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Gardens of Ireland - Part 3

AndrewR

By AndrewR

8 comments


Sometimes you know you are going to like a garden as soon as you arrive at the entrance. This was the case when we got to Hunting Brook, hidden in the foothills of the Wicklow Mountains. It is owned by Jimi Blake, the former head gardener at an estate near Dublin.

The planting looked effortless.

A couple of plants that took my eye were dahlia australis

And senecio cannabinifolius

Just down the road from Jim’s garden is that of his sister, June. This has a slightly more formal layout, with straight paths running through the middle and a meandering one going round the outside.

In a shady corner, I spotted this white-flowered deinanthe bifida

This is pulmonaria ’Blake’s Variety’, bred by June. This would go well in a couple of areas in my own garden

Powerscourt was originally a thirteenth century house, extensively rebuilt in the 1730’s. The garden was laid out about a hundred year later in the grand Victorian style.

The house is positioned to make the most of this fine view

There is a rose garden, formal cascades and fountains, an enormous walled garden where only the central borders are planted up

A sunken Japanese garden

And if you have a favourite pepper pot in the dining room, why not build it as a tower in the garden?

While imposing, this sort of garden feels very cold and impersonal to me. This gardening style, with massed bedding and formal planting, was all the rage until William Robinson, in the 1870’s, championed a return to a more informal style. This is much in evidence at Mount Usher, the next garden we visited.

This garden has a fine collection of trees, and hydrangeas are much in evidence at this time of year.

As well as colourful borders

Near the entrance, I spotted this climber, thladiantha dubia, a cucumber relation

While hidden in a shady corner was a fine specimen of phileisa magellanica

To be continued ….

More blog posts by AndrewR

Previous post: Gardens of Ireland - Part 2

Next post: Gardens of Ireland - Part 4



Comments

 

Lovely pictures Andrew - what a great time you have been having. I'm going to be spending a little time studying those snaps in full - lovely planting - maybe I'll get some inspiration :)

1 Sep, 2012

 

Thank you Andrew. Very enjoyable blog.

1 Sep, 2012

 

what beautiful gardens, tempting me to go to ireland again now. thanks andrew, its all really lovely

1 Sep, 2012

 

What an interesting contrast of mood from Rose's blog above this one! This is just as lovely but so different. isn't it amazing what life is given to a garden by moving water - that river is so beautiful.

1 Sep, 2012

 

Loved all the photos lovely blog

2 Sep, 2012

 

This one has to be my favourite blog Andrew, really enjoying sharing your holiday days out, thankyou, I`m really envious, Id love a holiday like yours...

2 Sep, 2012

 

Wonderful pictures, really enjoyed these blogs.....

3 Sep, 2012

 

I absolutely loved that. Each of the gardens has something special; the prairie style of the first and, to a certain extent, the second,the grandeur of the third - wonderful Japanese garden- and the lushness of the riverside planting of the last. Fabulous. Gone into favourites.

4 Sep, 2012

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