A child-centred garden in Moycullen will feature on RTE’s Supergarden on Tuesday next, May 1
The Clients
Richard Bowen and his wife Joanna are the proud owners of the Galway garden in Moycullen. They also have a one-year-old daughter with another baby on the way. Richard enjoys spending time in his garden, even in its current state it has been used for many summer BBQ's and garden parties. Richard loves the outdoors and wants nothing more than to spend hours in the garden with his young family. He wants to have a garden full of colour and life.
The Bowens want a garden that they can nurture and grow. They are very interested in introducing their little girl into the world of gardening and want the back garden to be a place in which they can educate her. The garden should also be "nature friendly".
For the Bowen family they want a garden that is child friendly, they want to be able to relax in a beautiful space with their growing family.
The Garden
The Moycullen garden is a medium sized garden in a semi-rural location. The garden has a couple of mature trees at the back which the Bowens are anxious to retain. The garden is currently covered in a lawn which slopes down from the back of the house. There are a few pieces of run down garden furniture and a broken down coal shed at the bottom of the garden.
The Challenge
The garden has a pronounced slope which needs to be dealt with as part of the design process. There is an oil tank and a boiler at the back of the house which will need to be disguised or hidden.
The family want the garden to be a place which will attract wild life, offer a safe play area for their children and provide a space for relaxation and entertainment. The Bowens' favourite flowers are daisies and they would like this to be reflected in the design.
The garden should be relatively low maintenance and should also include a fruit and vegetable element.
The Design
Anne's design is called "A Garden for Lazy Day-sies". She is taking the daisy as the main design theme for this garden. This will be reflected in the patio at the bottom of the garden which will have a central daisy design. Anne is hoping to construct daisy shaped planting beds either side of the steps leading up from the patio to the circular lawn area. The lawn will feature a series of stepping stones in the shape of daisies. She also wants to take the opportunity to disguise the existing oil tank and boiler at the back of the house. She intends to include a "dead hedge" in the garden as a way to attract wildlife to the garden. The slope in the garden will be dealt with by making a circular patio area at the bottom of the garden and building steps up to a circular lawn.
The Designer
Anne Byrne, from Gort Co. Galway, is a married full time mother of one with a passion for gardening. Anne's loves of gardening was born when she read the book by Alan Titchmarsh "How To Be a Gardener". Anne has an RHS level 2, where she was introduced to different areas of horticulture, but decided to go down the design route. She spent a summer working in a gardening centre. The garden was constructed by Patrick Harris ofHarris Landscaping, Athenry, in conjunction with a host of enthusiastic volunteers. Patrick, involved in the gardens hard landscaping, has been running a landscaping business in Galwayfor the past 10 years. Works by Harris Landscaping have previously featured on Diarmuid Gavins' hit TV show I Want A Garden
Anne believes in ordinary gardens for ordinary people. This means gardens should consist of flowers, trees and vegetables. She is not a fan of contemporary or cutting edge design. Anne will call on everyone she knows to help her create her perfect design.
Anne wants her garden to have the wow factor, she wants her clients to feel good as soon as they step into it. She wants her garden to be a place full of joy. Anne feels she can create both a functional and beautiful family garden. Anne is hoping to some day have her own garden design business.
