The January/February issue has lots of ideas for the new year!
A clean slate!
How wonderful it is that the New Year comes along and, with it, a new growing season and fresh opportunity? Already the sun is once again rising in the sky, its rays creeping northwards day by day to warm the soil and trigger plants into growth. There is time to make plans and preparations for the new growing year and we have lots of ideas and tips across 20 pages in Garden care and Know-how.
In PLANT PROFILE, James Wickham traces the development of the decorative garden busy lizzies and looks to some related kinds. In GARDEN VISIT, Pauline and Pat Hegarty's garden sits at the bottom of a valley on the outskirts of Clonmel in South Tipperary. With a positive rainbow of colourful bark on trees and shrubs, Deborah Begley outlines the best ones to choose in a special feature. Shirley Lanigan visited recently.
In DESIGN DESK, Gabriele Sanio offers design suggestions for a rural garden on 1.5 acres in Co. Offlay. Designer Orla Kiely told to Yvonne Gordon that while she loves the rowan tree. Dick Warner advises that garden birds can be fed through the year. In GARDEN CENTRE EXPERIENCE, Mary McGuinness won €300 worth of plants at O'Meara's Gardne Pavilion, Mullingar, Co. Westmeath.
In Style essentials, Lindie Naughton features a range of garden and conservatory accessories and equipment. A new year in the garden, what better than a subscription to The Irish Garden, now available in digital edition as well as printed?
And please remember to support suppliers who advertise goods and services with The Irish Garden!
Contents
GARDEN CARE
04 Ornamental garden
10 Kitchen garden
14 Greenhouse and indoor plants
PLANTS AND GARDENS
16 GARDEN VISIT: Rising to the challenge!
Pauline and Pat Hegarty's garden sits at the bottom of a valley of wooded hills on the outskirts of Clonmel in South Tipperary. It can be a challenging location as Pauline outlined to Shirley Lanigan.
22 PLANT PROFILE: Lady of the woods
Silver birch is a familiar tree, a tree of great elegance with its stately trunk and pendulous twigs. Ciaran Burke reviews the various kinds of garden birches.
28 FEATURE: Designs for Christmas!
Floral artist Carol Bone presents three festive flower arrangements - a table centre piece, welcome wreath and a showy amaryllis display in a pot.
37 FAVOURITE PLANT: Entertainer Mary Black
64 HEAD GARDENER: James Wharry is head gardener at Glenarm Castle, Co. Antrim.
67 HOUSE PLANT: Claire Woods features a new form of poinsettia.
GARDEN DESIGN and KNOW-HOW
32 DESIGN DESK: Shane O'Neill proposes a design for a large rural garden on a slope with a view.
38 KNOW-HOW: feedback from our readers
Ask a question about a gardening problem
Pass on a useful tip to other readers,
or tell us about your success story ... and win a prize!
Expert advice and ideas
Shirley Lanigan
Rachel Darlington
REFLECTIONS
46 GARDEN HISTORY: Mr Hodgins and his hollies
Seamus O'Brien tells the story of a famous Wicklow nurseryman.
59 NATURE GARDEN: Dick Warner writes about mushrooms and toadstools.
60 NOTEBOOK: Midlands Mary Waldron
Crocus, Yoshino cherry, kousa and Algerian iris
61 NOTEBOOK: South Brian Cross
Christmas rose, rhododendron, celastrus and tropaeolum
80 WEEKENDER: In the country with Mary Davies.
LIFESTYLE
52 STYLE ESSENTIALS: Lindie Naughton has compiled a selection of garden accessories and equipment with a seasonal flavour.
56 COOKING: Niall Murphy's recipes for Beetroot Soup, Mushroom and Nut Stuffing, Christmas Ice Cream and Pan Fried Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta, and Caroline Byrne suggests a choice of Christmas wines.
70 GARDEN CENTRE EXPERIENCE: Mark Hanley won €300 worth of plants at Kinsealy Garden Centre, Co. Dublin.
FEATURES
50 FEATURE: Radharc Landscaping Company, Co. Galway.
74 Classified advertising
76 UPDATE and GARDEN CLUB NOTES - what's on around the country this month.
77 OVERLEAF books for the season with Mary Davies