In this month’s magazine Shirley Lanigan paid a visit to Paula Forte’s Enniscorthy garden, The Ring Wood…
“The approach to Paula Forte’s house is a curved drive flanked by lime trees and box balls set into lawn. To one side, I spotted a semi-circular hedge of hornbeam and made a note to investigate what lay behind it later. An apron of gravel sweeps out from the front of the house with a set of steps leading up to the building and downhill to the wood. The first point of interest was a grove of tall trees planted right against the house walls. Paula told me their story: “When the builder was finishing the house he said that I’d be needing a nice cement path around the building, but I knew I wanted plants against the house.” Everyone fretted about root damage to the foundations, but Paula assured herself that this would not be a problem. So today there is a golden Robinia pseudoacacia ‘Aurea’ with a Cotinus coggygria, together stretching for the roof. “Purple and yellow — the Wexford colours!” Paula declared.”
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