Garden design, garden planning, garden layout, planting plants and planting schemes

Powerscourt – the power to impress

Posted on November 19th, 2009

Located very near the village of  Enniskerry in County Wicklow, the Powerscourt Estate is one of Ireland’s greatest architectural and landscaping treasures.

It is a wonderful place to visit, and after you have feasted your eyes on the great landscaping and gardening treasuresd throughout the Estate, you may also like to visit the on-site craft shops and Pavilion Garden Centre.

New Garden Planting: the success factors

Posted on November 17th, 2009

Garden design must take into consideration many elements, but for most people, the key ones would be structure, layout, maintenance requirements, colour and of course planting.

Creating different compartments, interesting views, distinctive focal points and gently sweeping lines and contours are all key aspects of making a garden.  

Trapp’s Trap – more kicks than tricks

Posted on November 14th, 2009

OK so here we are again and in a place we didn’t think we’d be? But just like other times, we are rightfully here nonetheless. Well done to Giovanni Trappatoni and the Irish squad for their fantastic achievement in getting thus far in the World Cup qualifiers. But with only 180 minutes away from potentially booking a place in next year’s World Cup in South Africa, we are full of hope and pray that Trapp and his team will banish les Bleus tonight at Croke Park. 

Go on ye good things and give us all something to really cheer about and relieve us all from some of the constant doom gloom that has all been so pervasive in this great country of ours. IRELAND!IRELAND!!IRELAND!!!

Instant lawns with roll turf

Posted on November 14th, 2009

There’s no faster or perhaps better way to achieving a new lawn than using roll turf. As the photos show, less than 24 hours after installation, during what has been some of the wettest spells in Irish weather, the new lawn is looking remarkably good and in two weeks will be well established bearing little evidence of its recent installation.

Not only are roll turf lawns relatively quick and easy to instal, however very good ground preparation is important, they provide an instant but complete finish to the new garden. Not surprising therefore that when it comes to creating a new lawn, many people will prefer to use roll turf.

Sandstone Garden Patios

Posted on November 14th, 2009

Our efforts over the last twelve weeks are now coming to fruition, and as we begin to complete our final touches, all aspects are begining to come to light and reveal with great excitement the pleasing lines, levels and of course the natural beauty and colour of natural sandstone patios.  In this project we have used Ravena sandstone for all patio works.

Driveway Lawn design

Posted on November 14th, 2009

Frequently it is a difficult challenge to overcome, creating adequate or practical space for parking of cars and making a useful lawn in the remaining space.  Here we have used granite setts to raise the lawn level but used the simple but attractive geometry of  the circle to enhance the lawn area.

Growing your own – raise your levels

Posted on November 14th, 2009

What better way to start your own vegetable garden than raising the ground levels and highlighting with appealing finish such as Sandstone walling complete with perimeter planting of Box hedging and Holly standard specimens.

Vegetable gardens need not look like mere working areas, but with a little creative thinking and skillful construction can make a distinctive addition to any garden.

So if you are planning on growing your own fruit and vegetables, pay some attention to the structural form, and by raising the ground levels, you’re not only creating ideal growing environment with enhanced soil and drainage conditions, but also the prospects of another appealing focal point.

Last days nearing the finish

Posted on November 11th, 2009

Another week, in fact week 12 since site works commenced back in August, and we expect what will be our final week to conclude all outstanding site/landscaping works. Fortunately for us much of what remains to be done is not hugely weather dependent or at least we can make provision for wet conditions. 

Sequencing of outstanding tasks for new lawn is important and ahead of preparing the ground and stone burying, we laid the limestone pebble dressing in the vegetable garden. This has turned out to be a quite simple, neat but nonetheless appealing area. The raised beds constructed from larch timbers complete with well prepared topsoil with plenty of added soil conditioner making for an attractive but hopefully productive growing medium.

After completion of the ground grading and stone burying works, and to protect the area from heavy rains which would make the ground unworkable, the area was covered with plastic so as to maintain reasonable dry conditions. The plastic covering is peeled back as the installation of the roll turf progresses. You’ll note from the photos the use of plywood sheeting which allows access and installation to proceed without causing any damage to the new turf and/or ground levels. Installation of roll turf usually starts at the rear of garden and progresses towards the front. 

In the front garden, the hardcore sub-base of the driveway area has been extensively rolled and compacted after which it was blinded with a very fine hardcore dust, which was also rolled and compacted. The area is now ready for the final top dressing, ie the ornamental stone finish. The dust blinding reduces any risk of the hardcore sub-base becoming loose and churning with the top dressing. The planting of the perimeter beds as well as top dressing with bark mulch has also been completed. 

Iconic Connemara dwellings of contrasting fates

Posted on November 10th, 2009

Driving throughout Connemara, one can expect to see many and varied sights usually of great natural beauty but sometimes ones of great traditions some harking back to the earlier times of much tougher but perhaps simpler lifestyles. This is perhaps best seen in the iconic stone houses and outbuildings to be found throughout the Connemara region. Many are in great order and beautifully maintained by proud owners,  but also there are some in very poor order suffering neglect or even worse dereliction. Surrounding areas appear overgrown leaving no clues as to the whereabouts or indeed the existence of current owners. Are these once beautiful and skillfully constructed stone structures relics of a previous past and abandoned by a long lost or gone generation?

Nearby Rosmuc and only a short distance from the main road, a  country lane wide enough for no more than a single car, leads to a small opening which is part hidden amongst the hedgerows but boasting good views to the nearby lake below, is a beautiful thatched roof cottage. No ordinary cottage however, because this is house apparently was the summer residence of the great Irish Nationalist Padraig Pearse. The house is strikingly simple and modest in layout and is apparently maintained by the OPW (Office of Public Works).

Not too far away and nearer the Rosmuc coastline, one encounters a dramatic example again of a well built stone dwelling except here is not unusual example of a stone dwelling with all the signs of a long lost purpose. Gone are all the signs of previous occupiers, the stone appears robust and defiantly resisisting all efforts of the harsh the weather to destroy. But alas the roof timbers have long lost the fight to withstand  decay and rot. The roof having collapsed and in a very advance state of delapidation, appears to reveal not a thatch finish but rather a mixture of bog and clay sods? Or has the original thatch simply decomposed to a such a degree as to appear like an early example of a green roof? In contrast to Padraig Pearse’s summer residence, here apart from a simple open fireplace in each of the two ground floor rooms, there are no reminders of previous trappings. Instead old straw appears strewn across the stone floor probably indicating that the building has at some point been used as a building for housing animals? Despite the great stonework and marvellous westerly views of the nearby shoreline, the stonework may be well capable of withstanding the elements for another hundred years and more, but it’s future is little more than an iconic collection of stone testament to a bygone past. 

Such a pity reallybecause these icons provide a window for us to look back and for many a not too distant past.  Perhaps some may prefer to have no reminders or no interest of  harsher times? Others might look back to the past with nostalgic bliss, but whatever your preference, icons of our past are worth preserving  and represent an intrinsic  part of our social as well as architectural heritage. Such icons must be preserved not just as display models but more importantly as valuable windows with links and clues to the development of Irish culture .  

A practical layout for growing your own

Posted on November 10th, 2009

Well as the wet weather continued unabated,  limiting our  progress on landscaping works, we did however manage to make some progress with the layout to the new Vegetable garden.

A simple but structured area layout was agreed featuring ornamental planting on the front perimeter with Box hedging (Buxus sempervirens) and two very mature but stunning Holly standards (or ‘lollipops’) at entrance  contrasting nicely with the perimeter planting at the sides of Christmas box and Himalayan Birch trees.

The planted areas have been raised and here we have used natural untreated Larch boards to create the raised planting structures. Larch is an extraordinary tough and long lasting timber, well capable of withstanding all that Irish weather and much more besides. The pathways will be top dressed with limestone pebble over a hardcore base which has been underlaid with a horticultural (weed barrier) liner. All in all, a simple but robust layout with many labour saving features incorporated from the outset. Functionality aside, the overall planting and structural finish including of course the Sandstone walling is an unusual but very attractive finish to what is a very appealling ‘Grow your own’ vegetable garden within this promising new garden project.