Last week, I shared some of my fall garden memories from our home in Ireland. Today, I would like to continue.
Many people in Ireland like to add ornamental features to their gardens. It is a bit different in Ireland. Sculptures, metal, stone, and other natural objects seem to be the preferred ornamentation in Irish gardens; I did not notice the “crafty” plaques, painted wood signs, picket fences, or garden store ornamentation that we have here in Ohio.
To reintroduce the gardens for you from last week, the photos below show the walled-in back garden of the original carriage house before we moved to the little two-story cottage you can see in the background- white with black slate roof.
As you can see, here we used stone gravel instead of mulch. Gravel is very common in gardens and driveways in this part of the world. You can see the stone, granite table, statue, shell, and sculpture we took over to the cottage garden, as seen in last week’s visit. Additionally, you can see the red Japanese acer and two camellia we planted in the gravel garden outside the sunroom/conservatory.
In the above photo, you can see the camilla bushes and a camilla tree in the cottage garden. John also wanted a weeping willow. It really did not suit the small area, but he liked the look and kept it trimmed back.
I would love to have a Camilla here in Ohio, but we are in garden zone 6. The one in Ireland was zone 9. I attempted a white, hardy cammilla here, but it did not survive the winter.
Eventually, we placed a doorway between the two homes to meet government qualifications for a granny flat. We had a great deal of problems with planning permission. If anyone ever buys property or builds overseas, I highly recommend obtaining all necessary information, permits, and clearances in writing from the relevant authorities. Use a local attorney; I learned that the hard way.
Door between the properties from the cottage side. You can see the pink heather blooming. Tearing that block wall down to insert the door was a struggle. Again, I can’t stress enough the importance of obtaining explicit, written permissions when dealing with local planning authorities.
Wisteria is a favorite plant in Ireland. We saw it on the sides of houses, on arbors, and other wooden garden structures throughout the county. Below, I show the wisteria growing on the carriage house and along the walkway around the cottage property. English Ivy is another favorite to plant on house walls, as are roses.
We got many of our ideas from a large garden center in the area. The country is primarily agricultural, and most people have areas at home for flowers or trees, or even a garden. Many in the big cities have a small yard, or even a balcony with potted plants. Out in the country where we were, nearly everyone had a place to grow plants, trees, flowers, and vegetables and herbs. There is great pride taken in ones garden,
One of our favorite pastimes, which we shared with many, was taking a day trip to a garden center. The garden center was unusual to me because they almost always had a small cafe and a gift shop attached. One large and elaborate garden center we visited was called the Arboretum. We went to the one in Wicklow, but there are others in Carlow and Dublin. SEE HERE
One garden we saw had an old fireplace as a focal point, and another had a huge glass mirror in the background. A very inventive center, and highly recommend visiting one of these garden centers if you’re in Ireland.
To finish up the tour, I will share the shady north wall garden with the trees and the cute fairy house John made from a dead tree stump. As I said, we placed raised beds along the entire perimeter of the property. We also had a center rail bed with a gazebo house and a water stream feature. See pictures below.
Thank you for taking this trip down memory lane with me I have a much smaller gar n area here in the States, and that is good because I have undergone two hip replacements in the past two years and no longer have the strength or the drive to tend to the massive garden we had in Ireland However, I will always be gardener in some form Here n the states, I have flowerbedsin the front, another in he back, and one on the side of my townhouse I still enjoy getting my hands dirty and playing in the mud.
I have the gardens all prepped for winter, and now I will turn my efforts to the houseplants in the sunroom. Does anyone else care to share their gardens before we begin the winter season?
