July 18, 2025 • 45 mins
Garden enthusiasts, mark your calendars! The Carlow Garden Festival returns for its annual celebration of horticultural excellence, running from July 26th to August 3rd, 2024. This year's lineup features an extraordinary collection of gardening luminaries, innovative formats, and breathtaking garden settings across Carlow.
The festival opens with a fascinating pairing as BBC Gardener's World presenter Adam Frost sits down with Irish rugby star Peter O'Mahony to explore how gardening provides essential mental balance alongside a high-pressure sporting career. Watch as Frost suggests potential changes to O'Mahony's beloved garden – a moment sure to reveal the rugby player's passionate attachment to his immaculate lawn and treasured box hedges!
Throughout nine spectacular days, attendees can learn from horticultural heavyweights including June Blake on natural gardening techniques, Matthew Wilson on transforming challenging garden sites, and Fionnuala Fallon sharing sustainable cut flower garden wisdom. Chelsea gold medal winner Sarah Eberle reveals insights from her remarkable 19 medals, while Nick Bailey breaks down garden design into ten accessible steps.
The festival thoughtfully addresses practical elements with a new shuttle bus service connecting all venues, making it easier than ever to experience multiple talks. Each location – from historic Huntington Castle and Ducats Grove to the spectacular Altamont Plant Sales – provides a unique and inspiring backdrop for the presentations.
For those passionate about sustainability, GIY's Mick Kelly discusses food empathy and growing your own vegetables, while Mary Keenan from Gash Gardens provides guidance on designing fragrant gardens. The international perspective comes through Seamus O'Brien's botanical expedition to Yunnan, China, where he encountered rare blue poppies and Himalayan lilies in their natural habitat.
Join Irish Garden Magazine columnist Rosie Maye, also known as The Insomniac Gardener, for a special Walk and Talk through the award-winning Barrow Experience Gardens at BEAM Services, Bagenalstown, County Carlow
From forest ecology walks with Eanna Ní Leona to Robin Lane Fox's gardening shortcuts, the festival offers something for every gardening interest and skill level. Many events include refreshments, guided garden tours, and opportunities for book signings with your favorite gardening authors.
Book your tickets early at carlowgardentrail.com – several events are already selling out! Whether you attend for a single talk, a day, or make it a full gardening holiday, the Carlo Garden Festival promises to inspire, educate, and celebrate the joy of gardens in every possible way.
You can buy tickets here:
https://carlowgardentrail.com/festival-programme/
If there is any topic you would like covered in future episodes, please let me know.
Email: info@mastermygarden.com
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https://mastermygarden.com/courses/
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Until next week
Happy gardening
John
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
how's it going everybody, and welcome to
episode 285, master, regardingpodcast.
Now, this week's episode is onethat we've actually covered
before and it's to go throughthe schedule of the carlo garden
festival, and this is nottypically the type of episode I
do, but over the last few years,the quality of speaker and the
variety of speakers at the carlogarden festival has been so
(00:33):
good that it would be a shamenot to sort of mention it, not
to highlight it in a big way toyou guys, the listeners there's.
There's so much happening fromthe 26th on 26th of july until
the 3rd of august and, as I said, last year there was a
fantastic array and variety ofspeakers.
It's no different this year.
We kick.
(00:54):
It kicks off on the 26th and,you know, on the 26th there's
peter o'mahony, who's comingacross from his rugby exploits,
along with Adam Frost in theArboretum, and in between
there's a variety of speakersJune Blake, mary Keenan, rosie
May, fanula Fallon, mick Kellyfrom GIY.
There's a phenomenal amount ofvarious speakers on different
(01:17):
topics and different subjectsacross gardening.
So, as I say, I think it'sreally, really worthwhile
highlighting this and to gothrough it with us is Eileen
O'Rourke, ceo of Carola Tourism.
Carola Tourism are the peoplewho drive this festival and who
arrange this festival every yearand, as I say, it has been
bringing together really, reallygood voices and and gardening
(01:42):
personalities over the last fewyears.
So, yeah, as I say, this thisyear is fantastic.
So, eileen, you're very, verywelcome to Mastermind Garden
Podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Thank you, John, for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Yeah, lovely.
As I say, we spoke last yearjust in relation to the festival
and I did mention that it wasin terms of the lineup.
It was fantastic last year.
This year every bit is good.
There's fantastic array ofspeakers.
Again there's, you know,fantastic array of speakers.
Again there's some kind ofhighlights.
(02:11):
I know everyone loves thatfirst night kickoff with adam
frost in the arboretum, um, butthere's so much, so much, from
from day one through to the veryend, a lot of, a lot of
speakers.
So we're going to do a littlebit like what we did last year.
We're kind of going to gothrough it day by day and I'll
throw in my, my tuppence words.
You know when, when we get toit.
But it kicks off on the 26th ofJuly and runs right through to
(02:31):
the 3rd of August.
So a nice time kind of events.
Two events a day, more or lessgive or take, and so let's kick
it off on day one and maybewhat's the?
Speaker 2 (02:43):
the sort of the first event so, uh, we kick off on
saturday afternoon, uh, with thelovely foraging adventure down
by the river barrow in lachlanbridge.
But I have to advise you, john,that that is already booked out
and has been for a number ofweeks I saw that one actually
was sold out already, yeah.
Yeah, so it's a very popular one.
(03:05):
And Mary White if anybody knowsMary White, she runs
Blackstairs EcoTrails, so shedoes foraging walks and tree
trails.
She's a brilliant speaker andvery informative.
So if you haven't got yourticket already, you'll just
probably have to wait till nextyear.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Yeah, mary is actually someone that's on the
radar for the podcast.
I haven't had her on thepodcast before, but, um, I have.
Yeah, some couple of peoplehave mentioned that she'd be
well worth getting on, and soshe's definitely on the radar.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
So yeah, she's very, very interesting and very, very
knowledgeable yeah yeah.
So then that evening, as yousaid, we have our launch event,
and it's a kickoff with twocelebrities really as such.
So Adam Frost will probably bevery familiar to your own
listeners from BBC Gardener'sWorld, and we've also had him at
(04:00):
the festival on a few occasionsat this stage, at the festival,
on a few occasions at thisstage, but this time we're
teaming him up with PeterO'Mahony, who himself is a
celebrity for his exploits onthe rugby field, and I suppose
if anyone follows his Instagramand Facebook, they know that
(04:20):
he's a really keen gardener, andthe idea is Adam Frost is one
of his, I suppose, people ingardening that he looks up to,
and we decided, then to try andpair both of them together, and
thankfully it has worked out.
This year.
The format of the event will bekind of there's two sessions to
(04:45):
it, so the opening part will bea discussion about gardening
and why gardening is so good forus and why Peter has found
gardening very beneficial toboth his own personal and
professional life, as a kind ofan escape from, you know, the
rugby field and downtime and achance to just, I suppose,
(05:10):
devote the mind to somethingelse.
Adam himself is very into thatwhole area as well, about the
importance of gardening formindfulness, you know, for inner
peace.
And then we will have a breakin the in the talk, a short
break, and then it will take onwhat I think will be a very
(05:32):
informative twist, but a funtwist.
So basically, adam frost umwill take peter's garden and
he's going to suggest changesthat he might like to see
implemented in Adam's garden, inPeter's garden, and I'm sure
there'll be a little bit ofresistance along the way,
(05:53):
because anyone who follows himknows that he loves his box
edges and his lawns.
But Adam will come up with apossible semi redesign of
Peter's garden and I supposepeppered throughout all of that
will be lots of informationabout gardening and what grows
well and what grows welltogether, and we'll see where
(06:18):
the conversation takes us,whether whether Peter will will
agree to any of his suggestionsor all of them.
And then we finish that eveningwith a book signing from Adam
Frost Books.
The talk itself begins at halfpast seven, but we encourage
people to come earlier becausethere's just so much to see in
(06:41):
the Arboretum with theinspirational gardens.
Then there's a two courseevening meal with tea and coffee
prior to the talk at half pastseven If people would like to
avail of that.
And obviously you haveeverything else.
That is, the boutique, the shop, the kitchen store, the
beautiful plant sales area, soit's a good afternoon stroke,
(07:05):
evening out For those who arestaying locally.
This year we worked with theClimate Action Office in Carlow
County Council and withRing-a-Link, the local bus
service, to actually provide adedicated bus service from
Carlow Town out to all locationson the Garden Festival.
(07:27):
So that will kick in onSaturday, both for the foraging
adventure with Mary White butalso then for the evening event
with Adam Frost.
And the whole idea is that itmakes life easier for people in
that you know they get to sitback, maybe enjoy a chat with
(07:50):
other people.
They don't have to worry aboutthe road and where they're going
and the bus leaves from theWoodford Dolman, the Talbot
Hotel, the Seven Oaks and CarloBus and Railway Stations.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Wow, yeah, that's a nice addition to have that sort
of shuffle service.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Yeah, because we've often been asked about, you know
, people get to Carlow Town andthen how do they get further.
And we've often been askedabout the possibility of public
transport and you know, in most,most cases it's not that easy.
So we were delighted then whenthe climate action office
(08:32):
approached us and we decided towork with them and the ring a
link service and hopefully, youknow, everybody will enjoy the
experience because it takes alot of the hassle of trying to
get out to places and find themaway from people yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
And for sure.
And then when people aretraveling to these events
together, you'll get, you'll beon the bus with like minded
people heading for the sameevent and on the way back you'll
be able to chat about the eventand it's a bit of a community
element and I know that.
That you know when, when you goto garden shows out, you know
uk and holland and so on, thatshuttle bus service is typically
(09:14):
there as well, so it does itsort of completes it, I think.
I think that's it's a lovelyaddition this year, yeah and so.
So it was a very good idea togo back to the, the.
You know that main conversationthat night.
I didn't know that that was thetwist, that there's going to be
some changes to the garden.
And for anyone that islistening and doesn't or hasn't
seen Peter O'Mahony on, say,instagram, for example, he loves
(09:36):
his lawn, for sure, and youknow rugby fans will have seen
that competitive nature that hehas on the field, but when he's
in the, in the garden, it's it'sa different, it's a very
different setting.
And you know to hear you sayingabout the, the balancing of
work, life and and so on, and itjust so happens that his, his
(09:58):
work is, you know, rugby and avery competitive, very
aggressive sport.
And then to be able to comeback to the calming gardening, I
guess and there is a you knowfrom watching the Instagram
there is a real difference thereand to be able to see that and
hear about that, that'll beinteresting.
And then, obviously, the factthat there's a potential
(10:21):
redesign of sorts on the garden.
That's a nice twist and a nicesort of setup for the garden.
That's a nice twist.
And a nice, yeah, a nice, a nicesort of set up for the evening,
I guess.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Yeah, yeah, no, I think it'll be very interesting.
I think it'll be veryinformative, but also very
enjoyable, because we've we'vehad Adam Frost before and he
delivers a superb talk.
We've had him now, I think,three years running.
This will be our fourth year.
He delivers a superb talkthat's full of knowledge, but
(10:53):
it's also yeah, it's alsoentertaining, and I think the
fact that he is Peter's guruwhen it comes to gardening I
think that fact that he isPeter's guru when it comes to
gardening I think that will workwell when they're both speaking
about, you know, what they'rewilling to give up or what
they're not willing to give up.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
And that's a brilliant evening there.
Brilliant evening and a goodkickoff, as they say.
On the next day then, the 27thof July, what's the sort of
format that day?
Speaker 2 (11:28):
So on the 27th of July we have two events.
We have June Blake talking inon gardening bill and June is
talking all about gardening.
Naturally, she has gardenedwithout a huge use of
(11:48):
insecticides for for a number ofyears, so she's going to give
an overview on how that can beachieved in people's own gardens
.
And then that afternoon atthree o'clock we have Matthew
Wilson, and Matthew will betalking about two gardens that
(12:10):
he managed when he was a partwell, he was working for the RHS
and those are Hyde Hall inEssex and Harlow Carr in
Harrogate.
And we had Matthew back in 2023in Altamont Plant Sales and he
was really excellent.
He was a brilliant speaker.
(12:30):
So I think he'll give anothervery good talk and he's focusing
really about, you know, thechallenges, the opportunities in
terms of trying to transformthese two lovely gardens.
At Hyde Hall it was a kind of adry, windy hilltop site and
(12:51):
then in Harlow Carr, it had amore wetter climate and they
both demanded differentapproaches.
So I think gardeners who attendwill definitely get a huge
amount of practical insights,you know, from plant selection
to garden design to, you know,adapting planting schemes to the
(13:12):
climate and conditions in whichthey live, and I think it will
be, as I said, a very good talk.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Yeah, for sure, and June Blake that morning.
She's fantastic, so a lot ofpeople.
She's a former guest of thepodcast.
A lot of people will befamiliar with her garden, known
for her brilliant use of color.
Uh, hot borders particularlyshe's brilliant at and yet to to
you know, to hear about hergarden and how she gardens, and
(13:46):
it's in on garden bio as well,which is a lovely, lovely
setting in carlottown and it'sactually brilliant for for doing
talks.
I've given talks in there myselfbefore, so it's a really nice
setting for for for talks andpresentations as well.
So, yeah, I think people willlike that.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Yeah, it suits the subject title so well.
Yeah, um, and you know, Isuppose june has gardened for
many years without sprays orchemicals.
She is a kind of a tolerantapproach to weed.
So I myself am looking forwardto hearing about that, as to how
she is a tolerant approach.
(14:23):
Plus, she uses careful plantsand between both, I'm looking
forward to seeing how she'sstill able to keep her garden
looking really well.
And she's a very good speaker.
We've had her on a number ofoccasions in the past.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
Yeah, she's brilliant .
She's brilliant, I suspect, interms of weeds.
She distracts you in her owngarden so that you don't see the
weeds.
There's so much else going onthat you wouldn't even notice
them.
I'd imagine that that's a bigpart of it.
You, her garden is phenomenal.
Um, at certain times of theyear, as I say, her use of color
(15:00):
is unbelievable and the heartborders, yeah.
So I'd imagine, like, like mostplaces, there is weeds there,
but you're not going to noticethem because there's so much
else going on, so many otherthings to catch your eye.
So, yeah, now that's anothergreat day, and then on today
onto the 28th, um, john, Iforgot to mention.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
Just if people are coming to ducats grove, just to
make them aware that they'realso guided tours of ducats
grove that day.
They're free of charge, youjust book them online and
they're taking place at twoo'clock, so you know for the
hour before the talk and then at4 30 after the talk.
And they're taking place at twoo'clock, so you know, for the
hour before the talk and then at4 30 after the talk.
And they're led by danny mcdadeand he's a brilliant local
(15:40):
historian who has greatknowledge on.
You know the ducat family, um,you know the history of them
coming to carlo in 1695,everything that that that family
would have been involved intill they left in the early
years of the 20th century,because they had a really big
impact on Carlow itself and thepeople who worked for them.
(16:02):
And the guided tour will thenbe interspersed with some
feedback from Eamon Wall, thehead gardener out in Ducats
Grove, who will join the tourfor the garden element and he
will explain the approachthey're taking to gardening
there at the moment.
And to say as well that thereis a horse box, as in a horse
(16:27):
box, serving teas, coffees, kindof light treats um on the day.
And there are two lovely umcraft units that are in the
original farmhouse buildings inthe courtyard of ducats grove.
Um one is nick angel's candles,so they they hand marble
candles, as the name suggests uhbeautiful candles.
(16:50):
And then they also have umcrafts for sale from throughout
carla, from other makers, andthen we also have the red
admiral by a tanya dean, andtanya is making authentic irish
country clothing.
It's, you know, tweed jackets,waxed uh coats, woolen jumpers,
(17:13):
um very nice high qualityclothes and that's also open on
the day as well lovely.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Yes, there's lots there, and I know amon actually
amon very good gardener, so youknow, for for the gardening
element of that talk aroundducat's grove, yeah, amon will
be able to add lots of insightand a very, very good gardener.
So yeah, that'll be.
That'll be interesting for sureon the 28th.
Then we've another busy day umso 11 am, I think, kicks off in
(17:43):
hunting brook, I think yeah,huntington castle sorry,
huntington castle yeah, um, agarden that I worked in about 25
years ago, um, so a long timeago.
But yeah, yeah, beautiful,beautiful, you walk there and
nice gardens.
And yeah, that's the first talktoday, so what's yeah about
that?
Speaker 2 (18:04):
so, uh, thomas Pakenham has recently published
a book, another book, um, it'snot his first book by any means,
and it's titled the TreeHunters how the Cult of the
Arboretum Transformed OurLandscape.
So, basically, the talk willfocus on the 19th century tree
(18:24):
hunters and you know their ownpassion for exotic species and
how that, in turn, from theirtravels and their expeditions,
fueled a whole wave of arboretumbuilding across the uk and then
in ireland as well.
And he's a very, very wittyspeaker and a very good speaker,
(18:48):
thomas packenham.
So for anyone who I mean foranyone who loves trees, anyone
curious about botanicalcollections, anyone who loves
gardens, I think this is goingto be a very special talk and a
gem of a talk.
Really.
There's very good interest init in the advanced bookings, and
(19:10):
Thomas is bringing signedcopies of his book on the day
that if anybody wants to get oneof those, um, it will be signed
individually, um, by thomas.
Brilliant.
So that's the.
That's the morning and, as yousaid, it starts at 11 o'clock
and then in the afternoon, um,we move on to delta sensory
(19:32):
garden.
So the way the garden festivalworks is, um, usually it's the
monday and the saturday.
Delta and, uh, huntingtoncastle share that day, so it's
either morning or afternoon inone of the venues and then it
turns over for the following day, um, and they have the
afternoon or the morning withthe workshop.
(19:54):
So on Monday in the afternoonit's Fionnuala Fallon and she's
talking all about creatingsustainable perennial cut flower
garden, and I would have heardthis talk perhaps 10 years ago.
Fionnuala hasn't been back inDelta for a few years now, but
(20:18):
it was a superb talk and it'sbasically the whole idea of it
is how to create a beautiful,long-lasting flower garden
that's really in harmony withnature and that supports
biodiversity in the environment.
And the whole idea is to lookat plants, you know, hardy,
(20:40):
pollinator friendly perennialsthat thrive in Irish conditions
and that really offer good valuein terms of being a cut flower
and then going into your vase inthe home yeah, and she's
replicating what she's whatshe's doing at her own home and
business anyway and yes and yeah, it's.
(21:00):
I haven't heard this talk, but Iknow people who have and they
said it's a fantastic talk andwhat's a fantastic talk and she
goes into everything from youknow, the soil health, plant
division, mulching, organic pestcontrol.
It's a really interesting talk.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Yeah, and it's.
It's actually something we'vecovered on the podcast quite
recently how to create your owncutting garden and this will be.
You know, this will be anotherextension of that.
I think it's, it's, it's a.
It's going to be a very goodtalk now.
I would think that one.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
So yeah, yeah to that I think it's, it's, it's a,
it's going to be a very goodtalk now, I would think that one
.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
So yeah, yeah, that's the, that's the 28th, so yeah,
there's still.
We're not even half.
I think we're halfway throughthe festival now and there's
already a fantastic array ofspeakers.
So, moving on to the 29th.
Then what have we got?
Speaker 2 (21:48):
so on the 29th.
Um, your listeners willprobably know of John McCullen,
dr John McCullen.
He was the chief parksuperintendent to the Phoenix
Park for a number of years andhe published back in 2009.
He published a history of thePhoenix Park up until 1880.
(22:09):
So this talk takes us from 1880to 1980 and I think it's going
to be again a really interestingtalk.
John has a lovely kind ofapproachable style of presenting
.
So during that time there wouldhave been the introduction of
the ornamental plantations andthe landscape schemes and then
(22:34):
infrastructural developments aswell, like the bandstand, the
tea kiosk.
Um, the park's own physicallandscape went under, uh,
underwent a lot of changes, andthen there would have been a lot
of large-scale events hosted inthe Phoenix Park.
I suppose the one that Iremember would be the 1979 Papal
(22:56):
visit, but I would have heardpeople talking as well about the
Eucharistic Congress that wentthere in 1932.
And, even further back, theinternational speed trials in
1903 that were connected toGordon Bennett.
That would have been downaround this area as well at.
(23:17):
Milo Leach in Kildare.
So again, I think that could bea very interesting talk for
anyone.
You know we're probably allfamiliar with the Phoenix Park
and have been in it on a numberof occasions, and John will also
have copies um his bookavailable on the day as well
super and then that afternoon,uh, we um go over to hardy mount
(23:41):
gardens.
So always we have arbory uhultimate in the morning, and
then we head over to hardy mountGardens in the afternoon and we
meet Dara Stone, who's the headgardener of Dennis Moat Gardens
up in the Dargill Valley inDublin.
And basically, I suppose in1988 Adam Clayton of U2 would
(24:06):
have purchased that estate andthereafter started just a whole
journey to restore and enhancethe gardens.
Um, they planted about 4 000trees and restore the garden to
its original splendor and it was, I think last year.
It was on bbc gardeners world.
(24:26):
Adam frost featured it um.
So this is an opportunity toreally find out more about the
gardens, their, their plantings,their magnolias, their
rhododendrons they're very knownfor those.
And then after that, um, thereis the afternoon tea, um, on the
lawns of the walled garden, onthe lawns of hardy mount gardens
(24:49):
, and anyone who would like toum visit the walled garden,
which is a beautiful walledgarden maintained for many years
by the late great gardenerSheila Reeves Smith and now
maintained by her daughter,justina, and son-in-law, mark
McKeever.
So it's another lovely eventand I suppose what I say to
(25:11):
people an afternoon tea is adelectable thing at its best.
But this is even no ordinaryafternoon tea.
It's just a superb spread, verybest of Irish ingredients and
it's a lovely way to finish offthe afternoon.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
Yeah, brilliant, sounds like a gorgeous day, for
sure.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
And then we're on to the 30th, I think, are we?
Speaker 2 (25:37):
We're on to the 30th then, and on the 30th we're in
Burntown House in the morningand then we're in Shankill
Castle in the afternoon.
So in Burntown House is SeamusO'Brien and last year Seamus
went on a summer expedition toYunnan in China and it's
basically looking at his 18-daytrip.
(25:59):
He went in July last year.
Um, it was peak floweringseason, blue poppies in
particular uh, they were veryrare, and then rhododendrons
were in abundant floweringseason at the time and also um
himalayan lilies.
So james will guide us throughum everything they found on that
(26:23):
trip.
And that's at 11 o'clock in themorning in Burtown House and
then at three o'clock in theafternoon we go over to Shankill
Castle and I won't I can'treally pronounce Tangi's surname
, so I'll do my best, but it'stangy de tool good from the
(26:45):
dunmore school, the dunmorecountry school.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
Yeah, again, uh, another former guest of the
podcast.
In fact, we we did an episode,or a two-part episode, on
companion planting and thatcontinues to be one of the most
popular episodes of the podcast.
A fantastic gardener um, really, really unique techniques that
(27:09):
he's been using in his owngarden is in his own dunmore
country school for years andyears.
Yeah, that'll, that'll be a anunbelievable talk very good yeah
I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
And he, he has a strong name.
He writes himself for the irishgarden as well, and, um, I you
know he's going to look atbiodiversity friendly practices,
permaculture, his own kind offrench style potager gardening,
so, um, it should be a very goodtalk as well.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Then in the afternoon , or that is the afternoon,
that's the afternoon on theWednesday and then we're on to
Thursday and we have SarahEberle, who's another of our UK
speakers this year, and she'sbasically sharing the story of
winning 19 Chelsea gold medalsin Chelsea with those in
(28:08):
attendance at Burroughs House.
And she began exhibiting atChelsea with a garden on the
main avenue and then since thenshe's had gardens in every
single garden category, fromartisan to sanctuary to major
show gardens and exhibits in theGrand Pavilion and revealing,
(28:30):
you know, lots of usefulplanting tips.
You know that everybody cantake home and try for themselves
(28:51):
.
And she's also going to look atthe trends that have come and
gone and probably come againwithin her gardening career, and
I think that's.
We had a lovely talk there lastyear, uh, with bonnie guinness,
and I think that's going to bean equally enjoyable talk, uh,
this year yeah, for sure yeah,and that afternoon then we take
(29:12):
over to a grainy house and herbgardens.
So we're in burr's house at 11o'clock and then there are two
sessions with um, um, withmckelly of giy, in uh kilgrainy
house and herb gardens, which isjust a couple of miles over the
road.
Uh, the first one, um, is atthree o'clock and the next one
(29:35):
is at five o'clock.
And I suppose, as somebody whogrew up just having to run to
the garden to get literallyoutside our door at home to get
the freshest of every kind ofvegetable imaginable, my father
was a brilliant vegetablegardener.
Now, he wasn't that interestedin the flowers but loved
(29:56):
vegetable gardening and how muchwe took it for granted and
didn't realize what we had atall.
And now, um, as someone who whojust buys vegetables in the
supermarket, um, I love thetitle of this uh, food empathy
growing your own food for ahealthy, sustainable future.
(30:17):
So, for all of us who aspire toactually getting back to even a
smidgen of what people did 30or 40 years ago, um, I think
this is this is a very good talkyeah, for sure, and yeah, that
it's.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
It'll be a brilliant talk, mick, mick is brilliant.
Um geo, the whole giy movementis very good and that's
something that you know.
What you just said there,that's something that we work
very hard on on the podcast andand we talk a lot about is
people growing their own food,showing people, teaching people
how to do that.
So, yeah, that'll be a really,really, really good uh talk for
(30:53):
sure yeah, um, so that's.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
We have two sessions there, at three o'clock and five
o'clock, so they tend to getbooked up quite fast.
So what we've done for the pastcouple of years is we've added
a second uh talk at five o'clock.
So, um, if people don't makethe first session, we always say
you know, take a walk?
Um through the village of boris, a beautiful village, and the
(31:19):
step house straight opposite theum, straight opposite the gates
of borough's house is is open,um, if people want to enjoy, you
know, a late lunch or a relaxedcup of tea or coffee.
And if you don't make the threeo'clock, well, then you'll be
able to um, to head on to thefive o'clock one, very good.
(31:39):
And then the following day wehave the double header in
Ultimate Plant Sales.
The first talk in the morning isat 11 o'clock.
It's from the back garden togold medals, by Rosie Hardy.
She's an RHS vice president.
And then later that day atthree o'clock, we have Nick
(32:01):
Bailey, again a fairly regularpresenter on BBC Gardener's
World, and Nick is going to talkabout designing gardens in 10
easy steps.
Now there's a change to theformat somewhat of this event
for this year, john, so wealways had this as a full day
(32:25):
ticketed event, so you boughtyour ticket for for the two
talks.
This year we decided, um tooffer them as individual talks,
um, so they they cost 20 euroeach, but if people want to stay
for the full day, um, and wethink they both speakers, merit
the investment of stay for thefull day, um, and we think they
both speakers merit theinvestment of time for the full
(32:45):
day um, it's a reduced fee of 35euro.
So rosie hardy, again, um, shestarted off in her own back
garden, um, and she also hasgone on to win a number of
Chelsea gold medals and shetalks about.
You know what it takes toactually succeed to such a level
(33:09):
on the Chelsea stage.
But then she's also going tofocus quite a bit of her talk on
planting advice, choosing theright plants for the conditions,
long lasting color and kind ofmaintaining structure in the
garden, and that will be a verygood talk.
And in the afternoon then, andnick bailey covers, as as it
(33:32):
says on the tin as such,designing the garden 10 easy
steps he's going to coverselecting the right plants for
the right space, how you getyear-round interest in the
garden, how you get color intoit all the time and how you can
try and revamp a tired lookinggarden or, if you're starting
from scratch, how you do that aswell.
(33:54):
And I heard Nick's talk inDuckett's Grove in 2023 and
again it was a packed out talkum very, very interesting talk
on the day, um, and he'spromised to share with us um
kind of some of the I'm notsaying juicy gossip, but some of
(34:14):
the little tidbits, uh thatcome from being a presenter on
bbener's World and all thebehind the scenes insight that
happens in the gardening worldas well.
So that's the key day inUltimate Plant Sales and we
leave a nice break between themorning and the afternoon job.
(34:37):
So we start at half 11.
We're finished kind of aboutone o'clock.
There's a good um two hours,then till three, so people love
to walk down the main gardens uh, they all.
There's, obviously sugar andspice cafe.
They're doing um salads andsandwiches, um, and for anyone
who wants um something, you know, a main course lunch.
(35:00):
The forge up at the crossroads,uh, about a mile from ultimate,
has just reopened and they'reopen on the day, obviously, uh
doing uh lunches I didn't knowthat had reopened.
Speaker 1 (35:13):
That used to be brilliant, yeah, it used to be
really good and and we, wepassed it.
I was in ultimate, not thatterrible long ago, but less than
a month ago, um, but we, wewould have been in the forge
lots of times over the years asyou'd be traveling typically
towards wexford, um and it was agood stop it was a great stop.
Yeah, and I was.
Yeah, I was surprised it wasclosed because it was always
(35:34):
always chock-a-block when youwent into it.
That's good to know.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
It's back open yeah, it's back open and um under um
ph.
Phil and Kay are the two ownersinvolved.
Phil is the chef, kay is frontof house.
But a lot of you know the focuson local, the warm hospitality.
You know that's still verystrong.
Speaker 1 (35:55):
So it's great to see Brilliant, for sure.
So then we're heading for thelast couple of days here now.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
So on Saturday, then the 2nd of August, this is our
day when we split between Deltaand Huntington Castle.
So in the morning we have MaryKeenan, and Mary Keenan is
talking about designing andplanting a fragrant garden, and
I suppose Mary has a huge amountof experience in this because
(36:24):
she's owner of gash gardens incounty leash and obviously she's
had big roles in in public parkdesign, editor of the irish
garden, um.
So she'll have lots ofpractical advice and inspiration
for people, um.
And basically she will focus onthe right plants, the right
(36:45):
choices to fill the space withscent throughout the year.
So everything fromold-fashioned roses and sweet
peas, um to herbs, you know,aromatic shrubs, um.
So that's in the morning andit's at 11 o'clock and then
anyone who would like to theycan go on a guided tour after
(37:06):
the walk around the gardens.
And in the afternoon then we goto Huntington Castle and we meet
the celebrated garden writer,robin Lane Fox.
He's, I think, the longestgardening columnist in the UK.
He writes for the FinancialTimes.
(37:27):
He's written a number of booksas well.
So he's going to look at howgardening itself is changing and
he's kind of tried and trustedshortcuts that can really help
transform a garden space withouttoo much effort, or maybe less
(37:47):
effort than you might havethought necessary.
And again, um, I think this isour third time over all the
years having robin, but likethomas packenham, he's a very,
very witty speaker, um, but alsoa very knowledgeable speaker.
So he's there in the afternoonat three o'clock and that leads
(38:09):
us in nicely into the last day,which is Sunday, the 3rd of
August.
In the morning we're doing aguided walk of the Bean Barrow
Experience Gardens, um inbagnalstown, with rosie may, um,
also a writer, in the irishgarden and obviously, um, she's
a big social media presence aswell with the insomniac gardener
(38:32):
and she'll take us through the10 different gardens, um, within
the beam barrow experiencegardens, and they're beautiful,
uh, beam, for, for yourlisteners who aren't aware, it's
a training center for peoplewith disabilities and um, the
participants would garden, wouldmaintain the gardens there, and
(38:55):
over the years, uh, they'veadded a number.
They have a mindfulness garden,a french, a convent garden,
because the site would haveoriginally belonged to the nuns,
the monastic courtyard.
Our gardeners love picking uptips, so it's practical advice
(39:25):
as well on planting andcomposting and garden structure
and colour.
And then that afternoon we havea walk and talk with Eanna Ní
Leona at the forest in Rathwood.
So to the right hand side of theentrance to Rathwood is a
(39:45):
beautiful forest I think.
It's about 170 acres of nativeflora and fauna, and Lena will
take us on a guided walk there.
You park within the car park inRathwood and you know we will
take the visitors down then tothe forest itself and she will
(40:08):
go through the importance of ourforest for biodiversity, for
our native fauna, and that's aswell proving to be a very
popular walk and that's as wellproving to be a very popular
walk.
So it could be just literallywalking under beech, oak, birch,
douglas fir and learning allabout the importance of trees to
(40:31):
our daily lives.
Speaker 1 (40:33):
Yeah, sure, and the last couple of days they're like
some fantastic speakers.
You mentioned Mary Keenan,again a fantastic gardener and
going to talk about you knowwell her experience, which is
phenomenal.
Her gardens themselves GashGardens are brilliant, and if
(40:56):
she's talking about, as you said, putting the right plant into
the right place or that type ofa talk, you'll get really good
practical advice.
And Rosie May, obviously afantastic gardener, brilliant
speaker as well, a fantasticgardener, brilliant speaker as
well, and really, really good at, I suppose, translating
information that people can takeaway.
As you say, gardeners like toget things that they can take
away and use in their owngardens and definitely rosie is
one of the best at that.
You know she makes, she makesthings sound and and and shows
(41:16):
things that are simple to do and, yeah, really great two days
there.
So, again, a fantastic lineupof speakers the whole way
through.
Speaker 2 (41:26):
So you know, well done again on putting this all
together you, you, you were verykind at the beginning, john, in
that you um you were sayingcarla tourism uh brings the
festival and arranges thefestival, but we do it very um
much in tandem with the carlogarden trail committee and our
chairperson is robert miller ofultimate plant sales, and then
(41:49):
all the members um would feedinto the program very strongly.
They would all have their ownthoughts as to potential
speakers, um, and that's reallywhat makes it great.
I suppose we do a lot of thepractical things in terms of
organization, bookings, all ofthat.
(42:09):
But one thing that um I hearagain and again from people is,
above all, they love thespeakers, that the speakers are
so knowledgeable and so variedand there's, you know, different
topics.
There's something to suiteverybody really.
So it's the, the members of thegarden trail who come up with
those um, so the biggest debt isis to uh that committee yeah,
(42:34):
for sure, I know, and it isfantastic, fantastic lineup
again this year.
Speaker 1 (42:39):
There's so many there that people would be interested
in and it's definitely, youknow it's.
It's unique in that it'sseveral days in a row, but what
is it?
Five or six, six days in a row?
And it's actually nine ninedays, wow, and yes, we know,
because we collapse and yeah,but someone can.
(43:01):
Someone can sort of make a nicemini break out of it and take in
two or three days, or they canmake a full holiday out of it
and take in a week.
You know people, people thatyou know, are into that and it's
unusual to have such acollection and variety of
speakers in you know relatively,relatively condensed space.
You know you'll often see theseindividual speakers coming for
brilliant talks here and there,but to have such a variety and
(43:23):
to you know, to have so muchover the course of of nine days,
as you said, it's a, it's afantastic, a fantastic lineup.
Um, yeah, so well done again.
Um, it sounds brilliant.
I'll put the link for tickets inthe show notes so people can
can can click through there.
And one or two are sold out.
Others are definitely in highdemand.
(43:45):
So if you are are interested oryou have any mind to go, just
start having a look now at yourtickets because, yeah, as I say,
some of them do sell out.
Eileen, it's been brilliant,brilliant having you on again to
hear all about carla gardenfestival.
Well, done on everything that'sorganized and thank you very,
very much for coming on mastermy garden podcast.
So that's been this week'sepisode.
(44:06):
A huge thanks to eileen forcoming on.
As I say, a really, reallygreat uh lineup again.
It was a fantastic lineup forthe last few years, but this
year is top class.
As I said, the variety that'sreally what catches the eye is
you.
You get every type of speaker.
So, whether it's the historicalgarden element that interests
you, whether it's the growingyour own food that interests you
(44:26):
, whether it's plantingcombinations, gardening,
sustainability and forage andyou know there's, there's
something for everybody thereand I think that's the big thing
.
Then you're going to see,obviously, a lot of the gardens
from carlo garden trail as partof those talks and I think
that's, you know, another addedbonus to that.
So, yeah, really, really worthchecking out.
(44:47):
Link for tickets is in the shownotes and uh, yeah, I think
you'll get something for it ifyou do, if you do come along and
visit.
And that's been this week'sepisode.
Thanks for listening and untilthe next time, happy gardening.
how's it going everybody, and welcome to
episode 285, master, regardingpodcast.
Now, this week's episode is onethat we've actually covered
before and it's to go throughthe schedule of the carlo garden
festival, and this is nottypically the type of episode I
do, but over the last few years,the quality of speaker and the
variety of speakers at the carlogarden festival has been so
(00:33):
good that it would be a shamenot to sort of mention it, not
to highlight it in a big way toyou guys, the listeners there's.
There's so much happening fromthe 26th on 26th of july until
the 3rd of august and, as I said, last year there was a
fantastic array and variety ofspeakers.
It's no different this year.
We kick.
(00:54):
It kicks off on the 26th and,you know, on the 26th there's
peter o'mahony, who's comingacross from his rugby exploits,
along with Adam Frost in theArboretum, and in between
there's a variety of speakersJune Blake, mary Keenan, rosie
May, fanula Fallon, mick Kellyfrom GIY.
There's a phenomenal amount ofvarious speakers on different
(01:17):
topics and different subjectsacross gardening.
So, as I say, I think it'sreally, really worthwhile
highlighting this and to gothrough it with us is Eileen
O'Rourke, ceo of Carola Tourism.
Carola Tourism are the peoplewho drive this festival and who
arrange this festival every yearand, as I say, it has been
bringing together really, reallygood voices and and gardening
(01:42):
personalities over the last fewyears.
So, yeah, as I say, this thisyear is fantastic.
So, eileen, you're very, verywelcome to Mastermind Garden
Podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Thank you, John, for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Yeah, lovely.
As I say, we spoke last yearjust in relation to the festival
and I did mention that it wasin terms of the lineup.
It was fantastic last year.
This year every bit is good.
There's fantastic array ofspeakers.
Again there's, you know,fantastic array of speakers.
Again there's some kind ofhighlights.
(02:11):
I know everyone loves thatfirst night kickoff with adam
frost in the arboretum, um, butthere's so much, so much, from
from day one through to the veryend, a lot of, a lot of
speakers.
So we're going to do a littlebit like what we did last year.
We're kind of going to gothrough it day by day and I'll
throw in my, my tuppence words.
You know when, when we get toit.
But it kicks off on the 26th ofJuly and runs right through to
(02:31):
the 3rd of August.
So a nice time kind of events.
Two events a day, more or lessgive or take, and so let's kick
it off on day one and maybewhat's the?
Speaker 2 (02:43):
the sort of the first event so, uh, we kick off on
saturday afternoon, uh, with thelovely foraging adventure down
by the river barrow in lachlanbridge.
But I have to advise you, john,that that is already booked out
and has been for a number ofweeks I saw that one actually
was sold out already, yeah.
Yeah, so it's a very popular one.
(03:05):
And Mary White if anybody knowsMary White, she runs
Blackstairs EcoTrails, so shedoes foraging walks and tree
trails.
She's a brilliant speaker andvery informative.
So if you haven't got yourticket already, you'll just
probably have to wait till nextyear.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Yeah, mary is actually someone that's on the
radar for the podcast.
I haven't had her on thepodcast before, but, um, I have.
Yeah, some couple of peoplehave mentioned that she'd be
well worth getting on, and soshe's definitely on the radar.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
So yeah, she's very, very interesting and very, very
knowledgeable yeah yeah.
So then that evening, as yousaid, we have our launch event,
and it's a kickoff with twocelebrities really as such.
So Adam Frost will probably bevery familiar to your own
listeners from BBC Gardener'sWorld, and we've also had him at
(04:00):
the festival on a few occasionsat this stage, at the festival,
on a few occasions at thisstage, but this time we're
teaming him up with PeterO'Mahony, who himself is a
celebrity for his exploits onthe rugby field, and I suppose
if anyone follows his Instagramand Facebook, they know that
(04:20):
he's a really keen gardener, andthe idea is Adam Frost is one
of his, I suppose, people ingardening that he looks up to,
and we decided, then to try andpair both of them together, and
thankfully it has worked out.
This year.
The format of the event will bekind of there's two sessions to
(04:45):
it, so the opening part will bea discussion about gardening
and why gardening is so good forus and why Peter has found
gardening very beneficial toboth his own personal and
professional life, as a kind ofan escape from, you know, the
rugby field and downtime and achance to just, I suppose,
(05:10):
devote the mind to somethingelse.
Adam himself is very into thatwhole area as well, about the
importance of gardening formindfulness, you know, for inner
peace.
And then we will have a breakin the in the talk, a short
break, and then it will take onwhat I think will be a very
(05:32):
informative twist, but a funtwist.
So basically, adam frost umwill take peter's garden and
he's going to suggest changesthat he might like to see
implemented in Adam's garden, inPeter's garden, and I'm sure
there'll be a little bit ofresistance along the way,
(05:53):
because anyone who follows himknows that he loves his box
edges and his lawns.
But Adam will come up with apossible semi redesign of
Peter's garden and I supposepeppered throughout all of that
will be lots of informationabout gardening and what grows
well and what grows welltogether, and we'll see where
(06:18):
the conversation takes us,whether whether Peter will will
agree to any of his suggestionsor all of them.
And then we finish that eveningwith a book signing from Adam
Frost Books.
The talk itself begins at halfpast seven, but we encourage
people to come earlier becausethere's just so much to see in
(06:41):
the Arboretum with theinspirational gardens.
Then there's a two courseevening meal with tea and coffee
prior to the talk at half pastseven If people would like to
avail of that.
And obviously you haveeverything else.
That is, the boutique, the shop, the kitchen store, the
beautiful plant sales area, soit's a good afternoon stroke,
(07:05):
evening out For those who arestaying locally.
This year we worked with theClimate Action Office in Carlow
County Council and withRing-a-Link, the local bus
service, to actually provide adedicated bus service from
Carlow Town out to all locationson the Garden Festival.
(07:27):
So that will kick in onSaturday, both for the foraging
adventure with Mary White butalso then for the evening event
with Adam Frost.
And the whole idea is that itmakes life easier for people in
that you know they get to sitback, maybe enjoy a chat with
(07:50):
other people.
They don't have to worry aboutthe road and where they're going
and the bus leaves from theWoodford Dolman, the Talbot
Hotel, the Seven Oaks and CarloBus and Railway Stations.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Wow, yeah, that's a nice addition to have that sort
of shuffle service.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Yeah, because we've often been asked about, you know
, people get to Carlow Town andthen how do they get further.
And we've often been askedabout the possibility of public
transport and you know, in most,most cases it's not that easy.
So we were delighted then whenthe climate action office
(08:32):
approached us and we decided towork with them and the ring a
link service and hopefully, youknow, everybody will enjoy the
experience because it takes alot of the hassle of trying to
get out to places and find themaway from people yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
And for sure.
And then when people aretraveling to these events
together, you'll get, you'll beon the bus with like minded
people heading for the sameevent and on the way back you'll
be able to chat about the eventand it's a bit of a community
element and I know that.
That you know when, when you goto garden shows out, you know
uk and holland and so on, thatshuttle bus service is typically
(09:14):
there as well, so it does itsort of completes it, I think.
I think that's it's a lovelyaddition this year, yeah and so.
So it was a very good idea togo back to the, the.
You know that main conversationthat night.
I didn't know that that was thetwist, that there's going to be
some changes to the garden.
And for anyone that islistening and doesn't or hasn't
seen Peter O'Mahony on, say,instagram, for example, he loves
(09:36):
his lawn, for sure, and youknow rugby fans will have seen
that competitive nature that hehas on the field, but when he's
in the, in the garden, it's it'sa different, it's a very
different setting.
And you know to hear you sayingabout the, the balancing of
work, life and and so on, and itjust so happens that his, his
(09:58):
work is, you know, rugby and avery competitive, very
aggressive sport.
And then to be able to comeback to the calming gardening, I
guess and there is a you knowfrom watching the Instagram
there is a real difference thereand to be able to see that and
hear about that, that'll beinteresting.
And then, obviously, the factthat there's a potential
(10:21):
redesign of sorts on the garden.
That's a nice twist and a nicesort of setup for the garden.
That's a nice twist.
And a nice, yeah, a nice, a nicesort of set up for the evening,
I guess.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Yeah, yeah, no, I think it'll be very interesting.
I think it'll be veryinformative, but also very
enjoyable, because we've we'vehad Adam Frost before and he
delivers a superb talk.
We've had him now, I think,three years running.
This will be our fourth year.
He delivers a superb talkthat's full of knowledge, but
(10:53):
it's also yeah, it's alsoentertaining, and I think the
fact that he is Peter's guruwhen it comes to gardening I
think that fact that he isPeter's guru when it comes to
gardening I think that will workwell when they're both speaking
about, you know, what they'rewilling to give up or what
they're not willing to give up.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
And that's a brilliant evening there.
Brilliant evening and a goodkickoff, as they say.
On the next day then, the 27thof July, what's the sort of
format that day?
Speaker 2 (11:28):
So on the 27th of July we have two events.
We have June Blake talking inon gardening bill and June is
talking all about gardening.
Naturally, she has gardenedwithout a huge use of
(11:48):
insecticides for for a number ofyears, so she's going to give
an overview on how that can beachieved in people's own gardens
.
And then that afternoon atthree o'clock we have Matthew
Wilson, and Matthew will betalking about two gardens that
(12:10):
he managed when he was a partwell, he was working for the RHS
and those are Hyde Hall inEssex and Harlow Carr in
Harrogate.
And we had Matthew back in 2023in Altamont Plant Sales and he
was really excellent.
He was a brilliant speaker.
(12:30):
So I think he'll give anothervery good talk and he's focusing
really about, you know, thechallenges, the opportunities in
terms of trying to transformthese two lovely gardens.
At Hyde Hall it was a kind of adry, windy hilltop site and
(12:51):
then in Harlow Carr, it had amore wetter climate and they
both demanded differentapproaches.
So I think gardeners who attendwill definitely get a huge
amount of practical insights,you know, from plant selection
to garden design to, you know,adapting planting schemes to the
(13:12):
climate and conditions in whichthey live, and I think it will
be, as I said, a very good talk.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Yeah, for sure, and June Blake that morning.
She's fantastic, so a lot ofpeople.
She's a former guest of thepodcast.
A lot of people will befamiliar with her garden, known
for her brilliant use of color.
Uh, hot borders particularlyshe's brilliant at and yet to to
you know, to hear about hergarden and how she gardens, and
(13:46):
it's in on garden bio as well,which is a lovely, lovely
setting in carlottown and it'sactually brilliant for for doing
talks.
I've given talks in there myselfbefore, so it's a really nice
setting for for for talks andpresentations as well.
So, yeah, I think people willlike that.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Yeah, it suits the subject title so well.
Yeah, um, and you know, Isuppose june has gardened for
many years without sprays orchemicals.
She is a kind of a tolerantapproach to weed.
So I myself am looking forwardto hearing about that, as to how
she is a tolerant approach.
(14:23):
Plus, she uses careful plantsand between both, I'm looking
forward to seeing how she'sstill able to keep her garden
looking really well.
And she's a very good speaker.
We've had her on a number ofoccasions in the past.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
Yeah, she's brilliant .
She's brilliant, I suspect, interms of weeds.
She distracts you in her owngarden so that you don't see the
weeds.
There's so much else going onthat you wouldn't even notice
them.
I'd imagine that that's a bigpart of it.
You, her garden is phenomenal.
Um, at certain times of theyear, as I say, her use of color
(15:00):
is unbelievable and the heartborders, yeah.
So I'd imagine, like, like mostplaces, there is weeds there,
but you're not going to noticethem because there's so much
else going on, so many otherthings to catch your eye.
So, yeah, now that's anothergreat day, and then on today
onto the 28th, um, john, Iforgot to mention.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
Just if people are coming to ducats grove, just to
make them aware that they'realso guided tours of ducats
grove that day.
They're free of charge, youjust book them online and
they're taking place at twoo'clock, so you know for the
hour before the talk and then at4 30 after the talk.
And they're taking place at twoo'clock, so you know, for the
hour before the talk and then at4 30 after the talk.
And they're led by danny mcdadeand he's a brilliant local
(15:40):
historian who has greatknowledge on.
You know the ducat family, um,you know the history of them
coming to carlo in 1695,everything that that that family
would have been involved intill they left in the early
years of the 20th century,because they had a really big
impact on Carlow itself and thepeople who worked for them.
(16:02):
And the guided tour will thenbe interspersed with some
feedback from Eamon Wall, thehead gardener out in Ducats
Grove, who will join the tourfor the garden element and he
will explain the approachthey're taking to gardening
there at the moment.
And to say as well that thereis a horse box, as in a horse
(16:27):
box, serving teas, coffees, kindof light treats um on the day.
And there are two lovely umcraft units that are in the
original farmhouse buildings inthe courtyard of ducats grove.
Um one is nick angel's candles,so they they hand marble
candles, as the name suggests uhbeautiful candles.
(16:50):
And then they also have umcrafts for sale from throughout
carla, from other makers, andthen we also have the red
admiral by a tanya dean, andtanya is making authentic irish
country clothing.
It's, you know, tweed jackets,waxed uh coats, woolen jumpers,
(17:13):
um very nice high qualityclothes and that's also open on
the day as well lovely.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Yes, there's lots there, and I know amon actually
amon very good gardener, so youknow, for for the gardening
element of that talk aroundducat's grove, yeah, amon will
be able to add lots of insightand a very, very good gardener.
So yeah, that'll be.
That'll be interesting for sureon the 28th.
Then we've another busy day umso 11 am, I think, kicks off in
(17:43):
hunting brook, I think yeah,huntington castle sorry,
huntington castle yeah, um, agarden that I worked in about 25
years ago, um, so a long timeago.
But yeah, yeah, beautiful,beautiful, you walk there and
nice gardens.
And yeah, that's the first talktoday, so what's yeah about
that?
Speaker 2 (18:04):
so, uh, thomas Pakenham has recently published
a book, another book, um, it'snot his first book by any means,
and it's titled the TreeHunters how the Cult of the
Arboretum Transformed OurLandscape.
So, basically, the talk willfocus on the 19th century tree
(18:24):
hunters and you know their ownpassion for exotic species and
how that, in turn, from theirtravels and their expeditions,
fueled a whole wave of arboretumbuilding across the uk and then
in ireland as well.
And he's a very, very wittyspeaker and a very good speaker,
(18:48):
thomas packenham.
So for anyone who I mean foranyone who loves trees, anyone
curious about botanicalcollections, anyone who loves
gardens, I think this is goingto be a very special talk and a
gem of a talk.
Really.
There's very good interest init in the advanced bookings, and
(19:10):
Thomas is bringing signedcopies of his book on the day
that if anybody wants to get oneof those, um, it will be signed
individually, um, by thomas.
Brilliant.
So that's the.
That's the morning and, as yousaid, it starts at 11 o'clock
and then in the afternoon, um,we move on to delta sensory
(19:32):
garden.
So the way the garden festivalworks is, um, usually it's the
monday and the saturday.
Delta and, uh, huntingtoncastle share that day, so it's
either morning or afternoon inone of the venues and then it
turns over for the following day, um, and they have the
afternoon or the morning withthe workshop.
(19:54):
So on Monday in the afternoonit's Fionnuala Fallon and she's
talking all about creatingsustainable perennial cut flower
garden, and I would have heardthis talk perhaps 10 years ago.
Fionnuala hasn't been back inDelta for a few years now, but
(20:18):
it was a superb talk and it'sbasically the whole idea of it
is how to create a beautiful,long-lasting flower garden
that's really in harmony withnature and that supports
biodiversity in the environment.
And the whole idea is to lookat plants, you know, hardy,
(20:40):
pollinator friendly perennialsthat thrive in Irish conditions
and that really offer good valuein terms of being a cut flower
and then going into your vase inthe home yeah, and she's
replicating what she's whatshe's doing at her own home and
business anyway and yes and yeah, it's.
(21:00):
I haven't heard this talk, but Iknow people who have and they
said it's a fantastic talk andwhat's a fantastic talk and she
goes into everything from youknow, the soil health, plant
division, mulching, organic pestcontrol.
It's a really interesting talk.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Yeah, and it's.
It's actually something we'vecovered on the podcast quite
recently how to create your owncutting garden and this will be.
You know, this will be anotherextension of that.
I think it's, it's, it's a.
It's going to be a very goodtalk now.
I would think that one.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
So yeah, yeah to that I think it's, it's, it's a,
it's going to be a very goodtalk now, I would think that one
.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
So yeah, yeah, that's the, that's the 28th, so yeah,
there's still.
We're not even half.
I think we're halfway throughthe festival now and there's
already a fantastic array ofspeakers.
So, moving on to the 29th.
Then what have we got?
Speaker 2 (21:48):
so on the 29th.
Um, your listeners willprobably know of John McCullen,
dr John McCullen.
He was the chief parksuperintendent to the Phoenix
Park for a number of years andhe published back in 2009.
He published a history of thePhoenix Park up until 1880.
(22:09):
So this talk takes us from 1880to 1980 and I think it's going
to be again a really interestingtalk.
John has a lovely kind ofapproachable style of presenting
.
So during that time there wouldhave been the introduction of
the ornamental plantations andthe landscape schemes and then
(22:34):
infrastructural developments aswell, like the bandstand, the
tea kiosk.
Um, the park's own physicallandscape went under, uh,
underwent a lot of changes, andthen there would have been a lot
of large-scale events hosted inthe Phoenix Park.
I suppose the one that Iremember would be the 1979 Papal
(22:56):
visit, but I would have heardpeople talking as well about the
Eucharistic Congress that wentthere in 1932.
And, even further back, theinternational speed trials in
1903 that were connected toGordon Bennett.
That would have been downaround this area as well at.
(23:17):
Milo Leach in Kildare.
So again, I think that could bea very interesting talk for
anyone.
You know we're probably allfamiliar with the Phoenix Park
and have been in it on a numberof occasions, and John will also
have copies um his bookavailable on the day as well
super and then that afternoon,uh, we um go over to hardy mount
(23:41):
gardens.
So always we have arbory uhultimate in the morning, and
then we head over to hardy mountGardens in the afternoon and we
meet Dara Stone, who's the headgardener of Dennis Moat Gardens
up in the Dargill Valley inDublin.
And basically, I suppose in1988 Adam Clayton of U2 would
(24:06):
have purchased that estate andthereafter started just a whole
journey to restore and enhancethe gardens.
Um, they planted about 4 000trees and restore the garden to
its original splendor and it was, I think last year.
It was on bbc gardeners world.
(24:26):
Adam frost featured it um.
So this is an opportunity toreally find out more about the
gardens, their, their plantings,their magnolias, their
rhododendrons they're very knownfor those.
And then after that, um, thereis the afternoon tea, um, on the
lawns of the walled garden, onthe lawns of hardy mount gardens
(24:49):
, and anyone who would like toum visit the walled garden,
which is a beautiful walledgarden maintained for many years
by the late great gardenerSheila Reeves Smith and now
maintained by her daughter,justina, and son-in-law, mark
McKeever.
So it's another lovely eventand I suppose what I say to
(25:11):
people an afternoon tea is adelectable thing at its best.
But this is even no ordinaryafternoon tea.
It's just a superb spread, verybest of Irish ingredients and
it's a lovely way to finish offthe afternoon.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
Yeah, brilliant, sounds like a gorgeous day, for
sure.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
And then we're on to the 30th, I think, are we?
Speaker 2 (25:37):
We're on to the 30th then, and on the 30th we're in
Burntown House in the morningand then we're in Shankill
Castle in the afternoon.
So in Burntown House is SeamusO'Brien and last year Seamus
went on a summer expedition toYunnan in China and it's
basically looking at his 18-daytrip.
(25:59):
He went in July last year.
Um, it was peak floweringseason, blue poppies in
particular uh, they were veryrare, and then rhododendrons
were in abundant floweringseason at the time and also um
himalayan lilies.
So james will guide us throughum everything they found on that
(26:23):
trip.
And that's at 11 o'clock in themorning in Burtown House and
then at three o'clock in theafternoon we go over to Shankill
Castle and I won't I can'treally pronounce Tangi's surname
, so I'll do my best, but it'stangy de tool good from the
(26:45):
dunmore school, the dunmorecountry school.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
Yeah, again, uh, another former guest of the
podcast.
In fact, we we did an episode,or a two-part episode, on
companion planting and thatcontinues to be one of the most
popular episodes of the podcast.
A fantastic gardener um, really, really unique techniques that
(27:09):
he's been using in his owngarden is in his own dunmore
country school for years andyears.
Yeah, that'll, that'll be a anunbelievable talk very good yeah
I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
And he, he has a strong name.
He writes himself for the irishgarden as well, and, um, I you
know he's going to look atbiodiversity friendly practices,
permaculture, his own kind offrench style potager gardening,
so, um, it should be a very goodtalk as well.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Then in the afternoon , or that is the afternoon,
that's the afternoon on theWednesday and then we're on to
Thursday and we have SarahEberle, who's another of our UK
speakers this year, and she'sbasically sharing the story of
winning 19 Chelsea gold medalsin Chelsea with those in
(28:08):
attendance at Burroughs House.
And she began exhibiting atChelsea with a garden on the
main avenue and then since thenshe's had gardens in every
single garden category, fromartisan to sanctuary to major
show gardens and exhibits in theGrand Pavilion and revealing,
(28:30):
you know, lots of usefulplanting tips.
You know that everybody cantake home and try for themselves
(28:51):
.
And she's also going to look atthe trends that have come and
gone and probably come againwithin her gardening career, and
I think that's.
We had a lovely talk there lastyear, uh, with bonnie guinness,
and I think that's going to bean equally enjoyable talk, uh,
this year yeah, for sure yeah,and that afternoon then we take
(29:12):
over to a grainy house and herbgardens.
So we're in burr's house at 11o'clock and then there are two
sessions with um, um, withmckelly of giy, in uh kilgrainy
house and herb gardens, which isjust a couple of miles over the
road.
Uh, the first one, um, is atthree o'clock and the next one
(29:35):
is at five o'clock.
And I suppose, as somebody whogrew up just having to run to
the garden to get literallyoutside our door at home to get
the freshest of every kind ofvegetable imaginable, my father
was a brilliant vegetablegardener.
Now, he wasn't that interestedin the flowers but loved
(29:56):
vegetable gardening and how muchwe took it for granted and
didn't realize what we had atall.
And now, um, as someone who whojust buys vegetables in the
supermarket, um, I love thetitle of this uh, food empathy
growing your own food for ahealthy, sustainable future.
(30:17):
So, for all of us who aspire toactually getting back to even a
smidgen of what people did 30or 40 years ago, um, I think
this is this is a very good talkyeah, for sure, and yeah, that
it's.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
It'll be a brilliant talk, mick, mick is brilliant.
Um geo, the whole giy movementis very good and that's
something that you know.
What you just said there,that's something that we work
very hard on on the podcast andand we talk a lot about is
people growing their own food,showing people, teaching people
how to do that.
So, yeah, that'll be a really,really, really good uh talk for
(30:53):
sure yeah, um, so that's.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
We have two sessions there, at three o'clock and five
o'clock, so they tend to getbooked up quite fast.
So what we've done for the pastcouple of years is we've added
a second uh talk at five o'clock.
So, um, if people don't makethe first session, we always say
you know, take a walk?
Um through the village of boris, a beautiful village, and the
(31:19):
step house straight opposite theum, straight opposite the gates
of borough's house is is open,um, if people want to enjoy, you
know, a late lunch or a relaxedcup of tea or coffee.
And if you don't make the threeo'clock, well, then you'll be
able to um, to head on to thefive o'clock one, very good.
(31:39):
And then the following day wehave the double header in
Ultimate Plant Sales.
The first talk in the morning isat 11 o'clock.
It's from the back garden togold medals, by Rosie Hardy.
She's an RHS vice president.
And then later that day atthree o'clock, we have Nick
(32:01):
Bailey, again a fairly regularpresenter on BBC Gardener's
World, and Nick is going to talkabout designing gardens in 10
easy steps.
Now there's a change to theformat somewhat of this event
for this year, john, so wealways had this as a full day
(32:25):
ticketed event, so you boughtyour ticket for for the two
talks.
This year we decided, um tooffer them as individual talks,
um, so they they cost 20 euroeach, but if people want to stay
for the full day, um, and wethink they both speakers, merit
the investment of stay for thefull day, um, and we think they
both speakers merit theinvestment of time for the full
(32:45):
day um, it's a reduced fee of 35euro.
So rosie hardy, again, um, shestarted off in her own back
garden, um, and she also hasgone on to win a number of
Chelsea gold medals and shetalks about.
You know what it takes toactually succeed to such a level
(33:09):
on the Chelsea stage.
But then she's also going tofocus quite a bit of her talk on
planting advice, choosing theright plants for the conditions,
long lasting color and kind ofmaintaining structure in the
garden, and that will be a verygood talk.
And in the afternoon then, andnick bailey covers, as as it
(33:32):
says on the tin as such,designing the garden 10 easy
steps he's going to coverselecting the right plants for
the right space, how you getyear-round interest in the
garden, how you get color intoit all the time and how you can
try and revamp a tired lookinggarden or, if you're starting
from scratch, how you do that aswell.
(33:54):
And I heard Nick's talk inDuckett's Grove in 2023 and
again it was a packed out talkum very, very interesting talk
on the day, um, and he'spromised to share with us um
kind of some of the I'm notsaying juicy gossip, but some of
(34:14):
the little tidbits, uh thatcome from being a presenter on
bbener's World and all thebehind the scenes insight that
happens in the gardening worldas well.
So that's the key day inUltimate Plant Sales and we
leave a nice break between themorning and the afternoon job.
(34:37):
So we start at half 11.
We're finished kind of aboutone o'clock.
There's a good um two hours,then till three, so people love
to walk down the main gardens uh, they all.
There's, obviously sugar andspice cafe.
They're doing um salads andsandwiches, um, and for anyone
who wants um something, you know, a main course lunch.
(35:00):
The forge up at the crossroads,uh, about a mile from ultimate,
has just reopened and they'reopen on the day, obviously, uh
doing uh lunches I didn't knowthat had reopened.
Speaker 1 (35:13):
That used to be brilliant, yeah, it used to be
really good and and we, wepassed it.
I was in ultimate, not thatterrible long ago, but less than
a month ago, um, but we, wewould have been in the forge
lots of times over the years asyou'd be traveling typically
towards wexford, um and it was agood stop it was a great stop.
Yeah, and I was.
Yeah, I was surprised it wasclosed because it was always
(35:34):
always chock-a-block when youwent into it.
That's good to know.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
It's back open yeah, it's back open and um under um
ph.
Phil and Kay are the two ownersinvolved.
Phil is the chef, kay is frontof house.
But a lot of you know the focuson local, the warm hospitality.
You know that's still verystrong.
Speaker 1 (35:55):
So it's great to see Brilliant, for sure.
So then we're heading for thelast couple of days here now.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
So on Saturday, then the 2nd of August, this is our
day when we split between Deltaand Huntington Castle.
So in the morning we have MaryKeenan, and Mary Keenan is
talking about designing andplanting a fragrant garden, and
I suppose Mary has a huge amountof experience in this because
(36:24):
she's owner of gash gardens incounty leash and obviously she's
had big roles in in public parkdesign, editor of the irish
garden, um.
So she'll have lots ofpractical advice and inspiration
for people, um.
And basically she will focus onthe right plants, the right
(36:45):
choices to fill the space withscent throughout the year.
So everything fromold-fashioned roses and sweet
peas, um to herbs, you know,aromatic shrubs, um.
So that's in the morning andit's at 11 o'clock and then
anyone who would like to theycan go on a guided tour after
(37:06):
the walk around the gardens.
And in the afternoon then we goto Huntington Castle and we meet
the celebrated garden writer,robin Lane Fox.
He's, I think, the longestgardening columnist in the UK.
He writes for the FinancialTimes.
(37:27):
He's written a number of booksas well.
So he's going to look at howgardening itself is changing and
he's kind of tried and trustedshortcuts that can really help
transform a garden space withouttoo much effort, or maybe less
(37:47):
effort than you might havethought necessary.
And again, um, I think this isour third time over all the
years having robin, but likethomas packenham, he's a very,
very witty speaker, um, but alsoa very knowledgeable speaker.
So he's there in the afternoonat three o'clock and that leads
(38:09):
us in nicely into the last day,which is Sunday, the 3rd of
August.
In the morning we're doing aguided walk of the Bean Barrow
Experience Gardens, um inbagnalstown, with rosie may, um,
also a writer, in the irishgarden and obviously, um, she's
a big social media presence aswell with the insomniac gardener
(38:32):
and she'll take us through the10 different gardens, um, within
the beam barrow experiencegardens, and they're beautiful,
uh, beam, for, for yourlisteners who aren't aware, it's
a training center for peoplewith disabilities and um, the
participants would garden, wouldmaintain the gardens there, and
(38:55):
over the years, uh, they'veadded a number.
They have a mindfulness garden,a french, a convent garden,
because the site would haveoriginally belonged to the nuns,
the monastic courtyard.
Our gardeners love picking uptips, so it's practical advice
(39:25):
as well on planting andcomposting and garden structure
and colour.
And then that afternoon we havea walk and talk with Eanna Ní
Leona at the forest in Rathwood.
So to the right hand side of theentrance to Rathwood is a
(39:45):
beautiful forest I think.
It's about 170 acres of nativeflora and fauna, and Lena will
take us on a guided walk there.
You park within the car park inRathwood and you know we will
take the visitors down then tothe forest itself and she will
(40:08):
go through the importance of ourforest for biodiversity, for
our native fauna, and that's aswell proving to be a very
popular walk and that's as wellproving to be a very popular
walk.
So it could be just literallywalking under beech, oak, birch,
douglas fir and learning allabout the importance of trees to
(40:31):
our daily lives.
Speaker 1 (40:33):
Yeah, sure, and the last couple of days they're like
some fantastic speakers.
You mentioned Mary Keenan,again a fantastic gardener and
going to talk about you knowwell her experience, which is
phenomenal.
Her gardens themselves GashGardens are brilliant, and if
(40:56):
she's talking about, as you said, putting the right plant into
the right place or that type ofa talk, you'll get really good
practical advice.
And Rosie May, obviously afantastic gardener, brilliant
speaker as well, a fantasticgardener, brilliant speaker as
well, and really, really good at, I suppose, translating
information that people can takeaway.
As you say, gardeners like toget things that they can take
away and use in their owngardens and definitely rosie is
one of the best at that.
You know she makes, she makesthings sound and and and shows
(41:16):
things that are simple to do and, yeah, really great two days
there.
So, again, a fantastic lineupof speakers the whole way
through.
Speaker 2 (41:26):
So you know, well done again on putting this all
together you, you, you were verykind at the beginning, john, in
that you um you were sayingcarla tourism uh brings the
festival and arranges thefestival, but we do it very um
much in tandem with the carlogarden trail committee and our
chairperson is robert miller ofultimate plant sales, and then
(41:49):
all the members um would feedinto the program very strongly.
They would all have their ownthoughts as to potential
speakers, um, and that's reallywhat makes it great.
I suppose we do a lot of thepractical things in terms of
organization, bookings, all ofthat.
(42:09):
But one thing that um I hearagain and again from people is,
above all, they love thespeakers, that the speakers are
so knowledgeable and so variedand there's, you know, different
topics.
There's something to suiteverybody really.
So it's the, the members of thegarden trail who come up with
those um, so the biggest debt isis to uh that committee yeah,
(42:34):
for sure, I know, and it isfantastic, fantastic lineup
again this year.
Speaker 1 (42:39):
There's so many there that people would be interested
in and it's definitely, youknow it's.
It's unique in that it'sseveral days in a row, but what
is it?
Five or six, six days in a row?
And it's actually nine ninedays, wow, and yes, we know,
because we collapse and yeah,but someone can.
(43:01):
Someone can sort of make a nicemini break out of it and take in
two or three days, or they canmake a full holiday out of it
and take in a week.
You know people, people thatyou know, are into that and it's
unusual to have such acollection and variety of
speakers in you know relatively,relatively condensed space.
You know you'll often see theseindividual speakers coming for
brilliant talks here and there,but to have such a variety and
(43:23):
to you know, to have so muchover the course of of nine days,
as you said, it's a, it's afantastic, a fantastic lineup.
Um, yeah, so well done again.
Um, it sounds brilliant.
I'll put the link for tickets inthe show notes so people can
can can click through there.
And one or two are sold out.
Others are definitely in highdemand.
(43:45):
So if you are are interested oryou have any mind to go, just
start having a look now at yourtickets because, yeah, as I say,
some of them do sell out.
Eileen, it's been brilliant,brilliant having you on again to
hear all about carla gardenfestival.
Well, done on everything that'sorganized and thank you very,
very much for coming on mastermy garden podcast.
So that's been this week'sepisode.
(44:06):
A huge thanks to eileen forcoming on.
As I say, a really, reallygreat uh lineup again.
It was a fantastic lineup forthe last few years, but this
year is top class.
As I said, the variety that'sreally what catches the eye is
you.
You get every type of speaker.
So, whether it's the historicalgarden element that interests
you, whether it's the growingyour own food that interests you
(44:26):
, whether it's plantingcombinations, gardening,
sustainability and forage andyou know there's, there's
something for everybody thereand I think that's the big thing
.
Then you're going to see,obviously, a lot of the gardens
from carlo garden trail as partof those talks and I think
that's, you know, another addedbonus to that.
So, yeah, really, really worthchecking out.
(44:47):
Link for tickets is in the shownotes and uh, yeah, I think
you'll get something for it ifyou do, if you do come along and
visit.
And that's been this week'sepisode.
Thanks for listening and untilthe next time, happy gardening.
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