Ahead of this year’s Bord Bia Bloom gardening festival taking place from 28 May – 1 June, Irish Country Magazine gardening columnist Leonie Cornelius reflects on the postcard gardens that inspired her.
Have you ever walked past a garden that stopped you in your tracks? This happened to me last year at Bord Bia Bloom when I came across the smallest pockets of gardens which I simply could not pass without slowing down for a good look.
I had been at the end of my own long build at the show for my gold medal winning Nourish garden at Bord Bia Bloom and was utterly exhausted, and then there they were. These tiny pockets of garden, beautifully imagined, gorgeously detailed. Just 2×3 metres each, and yet every single one of them told a gorgeous story. A community, a landscape, a cause, a dream, expressed entirely through plants and design. I stood there for far longer than I meant to. Soon I found out that the team behind them, the people who had supported and championed these gardens, was Tirlán CountryLife.
Seeing these gardens and then connecting with Tirlán CountryLife, I learned that the brand is not just about plants but about the stories- the people who grow them and the communities they grow in. So when the opportunity came to work with Tirlán CountryLife more closely, I didn’t hesitate for a second and jumped on stage for a live in-conversation with Diarmuid Gavin in front of 200 guests on a beautiful April morning in Athboy County Meath.
Design Secrets from the Master
‘Where Nature Ends and Design Begins – In Conversation with Diarmuid Gavin’ was everything I’d hoped when I’d prepared the ideas – honest, wide-ranging, surprising in places and genuinely funny in others. We talked about the tension at the heart of every garden, between wildness and order, between what we design and what we allow to grow and Diarmuid was as brilliant and generous as I’d hoped he would be.
What struck me most, beyond his extraordinary body of work – the Chelsea Flower Show gardens, the television, the books, the gardens across four continents, was the depth of his feeling for horticulture and the next generation of Irish plant people. He spoke with real warmth and admiration about horticulturists and growers who are working at root level. People who are grounded in the real work of gardening, not the television version, the real, everyday hands-in-the-soil version of gardening.
He spoke about people like Paul Smyth – the Carlow-born plantsman, author and propagator who went plant hunting in Vietnam, spent years at one of the most respected specialist nurseries in Wales, and co-authored Gardening Together with Diarmuid during lockdown. He also mentioned Colm O’Driscoll – the Kildare-born organic horticulturist who transformed the gardens at Airfield Estate in Dundrum into one of Ireland’s must-see spaces and is now Head of Gardens at the magnificent Lismore Castle. Hearing Diarmuid speak about these plantsmen with genuine admiration showed that he loves this world and the people in it.
The conversation also touched on the practical, hands on advice which the crowd was craving for and the role of smart tools in creating the kind of order that gives a wilder garden its breathing space. As a brand ambassador for Segway Navimow, Diarmuid spoke about working smarter in the garden – spending less time maintaining and more time actually enjoying it. A thought that definitely resonated with everyone in the room.
The moment I loved most of all was at the end of the morning when the Tirlán CountryLife horticulturists joined us on stage. They had spent time with Diarmuid privately earlier in the week and I asked them to share what they’d taken from that conversation. We heard from people who know plants deeply, talked about design, instinct and what it really means to help a gardener get it right. There was a real sense of community in that room too – the questions were just wonderful – and insightful- from people who love gardens.
What you feel in every Tirlán CountryLife store is that the people there genuinely care – about plants, about getting it right, about you leaving with something you’ll love. A qualified horticulturist in every one of their 15 stores across Ireland isn’t just a nice idea – you could feel the difference it makes (and I don’t think anyone left that day without at least one of their incredible plants).
The Bord Bia Bloom Postcard Gardens Sponsored by Tirlán CountryLife
This year the postcard gardens – which Tirlán CountryLife proudly sponsors at Bord Bia Bloom, are more beautiful and more meaningful than ever. Fourteen designs created by community groups, schools, charitable organisations and garden clubs from across Ireland, each one telling a story through plants and design. This year’s themes include native bat habitats, the power of gardening to build community and belonging, and celebrating biodiversity in rural Ireland. One of the selected gardens comes from the Karst Farming Network in south Roscommon – farmers, ecologists and community members who came together to highlight a magical hidden gem of their local landscape.
I think this is what the postcard gardens do at their best – they take something deeply local and put it on a national stage. Tirlán CountryLife also gives each shortlisted group a plant voucher to help bring their vision to life- such a lovely thing to do.
You’re invited!
The story continues at Bord Bia Bloom this June bank holiday weekend – now in its 20th year. Diarmuid Gavin will be on the Garden Stage every single day of the festival, and there are some really special guests joining the Tirlán CountryLife stand for live Q&A chats across the weekend. On Thursday, Peter Dowdall – The Irish Gardener – brings his wonderful warmth and encyclopaedic plant knowledge to the stand. On Friday the 29th of May at 11am Leonie will be there alongside the Tirlán CountryLife horticulturists for what we know will be a really special conversation. And on Saturday, the brilliant Feebee Foran – forager, herbalist, Ireland AM’s resident green witch and founder of the award-winning natural skincare brand Forager.ie – will be joining the team for what promises to be a fascinating chat about plants, nature and the wild things growing all around us. And of course the postcard gardens will be there too.
Leonie Cornelius is an award-winning garden designer and bestselling author.
