A long weekend in Ireland with the opportunity to visit some beautiful gardens near Dublin? Yes please. Last weekend I had the absolute pleasure of visiting two glorious and quite well known gardens.
Patthana Garden in County Wicklow is tucked away behind the village home of owner and founder, artist T.J Maher and his partner Simon Kirby. Abundantly planted, the garden was created 25 years ago and has continued to evolve.
From the rear of the house, circular granite steps rise from a cobbled courtyard (resplendent with an huge array of plants in containers – the colours are glorious). Within the courtyard are ancient granite walls from a previous building, where T.J has created a shady fernery. Much has been crammed into the courtyard, including a tiny pond and potting shed.
At the top of the steps, you arrive in the ‘inner garden’ where you are greeted with wide, grassy paths and deep borders of perennials, scattered with a mix of annuals, including several tender plants, protected by the high trees above. Immaculate box balls are tucked into generous beds brimming with hydrangeas and white anenomes in the white and green section, and in the pink section, a sweet shop selection of pinks, including phlox, echinacea, dahlias, gladioli and cosmos amongst others. Everywhere is colour, colour, colour and the garden simply buzzes with insects.
In 2020, T.J and Simon purchased an acre of land from the next-door farmer and began to created the ‘Torc’ garden which, a year later, was ready to open to the public. Wide, wide borders stretch towards the stone wall perimeter with luscious planting and plants spilling over paths. The effect is wilder, more natural and contrasts beautifully with the agricultural landscape beyond the stone wall that borders the garden. A grassy mound towards the back of the garden protects a gravelled seating area from which to sit and immerse yourself in the clever planting and watch the amazing array of butterflies and bees.
Patthana Garden is open on Sundays from noon to 5pm from mid-April until the 1st Sunday of October. A bonus is if you go along on the 1st Sunday of every month when T.J. gives a garden talk at 2pm on seasonal topics. No appointments are necessary for the talk and this is included in the entry fee. They even serve tea and home-made cake on vintage china. All in all, a lovely afternoon out.
The second garden I visited was Ardán Garden in Howth, near Dublin Bay. In fact, say owners Nuala Doherty and Conall O’Caoimh, you can spot Ardán from the aeroplane as you fly in to Dublin airport, providing you are sitting in a seat in the ABC side of the plane – a useful tip for next time for sure!
Ardán Garden is part of the Dublin Garden Trail and is situated nearly at the top of the hill at Howth penisula. Dublin Bay is part of the Unesco biosphere so the entire area is very special indeed.
The garden overlooks heathery moorland beyond and before Nuala and Conall began to garden there in 2003, the area surrounding the house mainly comprised of field and solid granite!
As soon as you arrive at the house, you know you’re in for a treat as the front garden, with its exotic planting and towering copper sculpture. A small gate with hand-made stained glass panels prepares you for the colours beyond.
It is incredible to think that twenty years ago, this glorious garden used to be a field! A wide grassy path, flanked by packed borders in shades of pink twists towards a central point where the visitor can ponder their next move. Should you take a left turn, you will find yourself in the white garden, where pillowy mounds of hydrangea Annabelle surround a sculpture created by Conall himself. Should you turn right, you will come face to face with an enormous mound of natural granite – part of which had to be cut away to form the garden. The granite has been planted not only with hardy alpines but also with a variety of aeoniums which have been tucked into little pockets in the granite. Of course the aeoniums will have to be brought inside once there is a risk of frost but during the summer months they make an unusual addition to the imposing granite.
Further down the garden, steps lead to the exotic garden, complete with small pond and bog garden. Conall explained his water recycling method whereby rainwater is collected off the roof of the house which runs underground to the bog garden and pond. The natural water is ph neutral and the ponds have attracted newts, who shelter in the dry stone walls built by Conall. The exotic plants in this area vary hugely in size and shape – so many to mention but here are just a few – Agaves, Cannas, Pseudopanax, the dandelion tree, Sonchus canariensis and a giant lobelia, Lobelia giberroa which is slightly like an echium in its height and leaf, but with a tall, slender stem.
Further down the sloping garden can be found a vegetable potager with copper edged (to deter slugs) raised beds, all neatly planted with seasonal vegetables. The apple tree in the corner is the only thing that remains from the original garden which was mostly granite and bracken! Beyond this can be found the woodlands garden, where native birches dotted with the occasional rowan are underplanted with ferns and a selection of spring bulbs. Once the spring bulbs have finished, the woodland floor is carpeted with white campanula, toadflax and astrantia. Conall and Nuala planted the trees close together to ensure they remained smaller with narrower stems, giving a ‘bamboo’ effect.
As well as a talented gardener, Conall is also a sculptor and his creations can be seen dotted around the garden. Conall and Nuala write a double page column in the Irish publication “The Irish Garden”, with seasonal tales and garden hints and tips. If you wish to visit Ardán Garden, please check out the Dublin Garden Trail site.
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