An award-winning show garden from this year’s Bloom event in Phoenix Park, Dublin, is getting a new lease of life after being rebuilt as a permanent feature in Fota Wildlife Park in Cork.
My land, your land
The garden, called ‘My Land, Your Land’ was created by Hungarian designer Tunde Szentesi for the garden show and won a silver-gilt medal. Tunde took her inspiration from the Irish countryside, tracing the story of Irish agriculture through a farm-to-fork circle incorporated into the garden and showcasing how Irish farming has embraced sustainable practices and produces safe and affordable food.
The garden has a woodland section, a fruit and vegetable garden, and a variety of crops and trees, as well as a traditional hedgerow, wildflowers, a composting area and water conservation unit. A traditional red hay shed, complete with kitchen and dining area, provides space for workshops, attended during the show by some 800 primary school children who were invited on special tours to see the garden.
The garden is now being faithfully recreated close to the educational unit at Fota Wildlife Park, so that schools can use it as an educational resource to teach children about agriculture and biodiversity.
“The new resource will serve to educate our younger visitors on how our woodlands, native trees, grasses and associated wildlife can co-exist with agricultural practices,” said a park spokesperson.
The garden is not the only one to be reconstructed after the show: first time Bloom designers Laura Cassin, Louise Jones and Linda Murphy, who won Overall Medium Garden winners for their Teagasc Garden of Hope, have now moved the garden to a permanent home at one of sponsor Pieta House’s crisis centres. And two smaller, 5m x 5m gardens created by schools in a pilot project at the show are to become outdoor classrooms at Ashton School in Cork, and Colinstown Community College in Clondalkin.