Ask Gerry

I am bringing my mother to Ireland October 7-18th and we will be in Co. Kerry and then Dublin for two days. She loves gardens and we would like to visit a few. Will there be flowers that late in the season? I am thinking of Bantry, Ilnacullen, Muckross and a couple of gardens in Dublin. Do you have any suggestions as to which gardens will show best at that time of year? I have been in Ireland in March and June previously and saw amazing plant beauty. Will fall offer anything comparable?

We have a brand new garden and have an area approx 6mx6m that I want with plants/shrubs of some kind in.I want Zero Maintenance if possible but want it to have some colour and look nice, I was going to put a weed block down with bark on top in between the plants. I live in Mayo so we have a lot of rain, and I'm on an elevated site so it can get very windy, the soil has a lot of clay in it.I would be extremely grateful for some ideas of what to plant.

I have some pylons within view of my house. Now that the leaves are falling off the trees they look closer than they are. How do I cover these up? What are the best trees/other to make the garden look lovely & draw the eye away from these? What's the best way to plant them & where's best to buy them?

Just wondering what would be best to plant on bank (see attached photo). Bank is along busy road. Would like something relatively maintenance free and perhaps some colour. Roadside faces north. Soil quality would be average. Many thanks.

HI Gerry, just bought a new house in Kilcoole. Back garden is northfacing and I have built a shed & open roofed area across back wall. garden is small but slopes towards house. What would be the best design & plants for this garden? I do have 2 stella cherry trees, 1 Hazelnut tree, hydranga x 2 and a number of others, what would be the best locations for these?

Hi Gerry, we are just starting to design a fairly large garden. We live in a fairly windy area and sometimes get a slight frost. There are a few areas I would like to grow clusters of possibly 3 trees together. I particularly like evergreen trees, some with a bit of colour, I would be most grateful if you could give me a few suggestions as to what trees would look good together. Thank you,
Martha