A blooming great design
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Cork garden designer Sean Russell with his 2 year old son Robert. Photos: Robbie ReynoldsImage 2 of 4
Sean’s Sustainable Dairy Farm Garden resembles a traditional, old-style Irish country farm, complete with milk churns, dry stone walls, a mature grass clover pasture and an old open structured farm outhouse. Elements such as the bespoke metal furniture and a specially commissioned bronze wire mesh cow make this a unique space.Image 3 of 4
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A Cork landscaper’s garden has won gold at this year’s Bloom.
The National Dairy Council recently announced that its show garden has won gold in the medium garden category at this year’s Bord Bia Bloom which was designed by Cork landscape designer Sean Russell.
The National Dairy Council Sustainable Dairy Farm Garden resembles a traditional, old-style Irish country farm.
Sean, originally from Youghal, spent months planning and building the garden.
He said: “I’m really delighted to have won gold at Bloom this year. It’s my first time to have designed a garden for the event so it’s even more special.
“I grew up on a dairy farm in Cork so I know instinctively the features that needed to be included and all the original salvaged farm props. The plants are all native to Ireland and we have used a lot of white clover, foxgloves and biodiversity to get across our sustainability messages within the garden.”
The garden is designed to emphasise the importance of grass-fed dairy animals in Ireland and the quality of milk which is produced.
It allows the viewer to understand that the basic methods of milk production remain largely unchanged to the present day.
Sean has also used white clover in the garden as it naturally attracts and retains nitrogen from the atmosphere, making it available for plant growth.
Cathy Curran, Communications Manager NDC said of the garden: “We are really excited to tell the dairy farm story to a largely urban audience at Bloom.
“Farmers’ actions throughout their farmland play a key role in maintaining and developing habitats and wildlife, whilst also reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” concluded Cathy.