20-07-2025
A roll call of stars - including Joy Larkcom-Pollard and Monty Don - to feature at hugely popular Carlow Garden Festival
In the busy, buzzy merry-go-round of fairs and festivals that increasingly punctuate the Irish gardening season, Carlow Garden Festival has a special place in the hearts of many. Starting today, it is now in its 23rd year, and the diversity and expertise of its speakers, the charm and beauty of its venues and the enthusiasm and interest of the public have combined to create a unique annual event that's become a joyful celebration of all things gardening, as well as a vivid snapshot of the vibrancy of the Irish gardening community itself.
To give a flavour of its rich history, consider for a moment the list of contributors who took part in the inaugural festival in 2002. It includes – of course it does –
Helen Dillon
, the venerable gardener, writer and broadcaster of international renown, whose remarkable contribution to the world of horticulture is still felt to this day. Also taking part was the late Dick Warner, the passionate environmentalist, conservationist, nature writer and gifted broadcaster whose eloquent guardianship of the natural world inspired a new generation of gardeners and nature lovers.
The highly respected garden historian Finola Reid, champion of the Great Gardens of Ireland Restoration Programme, is another name on that list. So too is Gerry Daly, the esteemed broadcaster, garden writer, columnist, designer and former co-founder and editor of the Irish Garden magazine, a household name since his stint in the 1980s as presenter of what was surely Ireland's very first TV gardening series, Room Outside.
Joining them at that same inaugural festival was the biologist, broadcaster and author
Éanna Ní Lamhna
, now this paper's Eye on Nature columnist. Also taking part was the broadcaster, garden centre owner and nurseryman Stiofán Nutty and Rachel Doyle, the well-known businesswoman, entrepreneur, horticulturist and owner/founder of the Arboretum Garden Centre. So was the late Dermot O'Neill, the popular gardener, broadcaster, one-time gardening columnist of this paper, and one of the festival's staunchest early supporters.
READ MORE
Representing an era of huge change in the world of gardening, the festival's list of former guest speakers has grown to encompass a host of other great contributors who've shared their expertise over the years via workshops, exhibitions, talks, lectures, garden visits and guided walks.
Among the Irish or Irish-based gardeners, designers, historians, writers, nursery owners and plantspeople who have taken part are three Chelsea gold-medal-winning Irish garden designers, Paul Martin, Mary Reynolds and Diarmuid Gavin, as well as Seamus O'Brien, Thomas Pakenham, June Blake, Jimi Blake, Carl Wright, Matthew Jebb, Tanguy de Toulgoët, Dr John McCullen, Mary Keenan, Rory Newell, Frances MacDonald, Marie Staunton, Carmel Duignan, Neil Porteous, Fiann Ó'Nualláin, Leonie Cornelius, Elma Fenton, Margaret Gormley, Paul Smyth, Patricia Tyrrell, Oliver Schurmann, Assumpta Broomfield, Terence Reeves-Smith, Shirley Lanigan, Monica Alvarez, Arthur Shackleton, Klaus Laitenberger, Mary White, Madeline McKeever, Paul Maher, Randal Plunkett, John Anderson, Kitty Scully and Colm O'Driscoll.
Carol Klein
Well-known names from the international world of horticulture include the revered organic kitchen gardener and writer Joy Larkcom-Pollard, whose seminal books continue to inform and inspire a new generation of food growers; the esteemed British garden columnist and writer Anna Pavord, author of New York Times best-seller The Tulip; broadcaster, author and Gardeners' World presenter Monty Don; Financial Times gardening columnist and author Robin Lane-Fox; the author, plantsman and explorer Roy Lancaster, plus a host of internationally renowned British garden designers, writers and plants people including Tom Stuart-Smith, Carol Klein, Bob Brown, Sarah Price, Troy Scott Smith, Aaron Bertelsen, Adam Frost, Alys Fowler, Chris Beardshaw, Charles Dowding, Fergus Garrett, Dan Pearson, Ann-Marie Powell, Arthur Parkinson, Stephen Anderton, Bunny Guinness, Matthew Wilson, Jekka McVicar, James Alexander Sinclair, Nick Bailey, Joe Swift and Alan Gray.
Monty Don. Photograph: Marsha Arnold/PA
It's quite the roll call. All the more so when you consider that despite its heavyweight credentials, this annual festival is organised by a committee of volunteers (drawn mainly from members of the Carlow Garden Trail, supported by Carlow County Council and Carlow Tourism) operating on a surprisingly modest budget that relies heavily on public support in the shape of healthy ticket sales.
Huntington Castle, Co Carlow. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw
This year's festival runs Saturday, July 26th, to Sunday, August 3rd, and features the usual winning mix of internationally famous names, home-grown talent and charming locations. You can, for example, listen to the Irish rugby player and passionate gardener Peter O'Mahony in conversation with Adam Frost at the Arboretum (July 26th). Or join the nonagenarian garden historian, adventurer and dendrologist Thomas Pakenham at Huntington Castle as he talks about his latest book, The Tree Hunters: How the Cult of the Arboretum Transformed Our Landscape (July 28th).
At Hardymount Gardens (July 29th), Darragh Stone will talk about the continuing evolution of Danesmoate, the private Dublin garden of U2 band member
Adam Clayton
, where he's head gardener in residence, while Seamus O'Brien will be at Burtown (July 30th) to talk about his most recent expedition to the botanically diverse Yunnan province in western China.
Michael Kelly of GIY
The inspiring French-born, Laois-based organic gardener Tanguy de Toulgoët will be at Shankill Castle (also July 30th); the award-winning British garden designer Sarah Eberle at Borris House (July 31st); Michael Kelly of GIY at Kilgraney House (also July 31st); Rosy Hardy of the UK's Hardy's Cottage Garden Plants nursery at Altamont in conversation with Nick Bailey (August 1st); Mary Keenan at the Delta Sensory Centre (August 2nd); Robin Lane Fox at Huntington Castle (also August 2nd); and June Blake at Gairdín Beo (July 27th). I'll also be talking at the Delta Sensory Centre (July 28th). And that's only the half of it. For the complete schedule of talks, tours, workshops and guided walks (booking is essential), visit
.
This week in the garden
Watch out for self-sown seedlings of favourite perennials when weeding/hoeing, and mark them with labels to avoid accidentally beheading or uprooting them. Come autumn these can then be easily identified, gently lifted and either transplanted into a more permanent spot in the garden or potted up and gifted to family and friends.
Peg down the individual baby runners of strawberry plants into pots of multipurpose compost sunk into the ground to encourage them to develop their own independent root systems. Make sure to keep the pots regularly watered in the weeks ahead. Once they've properly rooted, these runners can then be snipped away from the parent plant, the pots gently lifted, and the young strawberry plants replanted where required.
Dates for your diary
RHSI Belfield Open Weekend
RHSI Belfield Gardens, Shinrone, Co Offaly,
today and tomorrow (Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th). With guided tours of the garden by head gardener Paul Smyth (noon and 2pm on both days) and plant sales.
St Anne's Park Annual Rose Festival and plant fair
Raheny, Dublin, today and tomorrow.
Plant Person's Course
Hunting Brook Gardens, Co Wicklow. Starting September 24th, a one-year course (one Tuesday per month) with the horticulturist, innovative designer and garden maker Jimi Blake, enrolment now open.
