Cork garden is a labour of love for all the family

ON the first day of a new month the garden is looking good and grateful for the recent rain. Plants were starting to burn up and some were loosing leaves in an attempt to cope but the rain has restored green growth and the warm and humid weather has encouraged new growth. It is a great time of the year to visit gardens and get design and planting ideas for our own gardens. A recent visit to Margaret Naughton’s garden at Fornaught in Donoughmore revealed two acres of some admirable planting and garden rooms. Lots of herbaceous perennials and grasses combined with specimen tree and shrub plantings are surrounded by hedging to create a series of sheltered garden rooms.

Margaret and Connie began the garden some 24 years ago and began by planting a hedge at the perimeter and some trees to create a shelter belt. Initially the rest of the two acres was grass and remained as so until 2015 when work to create a series of garden rooms began in earnest. It really is a great idea to establish a shelter belt at the outset as it allows so much more options for planting. The soil is acid and some farm yard manure was used at the planting stage to boost fertility.

Margaret is a plant lover and collector and has a great eye for different plant combinations and is not afraid to implement them on a large scale. 

A weeping Cedar at the centre of one of the areas was surrounded by a circle of Salvia caradonna and Alchemilla mollis to wonderful effect!

The garden is a family affair with Connie currently employed building a stone wall around the walled garden area, son Corey an avid gardener also heavily involved in the development and ongoing management of the garden and daughter Hayleigh also having a keen interest in gardening. This garden is a labour of love for all of the family.

As you move from room to room there is a different planting theme in each area. The first area entered in front of the house was a very formal space divided into four with a liquidamber tree at the centre of each space surrounded by Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’ and catmint, all mulched with gravel and mypex, a great low maintenance option.

The next area was a combination of different shades of green provided by lots of grasses, there was lots of movement with the frothy foliage and flowers of the grasses blowing in the wind, a very different looser feeling in this space. Lots of different shades of green with no flower colour making it a very relaxing and calming space.

The next area featured a Cornus controversa ‘Variegata’ as its center and lots of very healthy and happy looking Hostas adjacent to a pergola planted with different roses leading back to the house.

A Japanese pagoda takes center stage at one corner close to the house with a water feature and some bamboo and Acers creating enclosure. Bamboo is used throughout the garden with hedging to define different spaces and it is a great plant to create a screen and bulk out quickly, do be careful to choose varieties that are clump forming and not running types which can be very invasive. A long and narrow space with borders on both sides takes you down to a large lawn space adjacent to the patio and house. This area is surrounded by interesting planting with Cornus ‘Miss Satomi’ and Birch trees combined with Alstromerias, Azaleas, Berberis, bamboos, acers, hydrangeas and much more to create a very pleasing space to sit and relax adjacent to the house. I suspect that there is little sitting and relaxing done by this gardening family!

Margaret’s much loved dahlia collection is housed in raised beds and large metal bins next to the polytunnel. 

This area is also home to some tropical looking cannas in pots with their stripey leaves and hot flower colours.

The jewel in the crown of this garden has to be the walled garden. Connie was putting the finishing touches to the stone around the outside on our visit. Within the walls was a collection of the best herbaceous with Alstromeria ‘Indian Summer’ putting on a fine display combined with lilies, catmint, ladys mantle, clover, thalictrum, lychnis, crocosmia, clematis and dahlias. A stone sculpture was the focal point of this space as you look in from the gate.

Sculptures feature throughout the garden, creating focal points and drawing the eye to particular areas.

This garden is a feast for the senses and will delight plants people and gardeners. It is open to the public for Marymount on Sunday July 23 from 11am until 6pm and is well worth a visit. See marymount.ie for more details.

PLANT OF THE WEEK

There was no shortage of plants to choose from with a range of herbaceous, shrubs and trees providing interest and colour throughout the garden.

An interesting Hypericum inodorum ‘Miracle Night’, pictured right, was growing in a mixed border.

It is a low growing shrub with dark bronze foliage which contrasts beautifully with the yellow flower which bears dark red berries after flowering.

Best grown in full sun to part shade and prefers a moist but free draining soil.

It is a compact shrub getting to about 1m in height and 60cm width. The foliage of this plant was quite eye catching.