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Sat, Feb 23, 2019

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The golden flower heads of Stipa gigantea Dig now for victory in the kitchen garden
  • Gardens
  • Fionnuala Fallon
  • February 23, 2019, 00:00

Fionnuala Fallon: Preparation put in over coming weeks will be repaid tenfold in future months

Photograph: Moment/Getty Make the cut: the right way to prune roses
  • Gardens
  • Fionnuala Fallon
  • February 16, 2019, 00:00

Follow the three Ds by using secateurs to remove any dead, diseased or dying wood

The size of the material in your compost heap will  affect the speed at which it breaks down.  Photograph: Getty Top tips for making the ultimate compost
  • Gardens
  • Fionnuala Fallon
  • February 9, 2019, 00:00

Known as ‘gardener’s gold’, kitchen waste and even human hair can be transformed in to a rich mulch in a matter of weeks

  • 2 shares
Many Irish gardens are filled with one of the best and earliest-ever displays of snowdrops. Photograph: Moment/Getty Shake off the winter blues with a snowdrop hunt
  • Gardens
  • Fionnuala Fallon
  • February 2, 2019, 00:00

Altamont, in Co Carlow, has one of greatest displays of any Irish garden open this month

Sheltered beneath that all-important protective skin of glass or polythene sheeting, plants enjoy a modified microclimate that facilitates growth. Tunnel vision: Undercover gardening extends the growing season at both ends
  • Gardens
  • Fionnuala Fallon
  • January 26, 2019, 00:00

Cheaper than a greenhouse and easier to put up, a polytunnel takes your gardening to a new level

Niamh O’Donohoe, the young National Botanic Gardens-trained horticulturist Plant the seed: How to grow a career in gardening
  • Gardens
  • Fionnuala Fallon
  • January 19, 2019, 00:00

You need barrow-loads of intelligence and creativity, a strong back and green fingers

  • 2 shares
Artfully pruned: the branches of the deciduous conifer Larix decidua frame herbaceous planting in June Blake’s garden in west Co Wicklow. Photograph: Richard Johnston 1970s revival in the garden as conifers come back in style
  • Gardens
  • Fionnuala Fallon
  • January 12, 2019, 00:00

But look beyond the triffid-like leylandii, for plants that work with other fashionable foliage

Now is the  time to rifle through the pages of the new crop of seed catalogues. Photograph: Richard Johnston Pink dandelions, cucamelons, edible lupins: seeds to plant now for a delicious summer
  • Gardens
  • Fionnuala Fallon
  • January 5, 2019, 00:00

Not much happens in the January garden but it's a good time to find summer inspiration in seed catalogues

  • 3 shares
Benjamin Vidmar  faces three months of total darkness, winter temperatures of -20°C and ferocious Arctic storms and blizzards while trying to grow in the Arctic Looking to the equator - and the Arctic - for growing inspiration
  • Gardens
  • Manchan Magan
  • January 5, 2019, 00:00

If veg can grow in the world’s hottest and coldest spots, we should grow up a storm

  • 2 shares
We can all do our bit in the garden to protect plants and wildlife. Photograph: Getty Images How to help your garden weather the climate change challenge
  • Gardens
  • Fionnuala Fallon
  • December 29, 2018, 00:00

We need to start future-proofing our gardens to cope with meteorological extremes

Photograph: iStock Sixteen great books for gardeners this Christmas
  • Gardens
  • Fionnuala Fallon
  • December 15, 2018, 00:00

This year’s fine crop tackles everything from wartime gardens to a guide to propagation

  • 2 shares
Christmas wreath: everything to make it comes from the wild or from the garden. Photograph: Richard Johnston Weave a seasonal spell: how to make a magical Christmas wreath
  • Gardens
  • Fionnuala Fallon
  • December 8, 2018, 00:00

Keep it natural with local, simple and seasonal willow, twigs and berried branches

David Austin rose ‘Strawberry Hill’ from Mr Middleton – €22 Giving to a gardener? Here's 35 great gifts for Christmas
  • Gardens
  • Fionnuala Fallon
  • December 1, 2018, 00:00

Trees to plant, gloves to wear, cards to write trowels to dig, seeds to sow and a pad to rest

  • 3 shares
Houseplants decoratively displayed are a favourite with Instagrammers It’s the Seventies all over again as houseplants grow on us
  • Gardens
  • Fionnuala Fallon
  • November 24, 2018, 00:00

Thank Instagram for giving us endless images of spider plants, air plants and aspidistras dangling elegantly from vintage coat-racks or macrame pot-hangers

A Japanese acer in brilliant autumn colour in Heen Dillon’s old garden. Photograph:  Richard Johnston Five good value, fuss-free trees for small gardens
  • Gardens
  • Fionnuala Fallon
  • November 17, 2018, 00:00

November marks the start of bare-root season making it a good time to plant a deciduous tree

  • 4 shares
The Mottisfont glasshouse, one of the Alitex National Trust range The great indoors: how to pick the best glasshouse for your garden
  • Gardens
  • Fionnuala Fallon
  • November 10, 2018, 01:00

Plants can grow with lush abandon all winter long in a good greenhouse

Freshly harvested Irish plums. Photo:  Richard Johnston The best fruit trees for a small garden
  • Gardens
  • Fionnuala Fallon
  • November 3, 2018, 00:00

Who has the space to grow apples, plums, pears, medlars or quinces? Anyone with a pocket-sized patch, that’s who

  • 3 shares
Seamus O’Brien, head gardener at National Botanic Gardens at Kilmacurragh – and now author High in the Himalayas, an Irish plant-hunter’s paradise
  • Gardens
  • Fionnuala Fallon
  • October 27, 2018, 00:00

Some of loveliest plant species in Irish gardens hail from the tiny Indian state of Sikkim

Property News

What sold for about €650k in Dublin 4, Foxrock, Portobello and Rathfarnham
Famous west Cork estate drops price by €2.5m
Cairn to sell Kildare new homes scheme off plans
Potential price-setting power of institutional landlords flagged
Estate agent warns of unrealistic pricing by sellers and agents

Home Refurb - Video Series

Home renovations and extensions are emotionally exhausting, so my final piece of advice is to stay focused on the end result Refurb lessons? What the architect learned
Denise O’Connor refurb part 1: Live1:41 Denise O’Connor refurb part 1: Live
Denise O’Connor refurb part 2: Rest1:42 Denise O’Connor refurb part 2: Rest
Denise O’Connor refurb part 3: Play1:59 Denise O’Connor refurb part 3: Play

Take 5

What will €295,000 buy in Greece, Italy, Barbados, France and Co Kildare What will €295,000 buy in Greece, Italy, Barbados, France and Co Kildare

Take5: A stone house in Le Marche, a schoolhouse in Auvergne, sea views in Barbados or a three bed in Kildare

Look Inside

€3 million for Ballsbridge home full of unusual architectural detail2:48 €3 million for Ballsbridge home full of unusual architectural detail
A personal tour through Michael Flatley's mansion7:29 A personal tour through Michael Flatley's mansion
Pristine sporting estate on market for €9.25m2:54 Pristine sporting estate on market for €9.25m
Donabate mansion with estuary views on sale for €10 million3:09 Donabate mansion with estuary views on sale for €10 million
Step back in time to fairytale house on Killiney Hill for €9.25m2:48 Step back in time to fairytale house on Killiney Hill for €9.25m

Property Search

Subscriber Only

Social connection for men in their 80s is crucial. Photograph: iStock A man in your 80s? What you need to know and do now for your overall health
Some level of yoga can be practised by people of any age and physical capacity. In your 80s it is especially beneficial for suppleness, balance and strength A woman in your 80s? What you need to know about your overall health
Bernard Loughlin  taught me to write at the cutting edge of terror. ‘I loved my friend as a man sometimes loves another man’

Most Read in Life & Style

1 Chief financial officer Caitriona O’Kelly: “It just became absolutely okay to make absolute racial comments in the UK.” Photograph: Nick Bradshaw Brexiles: ‘It has become okay to make racial comments in UK’
2 sdfsd ‘I can’t afford to think about healthy eating’ – a mother’s life
3 Monica Lewinsky in New York, 2015. Photograph: Damon Winter/The New York Times Monica Lewinsky: ‘I’m not alone anymore. For that I am grateful’
4 John Campion Jnr: “Dad put so much effort into saving it from falling down, I felt it would be a shame not to complete the task.” A castle earns its keep in Kilkenny
5 ‘Brian, Johnny and Leo’s effing and blinding will wake the creatures of Whistleberry Forest long before anyone gets to play a note’ No one warns you as you leave Holles Street, ‘Kids can be seriously focking annoying’
6 Copies of The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger. Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images Seán Moncrieff: The world is full of Holden Caulfields
7 Jenny Yuen lives with her husband and nesting partner, Charlie, and  her other partner, Adam, who is 31 years her senior, lives up the street. Polyamory: The women in love with more than one person
8 Peter Flanagan: ‘As an immigrant here, the regular task of having to explain the geography of their own country to British people while simultaneously trying to sound like a grateful, 'good' immigrant is getting exhausting.’ ‘I’m exhausted explaining to British people the geography of their own country’
9 Plain scones. Photograph: Harry Weir Photography Back to basics: How to make the perfect Irish scone
10 How often should you wash your towels? More than you think
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