Gardening News - The Irish Times

Kick up some leaves: five great Irish gardens to visit before winter arrives

Gardens
Fionnuala Fallon
October 19, 2019, 00:00

Some of Ireland’s loveliest gardens put on a fine display of autumn foliage

A selection of ripe seedpods and seed from Fionnuala’s garden in autumn including tagetes, nicandra, lunaria and papaver. Photograph: Richard Johnston

Avail of autumn’s abundance and reap the rewards in spring

Gardens
Fionnuala Fallon
October 12, 2019, 00:00

Calendula, tagetes, sweet pea and poppies are just a few of the season’s flavours

Peony in flower. Photograph: Richard Johnston

Dig in: 7 things to do in the October garden

Gardens
Fionnuala Fallon
October 5, 2019, 00:00

Now is the perfect month to plant spring-flowering bulbs including narcissus, crocus, scilla and allium

Garlic ready for planting. Photograph: Richard Johnston

Do you love garlic? It’s dead easy to grow your own

Gardens
Fionnuala Fallon
September 28, 2019, 00:00

Best of all, growing your own means avoiding supermarket bulbs shipped from China

A snowdrop emerges from its bulb. File photograph: Getty

Stock up your bulbs: how a No Deal Brexit will hit gardeners

Gardens
Fionnuala Fallon
September 21, 2019, 00:00

Product from UK nurseries could be pricier, but there’s potential to grow more here

Jimi Blake in his west Wicklow garden, Hunting Brook. Photograph: Sean Jackson

Meet Jimi Blake, the garden obsessive who became gardening royalty

Gardens
Fionnuala Fallon
September 14, 2019, 00:00

New book shows all sides of this Irish horticultural genius and his beloved Hunting Brook in west Wicklow

Tulip ‘Absalon’. Photograph: Jacque Amand

Want head-turning spring flowers? Now is the time to buy

Gardens
Fionnuala Fallon
September 7, 2019, 00:00

Here’s a shortlist of just some of this year’s ‘must-haves’, along with a guide to reliable suppliers

Fig tree: originating in Asia Minor, the culinary fig (Ficus carica) is one of the earliest species of fruit cultivated by humankind. Photograph: BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Figs are in season: here’s how to grow your own

Gardens
Fionnuala Fallon
August 31, 2019, 00:00

A fig tree will happily grow in a sunny spot, or in a polytunnel or greenhouse

Tanguy de Toulgoët at Dunmore Country School. Photograph: Richard Johnston

Meet the French gardener who wants to save Irish soil

Gardens
Fionnuala Fallon
August 24, 2019, 00:00

Tanguy de Toulgoët’s Co Laois plot is a flower-filled, hugely productive family garden

Dahlias: Dahlias are notorious for the ease with which the tubers of different varieties can accidentally get mixed-up. Photograph: Getty

Take a little time with the dahlias to keep the garden in bloom

Gardens
Fionnuala Fallon
August 24, 2019, 00:00

Important to deadhead, water and liquid feed container-grown flowering plants

Consider drying fruit during abundant harvests

Rainy day gardening: Keep on top of pests and enjoy the crop of vegetables

Gardens
Fionnuala Fallon
August 17, 2019, 00:00

This damp August has created optimum soil conditions for seeds to germinate

The spectacular display of produce at the Totally Terrific Tomato Festival at the National Botanic Gardens, Dublin. Photograph: Jonathan Hession

The secret to growing tremendously tasty tomatoes

Gardens
Fionnuala Fallon
August 10, 2019, 00:00

It takes time and expertise to coax these greedy, sun-loving, thirsty plants to give of their very best

Persicaria ampexicaulis ‘fat Domino’. Photograph: Richard Johnston

Keep on blooming: late summer flowers that keep the garden going

Gardens
Fionnuala Fallon
August 3, 2019, 00:00

Add colour and texture to the garden with these hardy perennials

Sweet pea flowering in Fionnuala’s flower farm. No photo is going to let you know what it feels like to breathe in the intoxicating perfume of sweet pea in full bloom on a warm summer day. Photograph: Richard Johnston

Fill your garden with summer scents

Gardens
Fionnuala Fallon
July 27, 2019, 00:00

The many different smells of a summer garden have the power to stimulate our senses in mysterious ways

We must turn lawns into meadows to encourage threatened pollinators. Photograph: Getty

The garden is not abuzz. I want the bees back

Gardens
Philip Judge
July 20, 2019, 00:00

Leaving things to nature – and lawns unmowed – pays its own dividends

lys Fowler: “Being that tidy-minded is not only an awful lot of hard work, it also comes at an enormous cost to our wellbeing.”

Alys Fowler on love and gardening: ‘Ursula Halligan inspired me to come out’

Gardens
Fionnuala Fallon
July 21, 2019, 00:00

The gardening writer was in Ireland just before the same sex marriage vote

Giverny, France - June 8th, 2017: Claude Monet’s garden at Giverny, in the background the house of Monet can be seen. Photograph: Getty Images

Six great European gardens to discover on holidays

Gardens
Fionnuala Fallon
July 13, 2019, 00:00

This week in the garden: Irish gardeners share their top places to visit on holidays

Caution: garden eating deers about. Photograph: Alan Betson ,

Deer oh deer: How to keep Bambi out of your garden

Gardens
Fionnuala Fallon
July 6, 2019, 00:00

Deer find certain plants delicious, like camellia and roses, but they don’t like rhurbarb

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