary Kirwan. The 44-year-old, who is on the autism spectrum, 'didn't go anywhere at the time' but found a 'safe place' in Lego while his mental health was suffering. It was not until his wife, Michelle, convinced him to showcase his Lego work at an exhibition in his native Co Limerick that he got 'back out into the world', he says. 'You couldn't see light at the end of the tunnel at that stage, and it has just turned his life around,' Michelle says. READ MORE Now, seven years later, Mr Kirwan has lost 27 stone and is one of 21 designers who will showcase a garden at Bloom . He has been working 'morning, noon and night' on the project for eight weeks. It features plants, flowers and compost entirely made from Lego. 'I want everyone to look it and be like 'wow' but I really want kids to look at it and think, 'I can make that.'' The gardens on display vary in size and complexity, with some seeking to show apartment inhabitants or downsizers it is possible to create an outdoor haven from a small space. 'You can garden in the tiniest of spaces,' says Cornelia Raftery, who designed The Pink Lady Balcony, a sustainable, bee-friendly balcony garden. 'I've lived in London for most of my life and I was lucky to have a patch out back but I've always gardened.' Garden designer Pip Probert and Tusla foster carer Sandra Wogan in Tusla's Fostering Is For You garden at Bloom. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times Other gardens seek to raise awareness or act as tributes, including Tusla's Fostering Is For You garden, designed by Pip Probert . Children and teenagers in foster care, as well as foster carers, have contributed to the design which features a graffiti wall littered with hand prints, surrounded by unmanicured planting of various colours and sizes. The garden pays tribute to the fostering community and aims to entice others to consider joining, with Jacqui Smyth, Tusla's national foster care lead, saying passersby at Bloom in past years have gone on to do so. Joe Eustace, a 23-year-old from Co Kildare who is showcasing at his third Bloom festival, designed The Support Garden on behalf of the Decision Support Service . Mr Eustace sought to create a contemporary, safe and calming environment to encourage conversations surrounding advance planning, which can be an 'intimidating' subject to approach, he says. Advance planning encompasses areas including enduring powers of attorney and healthcare directives. 'Advance planning is an elephant in the room for a lot of people. I built the garden with my dad – he's the main contractor – and it would be a hard conversation to have with him, and a lot of people would be in the same boat,' he says. Martha (5) and Robyn (9) Lyons in the Kerrygold Nature Wrapped in Gold garden designed by Ailish Drake and Conor Hourigan. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times Mr Eustace used planting to create a 'cocoon' to create an intimate one-on-one space, while a metaphor of support is woven throughout via a steel network which overlooks the garden. The steel frames support a floating central fireplace which represents the person at the centre of the conversation, he says. 'They're supported even if they can't support themselves,' he says. Corrugated steel, which represents age, acts as a backdrop, he says. 'It's purposefully at the backdrop because people think advance planning is something that's far away but age is something we need to think about. 'We're all only going in one direction and everyone's going to have to confront it eventually,' he says. Organisers expect more than 100,000 people to attend this year's festival, which runs until Monday. President Michael D Higgins is set to officially open the event on Thursday, making what will be his last speech as the festival's patron, with Bloom insiders expecting him to 'go out with a bang'.
Telegraph
21-05-2025
- General
- Telegraph
Cat-repellent garden sparks Chelsea Flower Show row
A cat-repellent garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show has sparked a row with animal welfare charities. Designers of the SongBird Survival Garden deliberately chose trees with spiky thorns to stop cats from climbing them and disturbing birds. Although intended to raise awareness of the drastic decline of songbirds in the UK, the design has proved contentious with animal rights campaigners, who argue it is unfair to cats. They claimed the thorny trees might harm the pets, suggesting they were being scapegoated for the decline in the bird population. The charity behind the garden dismissed suggestions that it was dangerous to cats. The dispute comes the same week that Monty Don, the veteran broadcaster and horticulturalist, made headlines by unveiling a dog-friendly garden at Chelsea. The SongBird Survival Garden, created by designer Nicola Oakey and sponsored by the Project Giving Back charity, is intended to be a safe haven for songbirds, whose numbers in the UK have fallen by 50 per cent over the last five decades. Sue Morgan, chief executive of SongBird Survival, said the garden deliberately uses hawthorn trees to ward off cats and other predators. 'These trees are a great example of shelter,' she told The Telegraph. 'You can see they have got really long thorns within them. It's a really safe place for a bird to sit because bigger birds, cats or other things couldn't get into the tree. 'So they will sit there and then they'll be able to say 'right and I want to go and get some food' and will use it as a launching point. Birds are very cautious, and they make sure they feel safe before they move around.' She added: 'You can grow your garden and plant it in a way that works for the birds and for the cats so they all have their own spaces. It's about finding that solution. 'Having thorny plants can be a natural deterrent. The cats have plenty of other places to go.' On whether the tree is a danger to cats, she said: 'No, no, no, they just wouldn't go up it. They're intelligent creatures. They would see that and think 'I'll go elsewhere'.' The garden has proved popular with the judges – winning a prestigious silver-gilt award – and songbirds, as droppings on plants show they are using it at night. But Elvira Meucci-Lyons, the chief executive of Mayhew, a London-based charity said: 'As an animal welfare charity, we appreciate the need for spaces for all wildlife to flourish. 'However, we urge people to consider the impact of spaces that might harm cats, either through physical injury from spikes, or through mental injury, such as from sound deterrents. Cat-proof roller fencing can be a kinder alternative.' Daniel Warren-Cummings, the central behaviour officer for the Cats Protection charity, said it was easy to scapegoat cats for the decline in the bird population. He said: 'At Cats Protection and as cat owners, many of us are lovers of birds also. And while it is apparent that there are bigger contributors to bird decline in the UK, such as intensive farming and habitat-loss, we encourage responsible cat ownership to reduce predation of birds. 'Planting of trees that cats will not be motivated to climb is a passive tactic and not directly aiming to harm cats, so there would be no objection. Other measures such as keeping cats in overnight to avoid peak wildlife times such as dawn and dusk and playing with your cat for five to 10 minutes each day will also help to reduce your cat's hunting behaviour outside. 'It is often easier to scapegoat cats rather than to holistically look at and change the entirety of the issues facing bird populations in the UK.' Samantha Prior, from Woodgreen Pets Charity, added: 'Some people prefer cats not to be in their gardens and the ideas used in the SongBird Survival Garden are all safe and won't cause any harm to our feline friends. 'However, it's important to remember that cats love to be outdoors and exploring – it's in their DNA. It would be good to see gardens being promoted not for keeping cats out, but for showing people how they can create a cat-friendly garden that appeals to both people and cats. 'If people want to encourage cats to stay in their own garden for adventures, there are loads of great ways to do this. For example, including lots of cat-friendly plants, such as cat mint and cat nip, shrubbery and plant pots will keep cats entertained and give them somewhere to relax or hide, while also still looking visually appealing.'
Times
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Kazuyuki Ishihara wins garden of the year at Chelsea Flower Show
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show garden of the year award has been presented to veteran designer Kazuyuki Ishihara for Cha no Niwa — Japanese Tea Garden. Curated to be a place for quiet reflection and forging connections for his visitors, the garden incorporates various elevations to play with a sense of perspective and is Ishihara's first large show garden. The garden designer has now accumulated 13 gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show, bolstered by his first garden of the year award. Ishihara said: 'I never thought I could achieve this. I have done 17 gardens in 21 years, since 2004. All the memories just came back. And I was very emotional. 'While I was waiting for the results, I got so nervous because I
News24
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News24
SA garden wins gold at Chelsea Flower Show
For the second year in a row, a Leon Kluge-designed garden representing South Africa's beauty has won a gold medal at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in London. Kluge and his team won for their entry inspired by the meeting of two oceans - the Atlantic and the Indian - and all the flora in between. The well-respected horticulturalist took to Instagram on Tuesday cradling the team's award. 'Well, it's gold again for South Africa here at the Chelsea Flower show,' a beaming Kluge said at their stand at the prestigious event. 'It was a bit nerve-wracking this morning not knowing what [medal] was going to wait for us at the stand. We are very relieved and very excited about the gold, putting South Africa's flora right at the top of the world stage.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cape Flora SA (@capeflorasa) He thanked their sponsors, Hazendal Wine Estate and Grootbos Private Nature Reserve and Cape Flora South Africa as we as all the messages of support from back home. Much preparation went into preparing this year's garden at what is known as the 'Olympics' of the flower world, with at least 25 000 stems of beautiful flowers and fynbos being cut ahead of their display. The end result was beautiful hues of yellows, purples and pinks showcasing South Africa's unique biodiversity. This is the second gold for South Africa after it stole the show at last year's event, when the same team won gold with a perfect score for a garden inspired by the windswept slopes of the Cape mountains. The team was also awarded 'Best Exhibit in the Pavilion' and the 'Best New Design' in 2024. South Africa's Babylonstoren also had a Karoo Succulent Garden displayed at the show this year for the first time. READ | Babylonstoren flies a piece of the Karoo to London to wow at Chelsea Flower Show The team worked in partnership with its sister estate, The Newt in Somerset in the UK, to bring a little piece of the Karoo to the world. The Newt in Somerset has been the headline sponsor of the event for the past four years, and the succulent garden served as a showstopper for the attending visitors. Babylonstoren's master botanist Dr Ernst van Jaarsveld told News24 that Karoo succulents could teach many things to the world, and was well-suited to represent South Africa's resilience. The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is open from Tuesday to Saturday this May.
Daily Mail
10-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
How to create a country garden in the city, according to garden designer BUTTER WAKEFIELD
Butter Wakefield, 63, was always destined to be a garden designer. She grew up on a small arable farm outside Baltimore in the US, with ponies and horses. Her grandparents had a beautiful garden near Philadelphia, while her mother was a president of the local Garden Club of America. After working at Christie's in New York, then emigrating to London in 1988 to work as an assistant at the interiors company Colefax and Fowler, she realised being in the garden made her happiest. Wakefield took some short courses at The English Gardening School followed by a year-long diploma in plants and plantsmanship, before taking on her first garden design commission for a friend. In 1992, she moved to her Victorian villa in West London's Stamford Brook. The style of this garden echoes her professional work, spanning smart townhouse gardens in London and Bath, including schemes for interior designers Rita Konig and Matilda Goad, as well as larger country projects. The meadow of her own garden, a succession of spring flowers (including narcissi, cowslips and Geranium phaeum), has been such a hit, it's a frequent request from clients. Most of her gardens also include some forms of topiary. 'I have to have a clipped shape,' says Wakefield. 'What I like is chaos and lots of rich, multi-layered planting, but it only works if there is a strong framework of shrubs and clipped shapes to bring order to the abundant tangle. The topiary disappears into the background in summer, but in winter it holds the garden together.' That love of form is also plays out in structured evergreens and trees in pots; her back door is framed by standards of Myrtus communis pruned into neat balls and multistem Osmanthus x burkwoodii. In the centre, a steel water bowl, filled with a few oxygenating plants and gently trickling water, reflects the surrounding flowers but also provides a place for birds and insects to drink. Bringing in nature is central to Wakefield's ethos, and the garden is planted to offer early nectar with spring bulbs and climbing shrubs, including an ornamental quince, Chaenomeles speciosa 'Nivalis', which is trailed along the wall and flowers from late January. Feeders hang from trees, and one shady corner is left untouched, with leaf litter and decaying logs to provide insect habitats. One of Wakefield's favourite ideas was to enclose a utility area where she works – a small space with a potting bench, compost bin and shed – behind trellis panels covered with Trachelospermum jasminoides. In front of this, another layer is added with a small bench topped with an antique laundry basket, which is filled with tulips and various annuals each year. 'I come out and cut flowers for the house and for projects,' she says. 'I would be lost without it.' This is an edited extract from Wonderlands by Clare Coulson, Quadrille, £40. To order for £34 with free delivery until 25 May, go to or call 020 3176 2937 GET THE LOOK Inspired by Butter's garden? Here's everything you need to transform your own space Orange Tree Gold Metal Watering Can £18.50 Shop VegTrug Nesting Metal Plant Stands, Set of 3 £149.99 Shop Trug £24 Shop Gardening gloves £15.99 Shop Garden bucket bag £45 Shop Small Hand Trowel £26 Shop £15 Shop Habitat Checked Ceramic Footed Planter £8 Shop Niwaki Canvas Gardening Kneeler Pad, Natural £28 Shop Bind Scissors Cast Iron Black Large £10 Shop
