Archives: News

Howth Sutton Horticultural Society: 1 April Annual Spring Show. Entry forms and show rules are available on www.hshs.ie or from the secretary Ann Campbell at 086-8183709. Open to public viewing from 2.30-4.30pm. All welcome: €2. The show is held in St Nessan’s community school, Moyclare Road, off Warrenhouse Road, Baldoyle, Dublin 13.

Ballinasloe Flower and Garden Club: 12 April, at 8pm, Gullanes Hotel, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway.

Flower Arranging Demonstration by Rosemary Mulchrone, Navan, AOIFA.

Macroom Flower & Garden Club: Spring Floral Demonstration, 27 April with Angela Heffron AOIFA Cobh, at Coolcower House Macroom, Co. Cork. New members and visitors most welcome, enquiries 087-9821708.

Alpine/Hardy Plant Society: Phil Haversoft, Leamore, Co Wicklow will lecture on Herbaceous peonies: four thousand years of cultivation from ancient China to modern day on 27 April. Plants for sale. Lavanagh Centre, Blackrock, Cork at 8 pm. All welcome

Clontarf Garden Society: on 30 March, at 8 pm, in St. Johns Parish Centre, Seafield Rd, Clontarf, by Sharon O’Sullivan, a practical demonstration of flower arranging for Easter. Admission: €10 includes tea/coffee and home-made cakes.

Dublin Five Horticultural Society: 6 April, at 8pm, a talk on St.Anne’s Estate by Joan Sharkey. On 8 April, at 2pm, Spring Show in Chanel College, Coolock Village. On 20 April, at 8pm, a talk on Dahlias by Pat Thornton. The talks are in The Artane Beaumont Family Recreation Centre, Kilmore

Road, Dublin 5. Adm: €5. Ring 087-2423020 for more details.

Maghera & District Gardening Group: Angela Jupe from Bellefield House & Gardens, Birr to the Maghera Leisure Centre on 18 April, at 7.30pm, for Interesting and dramatic plants for the garden. Plant sale and all are welcome.

Irish Garden Plant Society: on 20 April, at 8 pm in the National Botanic Gardens, Professor Jane Stout will give a talk on Paradise for Pollinators.

Dublin Group Alpine Garden Society: Show on 8 April, 1.30 to 4 pm, at Cabinteely Community School, Johnstown Rd, Cabinteely, Dublin 18. Admission: €3. And on 22 April, Greenmount College, Antrim, the Ulster Group AGS Show will be held.

Galway Flower & Garden Club: Field of Dreams, a garden talk by June Blake in the Westwood Hotel, Galway on 18 April, at 8pm. Admission: €10 for non members, includes door prize and tea/coffee. Contact: mariancolohan@gmail.com

Kenmare & District Garden Club: Horizons: Finding Inspiration From Beyond The Garden Gate by Verney Naylor, at 7.30 pm, in The Gateway, Killarney Road, Kenmare on 6 April. All welcome. For directions contact Geraldine 086-3935965.

Templeogue Horticultural Society: Yvonne O’Connor of personalisedlandscapes.ie will talk about what to do in the garden this month in Our Lady’s School, Templeogue, Dublin, on 19 April, at 8pm. Admission: €7 non-members. All are welcome.

Foxrock and District Garden Club: on 25 April, Shrubs for a Small garden by Mary Keenan, Gash Gardens, Co. Laois, at Foxrock Church Pastoral Centre, Dublin 18, at 8pm. Admission €7 for non-members.

Waterford Regional Gardening Club: on 20 April, at 8pm, in The Edmund Rice Centre, Barrack Street, Waterford. Gardening with Sensational Plants by Deborah Begley of Terra Nova Gardening School & Gardens. Non-members €5. Refreshments and raffle to follow. Contact: 086-4083419

The Irish Specialist Nursery Association (ISNA) holds the first of its Plant Fairs for 2017 at St Anne’s Park, Raheny, Dublin 5 on Saturday 25 March 10.00 to 15.30. The Plant Fair will be held in conjunction with the popular Farmer’s Market at The Red Stables. Admission is free. Over twenty ISNA members will participate, featuring perennials, trees, shrubs, exotics, alpines and garden paraphernalia. Contact: susanmiriamharford@gmail.com

Growing Organic Vegetables with Paula Pender offers a hands-on practical guide to vegetable gardening through the season, from preparing your raised bed, sowing seeds, raising seedlings, planning your crop, right through to harvesting. Develop growing skills in both polytunnel and outdoor small scale vegetable production.

Course commences in March and continues through until July 2017.

How to grow your own cut-flowers with Fionnuala Fallon is a one-day course on growing cut-flowers for the home or as a supplement to a floristry business – the best, most long-flowering and floriferous varieties to grow, seed suppliers, propagation, growing under cover, and how to beat weeds, pests and diseases. Course date: 25 March. Contact: sales@altamontplants.com

The hand-forged Charleston Rose Pillar from Classic Garden Elements gives rose blooms the support needed to create colourful, scented displays. Made of galvanized steel and powder-coated black finish, it has a 10 year no-rust guarantee. Height 230cm, diameter 50cm. For more details 087-2306128, www.classicgardenelements.ie

Victorian Garden Buildings are handmade by skilled and experienced craftsmen, to order, and customers can be assured they’ll get exactly what they want. ?There is a ?Victorian Garden Buildings model? to suit every garden and all tastes. Practical and built to last! Visit www.victoriangardenbuildings.com or 087-2306128.

The Gardens of Ireland Trust recently opened for membership. The response has been excellent with comments such as ‘that is a great initiative’ and ‘great to see a marketing organisation for all the Gardens of Ireland’.

It is intended to launch the marketing website as soon as possible to take advantage of the coming season.

While the closing date for membership was mid-February please note that anyone interested who has not already joined will be most welcome. Please get in touch with Hester Forde, email: hester.gardenireland@gmail.com.

Wes-Chem has launched two new products. Organic Weed & Moss Buster is a liquid product that treats any broadleaved weeda and moss on concrete, brick and tarmacadam. The effect is seen almost immediately with treatment of moss taking 2 to 3 days.

Lawn Buster is a product used for the treatment of moss in lawns, a fast-acting product. It will also strengthen the lawn and it will help to maintain its green colour. Moss Buster is still growing in popularity and removes moss, algae, lichen and fungi from all hard surfaces including brick, patios, concrete, timber, roofs and tarmacadam, and contains no bleach or acids.

The new 52cm wide, 56v lithium-ion powered self-propelled mower from EGO Power+ offers the greatest cutting width in the EGO lawnmower range. It features a durable polydeck and three adjustable handle heights. EGO Power+ lawnmowers make significantly less noise than petrol powered mowers, with zero emissions during use and almost no vibrations. The LM2102E-SP has a central deck-height adjustment with six stages from 28mm up to 94mm, and features Automatic Variable Speed which delivers optimal cutting speed to maximise battery runtime. More at: www.egopowerplus.ie

Westland Safe Lawn is a new organic fertiliser with added lawn seed, made with only natural ingredients. It nourishes lawns, greening them up within a week and then continues to feed as it naturally breaks down. It helps grass grow and outcompete moss and weeds, and also contains special naturally-occurring bacteria which converts dead moss and thatch to nutrients to feed the grass. Its formula guarantees results, in garden centres.

Viano BIO-Press is a 100% natural liquid fertiliser for lawns with indirect action against moss, reducing moss within 24 hours after application. BIO-Press is certified for use in organic horticulture and is ideal for lawns with moss infestation and before scarification. Apply when temperature is above 1°Celsius, 100 % vegetable base, do not mix with other products and 2 litres treats 250 square metres. Contact: www.nad.ie

Fernhill Gardens saved!

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council (DLRCC) has recently acquired Fernhill Park and Gardens and intends to develop the property as a Regional public park. Fernhill is a former substantial family residence with ancillary buildings on 34 hectares of land: gardens, parkland, woodland and agricultural land, just south of the Enniskerry Road at Stepaside, County Dublin.

FIRE’NESS launch

The first FIRE’NESS was made in 2016 and the design has been trialled and perfected over recent months. Each FIRE’NESS is handmade from Marine Grade 2mm Stainless Steel and measures 100cm in height x 50cm in width at base. Its shape is decorative and it is functional. Contact : Grant MacEwan, 086-2431811.

Dee Brophy new shop

Dee Brophy Decorative Antiques has a new showroom selling a large selection of gardenalia from old garden gates to plant stands. Pictured here are some lovely hand-thrown terracotta pots that have just been rescued from a house clearance. Open Wed – Saturday. www.deebrophy.com 087-6812761.

Tyrrelstown House Garden holds a special Daffodil Day on Friday, 24 March, 3pm to 6pm with proceeds to Irish Cancer Society. Contact: 01-8213206.

Nemasys expands

Nemasys products now include a control for slugs, leatherjackets, ants, vine weevils and chafer grubs, as well as a combined product containing number of different nematode species which will protect a fruit and vegetable garden from a wide range of pests. The nematodes seek out their particular prey and kill them. The packs are kept in a refrigerator until they are used and can be safely stored alongside food and drinks without the remotest possibility of contamination.

Tree Week 2017

Tree Week, organised by the Tree Council of Ireland since 1985, is a week-long programme of events to celebrate trees, held in association with Applegreen and Coillte. Tree Week 2017 runs from Sunday 5 March 5 until 12 March. Register an event for Tree Week 2017, or check out the programme of events by county. The Tree Council has been directly engaged in getting 15,000 to 18,000 native trees planted per year, all donated by Coillte, distributed through their members, schools throughout the country, Tidy Towns, and other events.

Botanic Network Ireland

Taking place on 21 April, 7.30pm in the Blarney Castle Hotel, Blarney, Cork, is the official launch night of Botanic Network Ireland. A little introduction to what BNI is all about, followed by Bleddyn Wynn-Jones from Crug Farm, giving a talk on his collections of hardy plants from Northern Vietnam. There is a raffle of some very special plants after the talk, drinks and snacks on arrival. Contact: botanicnetworkireland@gmail.com.

Jimi Blake garden tour

Jimi Blake is running a garden tour on the 31 March to 2 April, 2017 to Great Dixter for the Spring Plant fair – an ideal opportunity to purchase great plants and to hear some of Europe’s prominent nursery people give informative talks. The tour will also visit the gardens of Sissinghurst and RHS Wisley. Contact: jimi@huntingbrook.com

Fota opens early

Fota House has announce the house will be re-opening a little earlier this year, on Saturday 25th March at 10am. The Café will be open, serving hot drinks and tasty treats, so why not pop down and say hello! Our Fota House shop will showcase a fresh range of gardening, home wares and quality craft products for 2017, perfect for those little gifts for someone special.

Mount Venus hellebores

Hellebore Days at Mount Venus Nursery, Dublin, are on 25 and 26 February from 10am to 4pm. Hellebores are long-lived, easy to grow, flower reliably from as early as December till mid-April. There seems to be no end to variation in colours and shapes from yellows to nearly black, cup-shaped singles to daisy-like doubles. There will be a wide range of selections and new cultivars on display and for sale. www.mountvenusnursery.com

Kells Bay House & Gardens

Kells Bay House & Gardens hosts a lecture by Sir Tim Smit, KBE, on Saturday, 8 April, in The Dining Room at Kells Bay House, commencing at 10.30am. Titled ‘Kells, Eden and the art of making magic’ , the lecture will highlight various aspects of his career, including the discovery of the Lost Gardens of Heligan and the launch of The Eden Project. Sir Tim will officially open Ireland’s longest rope-bridge in the gardens on Friday, 7 April, and he will be available to guests from 10.30am. Places are limited. For more information: www.kellsgardens.ie

Courses at Altamont

Growing Organic Vegetables with Paula Pender offers a hands-on practical guide to vegetable gardening through the season, from preparing your raised bed, sowing seeds, raising seedlings, planning your crop, right through to harvesting. Develop growing skills in both polytunnel and outdoor small scale vegetable production.

Course commences in March and continues through until July 2017.

How to grow your own cut-flowers with Fionnuala Fallon is a one-day course on growing cut-flowers for the home or as a supplement to a floristry business – the best, most long-flowering and floriferous varieties to grow, seed suppliers, propagation, growing under cover, and how to beat weeds, pests and diseases. Course date: 25 March. Contact: sales@altamontplants.com

Consumer goods fairs

The three international consumer goods fairs Christmasworld, Paperworld and Creativeworld, as well as the new Floradecora trade fair reported 2,938 exhibitors from 63 countries with countless new contacts and well-filled order books. More than 85,400 trade buyers from 154 countries attended the 5-day Frankfurt fair to order goods for next season and establish important trading relationships. The products range from Christmas ornaments and seasonal decoration in conjunction with fresh flowers and plants, to hobby, craft and art supplies, and extends to gift items.

Woodville Walled Garden

Woodville Walled Garden, Kilchreest, Loughrea Co. Galway is open at week-ends for the month of March 11am to 5 pm with guided tour each day by head gardener Marie. Stunning display of spring blooms with the highlight of our Spring Festival on Saturday the 11th of March. Guest speaker is Hestor Forde, followed by heritage daffodil identification by Bartley Boyle. www.woodvillewalledgarden.com

Clare Garden Festival 2017

On 30 April, at Ennis Showgrounds, Ennis, Co. Clare, Clare Garden Festival is a treat for gardeners and a great day out for all the family. Quality garden and food stalls from all over Ireland join the popular festival every year, and the festival offers a series of talks from an accessible stage, and show gardens. Information: www.claregardenfestival.com

Sports and lawn surfaces

Irish Institute of Sports Surfaces reports many unfortunate scenarios where poor advice has led to the making of poorly thought-out decisions for improving the performance of playing surfaces, parks and lawns alike. Failure to follow best practice creates maintenance issues, such as poorly drained surfaces in winter to becoming rock
hard in summer. Contact: www.irishsportsurf.ie

Irish Seed Savers

Irish Seed Savers has expressed concern about vegetable shortages in Europe and imports from further afield. The main objective at Irish Seed Savers is to protect Ireland’s rich food crop heritage by preserving rare varieties of vegetables, grains, potatoes and heritage apple trees. To help the work of Irish Seed Savers, join www.irishseedsavers.ie.

Waterford Regional Gardening Club offers a tour to Gardens of Kent 5-day, 11 to 15 June 2017 for more details or to request a full itinerary. Please contact Anne on 087-6502067.

Macroom Flower & Garden Club: Spring Gardening Talk and Demonstration with D. J. Murphy (Bandon Garden Centre),on 9 March, at Coolcower House, Macroom, Co. Cork. Plant Sale. All welcome: 087-9821708.

Cork Alpine/Hardy Plant Society: Fionnuala Fallon, Co. Wicklow will lecture on Autumn Flowering Perennials on 23 March. Plants for sale. Lavanagh Centre, Blackrock, Cork at 8 pm. All welcome.

Balbriggan and District Horticultural Society: 23 March, Spring Garden by Christopher Heavey from the Botanic Gardens in the Scout’s Den, Market Green, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin, beside Lidl, at 8.30pm.

Alpine Garden Society: 4 March, 2pm, Local Show, Members Plant Sale and workshop, in St Brigid’s Parish Centre, Stillorgan, Co. Dublin, and with Irish Garden Plants Society, 16 March, 8 pm, Jimi Blake, A Plantsman’s Pick: exciting long-blooming perennials. National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin 9.

Royal Horticultural Society of Ireland: Spring seminar, The Wonder of Plants, 4 March, from 10.30 am to 4.30 pm, at the National Botanic Gardens, Dublin 9. Speakers: Martin Walsh, Paul Smyth, Matthew Jebb. More information at info@rhsi.ie.

Howth and Sutton Horticultural Society: in Howth Yacht Club at 8pm, 1 March, lecture by Gary Mentanko of the National Botanic Gardens, The Flora of Arctic Canada.

County Sligo Flower & Garden Club: Charity Gala Night on 13 March in Sligo Park Hotel at 8pm. Floral Demonstration by Diane Gallagher entitled Fragrance of Springtime, admission €15. All welcome.

Dublin Five Horticultural Society: on 9 March, at 8pm, Niall Hatch of Birdwatch Ireland will give

a talk on Birds of Prey at Artane Beaumont Family Recreation Centre, Kilmore Road, Artane, Dublin 5.

€5. Light refreshments and a raffle, all welcome ring 087-2423020.

Irish Garden Plant Society (Munster): Cork Nature Network will talk on Nature in the Garden,

at 8pm, on 7 March, at Northridge House (on the grounds of St Luke’s Home), Castle Rd/Ferney Rd, Mahon, Cork. Plant sale & raffle on the night. €5 for non-members, all welcome.

Templeogue Horticultural Society: Joe Tulie will talk about Spring Gardening in Our Lady’s School, Templeogue, Dublin, on 15 March, at 8pm. €7 for non-members.

Galway Flower & Garden Club presents With a Little Imagination, with Derek Armstrong, Director of NAFAS, UK, in the Westwood Hotel, Galway, on 21 March, at 8pm. Admission is €15 to include tea/coffee and door prize. All are welcome. Contact: mariancolohan@gmail.com.

Foxrock and District Garden Club: on 28 March, New trends for the garden with Vandra Costello at Foxrock Church Pastoral Centre, Dublin, at 8pm. €7 for non-members.

Ballinasloe Flower and Garden Club: 8 March, at 8pm, in Gullane’s Hotel, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway, a Flower Arranging Demonstration by Maeve Duke, Rathfarnham, AOIFA.

Kenmare & District Garden Club: A Plant Explorer’s Journal in Myanmar by Billy Alexander of Kells Bay Gardens, Kerry, at 7.30pm in Gateway, Killarney Road, Kenmare on 2 March. All welcome. For directions contact Geraldine 086-3935965.

Maynooth Flower and Garden Club: Angela Jupe will give an illustrated talk on Gardens that impressed me and my favourite plants, on 21 March, at 8pm, in Glenroyal Hotel, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, €5.

Clontarf Garden Society: on 30 March, at 8pm, in St. Johns Parish Centre, Seafield Rd, Clontarf, Dublin, Sharon O’Sullivan gives a practical demonstration of flower arranging for Easter. €10 includes light refreshments.

From Westland Horticulture, Gro-Sure Smart Cover is protective, weed-supressing, decorative and locks together to stay in place. Wind, animals and sloping ground can cause other mulches to look messy quickly. GroSure? Smart Cover uniquely locks together, staying neat and tidy for longer, and is claimed to offer 75% better weed protection than bark.

 

Made from wood fibre, Gro-Sure? Smart Cover is easier to handle than conventional mulching materials. A similar volume covers 50% more ground and provides protection against frost and drought. It will be available from Westland stockists this spring.

Enniskerry Gardening Club, on Wednesday, 1st February, at 8 pm in the Parochial Hall, Enniskerry, will be having an illustrated talk by renowned Botanical Artist, Yanny Petters. ‘Depicting a year in an artist’s garden in Wicklow’. Her recent exhibition of Verre Eglomisé panels was dedicated to her mother, Wilma Petters whose garden was the inspiration for twelve paintings. All welcome – visitors €7, with tea/coffee and biscuits after the talk.

Woodville Walled Garden, Co. Galway, will open daily from 11am to 4pm for the month of February. There are guided tours each day at 2 pm with the head gardener Marie looking at the varied snowdrop collection and early spring bulbs. Snowdrop Event will be on 11 February with guest speaker Assumpta Broomsfield. For further details contact Margarita at 087/9069191 or www.woodvillewalledgarden.com

The Green Barn restaurant is located just inside the front gates of Burtown House and Gardens, Athy, Co. Kildare, set in the front parkland overlooking the walled kitchen garden. It is easily accessible as a quick lunch stop, or for a more relaxed luncheon, or for dinner on a Saturday night. Open from February to December. www.burtownhouse.ie

Order any Gabriel Ash cedar greenhouse in January and February 2017 and receive €500 worth of accessories from the stunning Gabriel Ash cedar accessories collection including water butt, cold frame, blinds, seed trays, cedar planters and potting trays. For more details: 087-2306 128.

Bloom is on this year in Phoenix Park, Dublin, 1 to 5 June. The Bloom Postcard Gardens consist of small but perfectly formed 2m by 3m plots which can be used to represent your garden club, your locality or perhaps even a special person from your community. Contact Kerrie Gardiner at kerrie.gardiner@bloominthepark.com or 086 130 4170 for application details.

Bloom is on this year in Phoenix Park, Dublin, 1 to 5 June. The Bloom Postcard Gardens consist of small but perfectly formed 2m by 3m plots which can be used to represent your garden club, your locality or perhaps even a special person from your community. Contact Kerrie Gardiner at kerrie.gardiner@bloominthepark.com or 086 130 4170 for application details.

Order any Gabriel Ash cedar greenhouse in January and February 2017 and receive 500 worth of accessories from the stunning Gabriel Ash cedar accessories collection including water butt, cold frame, blinds, seed trays, cedar planters and potting trays. For more details: 087-2306 128.

The Green Barn restaurant is located just inside the front gates of Burtown House and Gardens, Athy, Co. Kildare, set in the front parkland overlooking the walled kitchen garden. It is easily accessible as a quick lunch stop, or for a more relaxed luncheon, or for dinner on a Saturday night. Open from February to December.www.burtownhouse.ie

The 6^th annual Snowdrop Gala and other Spring Treasures will be held on 4 February, at Ballykealey Manor, near Altamont, Co. Carlow. The day draws together an exciting programme of speakers, bulb and plant sales, and tours of the beautiful garden at Altamont. Speakers on the day include, Julian Sutton of Desirable Plants ?Snowdrops in Context’ and Kevin Hughes of Kevin Hughes Plants, ?Glories of the Spring Garden’. Booking: Hester Forde 086-8654972 and Robert Miller 087-9822135.

Enniskerry Gardening Club, on Wednesday, 1st February, at 8 pm in the Parochial Hall, Enniskerry, will be having an illustrated talk by renowned Botanical Artist, Yanny Petters. ‘Depicting a year in an artist’s garden in Wicklow’. Her recent exhibition of Verre Eglomis? panels was dedicated to her mother, Wilma Petters whose garden was the inspiration for twelve paintings. All welcome – visitors 7, with tea/coffee and biscuits after the talk.

Garden club events

 

 

Galway Flower & Garden Club: Frances MacDonald talks about Plants & Gardens at Home and Abroad at the Westwood House Hotel, Newcastle, Galway on 17 January, at 8pm. Admission: 10 visitors and 5 members includes door prize and light refreshments. And there is a Floral Demonstration The Joy of Spring with Samantha Foran, same venue and admission, on 21 February, at 8pm. Further info:mariancolohan@gmail.com

 

Clontarf Garden Society: The Making of a Plant Anorak, a talk by Carmel Duignan will be held in St. Johns Parish Centre, Seafield Rd., Clontarf on 26 January, at 8 pm, and will include tea/coffee and home-made cake. Admission is 5 and all are welcome.

 

Dublin Five Horticultural Society: on 9 February, at 8 pm, Paul Maher of the National Botanic Gardens will talk on Plants For All Year Colour in Artane Beaumont Centre, Kilmore Road, Artane. Admission 5. All welcome, ring 087-2423020. And on 23 February, at 8pm, there is a talk on Hedges by Christopher Heavey, same venue and admission.

 

Foxrock and District Garden Club: on 24 January, The Restoration of the Salutation Garden by Steve Edney, and on 28 February, Creating a North Yorkshire Garden with Martin Fish. Venue for both meetings Foxrock Church and Pastoral Centre.

 

Doors open at 7.30pm. Admission 7.

 

Waterford Regional Gardening Club: on 19 January, at 7.30pm, The Edmund Rice Centre, Barrack Street, Waterford, The Pearls of Lake Como, an illustrated talk by Paddy Tobin, and on 16 February, Five Historic Gardens of the Blackwater Valley by Kristen Jameson, owner of Tourin House & Gardens. Contact: Noreen 086-4083419, Anne 087-6502067

Garden visit

Waterford Regional Gardening Club, on Saturday, 20 August, visits the garden of Sandra and Derek Higgins, Mahon Bridge, Kilmacthomas, Co. Waterford which has a mixture of deciduous trees & shrubs, many fruit trees and extensive vegetable patch. A water feature and poultry.

Entry: 5 donation to Dogs for the Disabled

Further information: 086-4083419