Horticulture Connected Autumn Volume 4 Issue 1

HORTICULTURE CONNECTED

Spring 2017

News, analysis and trends in landscape, garden retail & edible horticulture

MIKE NEARY

THE GARDENING MARKET IN GROWTH

FRAZER McDONOGH

THE GREATEST LEVELLER

MARIA ACHTIDA

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE: HOW YOU CAN CREATE A SUSTAINABLE CAREER PATH

DECLAN BLACKMORE

PERSISTENCE PAYS: REALISING THE AMERICAN DREAM

Volume 4 Issue 1

Price: €12 ROI, £10 GBP

Specialist Perennial Growers Y 29 years in business Y Multiple Award Winning Nursery Y Bord Bia Awards ‘Grower of the Year’

Award Winning Wholesale Nursery Specialising in Perennials Alpines, Herbs and Grasses

Joe & Nuala Young Young Nurseries Ltd. Ballinanima, Kilfinane, Limerick

tel: 063 91035 l fax: 063 91500 email: info@youngnurseries.com w w w. y o u n g n u r s e r i e s . c o m

PHOTO BY SIMONALVINGE

EDITORS LETTER

EDITOR BARRY LUPTON

Please Persist

W

e’ve all been there. An exciting conference, seminar or industry event fills you with enthusiasm, renews your passion and presents you with new ways of thinking.

You leave ready to make changes, to take on the world and to really make a difference. Then the light fades, dimed by the distractions of your daily routine. Before you know it, you’re back doing what you’ve always done; your dreams of changing the world are a distant memory.

We talk a great game in Ireland. The world is put to rights from the comfort of armchairs, high stools and social comment boxes on a daily basis. But this talk amounts to nothing in the absence of action. And that’s where we fall down. We fail to follow through. Why? Because it is incredibly difficult to affect change, either internally or externally. Anyone who has made real change will tell you so. Anyone who has tried and failed will tell you how quick the world is to remind of that failure. Even if you manage to affect change, you might well become a victim of our unique brand of begrudgery. In many ways we are stuck in a mediocrity loop. Damned if we do or damned if we don’t.

Best to just keep your head down.

I love doers. I seek them out both professionally and personally. I try to interview them so their stories can be shared.

So young professionals can be inspired to move beyond ideas and words to action. If you’re a doer, get in touch!

Our sector has enough talkers. We need more doers.

People with vision, passion, commitment, energy and most importantly, persistence. Persistence is the most important quality for those wishing to make change. Persistence is what

will translate that great idea or those positive post-conference feelings into tangible results: just ask Paul Martin or Diarmuid Gavin or Andrew King of Gardenworld, Pat FitzGerald or Marion Keogh, or Gary Graham about Bloom, or Mick Kelly about GIY, or the lads behind Enrich Environmental, or Ciaran Burke, Peter Donegan, Jimi Blake, Terry O’Regan, Michael Gaffney, Doyle.... they're out there, and they know the value of persistence. You might also read this issue’s interview, which presents a great example of how persistence can pay, or Patricia Tyrell’s insightful and honest article on how she intends to change in 2017. Persistence and doers are both called for

by Eoghan Fernandez, who finds himself at the centre of the Landscape Quality Management System project. When it is finally realised, Eoghan will be giving lectures on persistence.

Also in this issue, we bring you up to speed with the latest news from Bord Bia and Teagasc, Colm Kenny throws light on why budgeting problems result in compromised landscapes, Liam Kelly looks at garden retailing recent history to envisage its future and Dónall Flanagan reports from IPM Essen. In education, we explore perceptions of Irish education with Yang Shen, a Chinese national studying at UCD, while senior lecturer Maria Achtida charts a course for those wishing to pursue a career in Landscape Architecture.

On the landscape and design fronts we have a full review of the recent GLDA seminar, water garden specialist Frazer McDonagh shares his thoughts on using water in the Irish landscape, we hear from a number of designers as they prepare for Bloom in the Park and Terry O’Regan explores the Irish landscape with French counterparts. ✽

HORTICULTURE CONNECTED

News, Analysis and Trends In Landscape, Garden Retail & Edible Horticulture

HORTICULTURE CONNECTED

Spring 2017

News, analysis and trends in landscape, garden retail & edible horticulture

MIKE NEARY

THE GARDENING MARKET IN GROWTH

FRAZER McDONOGH

THE GREATEST LEVELLER

MARIA ACHTIDA

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE: HOW YOU CAN CREATE A SUSTAINABLE CAREER PATH

DECLAN BLACKMORE

PERSISTENCE PAYS: REALISING THE AMERICAN DREAM

Volume 4 Issue 1

Price: €12 ROI, £10 GBP

Unit 3, CTEK Building Riverside Rd, Carrickmacross, Monaghan, Ireland +353 (0)42 966 3532 www.horticulture.ie

Editor: Barry Lupton editor@horticulture.ie News Editor & Advertising: Joseph Blair joseph@horticulture.ie - 087 921 2044 Creative Director: Tanya Gilsenan tanya@horticulture.ie Editorial Assistant: Koraley Northen Subscriptions & Sales: Anne Marie Browne annemarie@horticulture.ie Cover image: kichigin19 Photos: Koraley Northen & Joseph Blair

Printers: Turners Printing Print Run: 3,000 copies Distribution: Readership of 10,000 across Ireland from businesses and professionals in the following sectors: Landscape Architects / Garden Retail / Florists / Nurseries / Greenkeepers / Sports Surfaces / Local Authorities & Parks Departments / Machinery / Education / Edible Horticulture Publishers: Horticulture Connected LTD See Hortitrends.ie for Daily News Updates

Spring 2017 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

1

CONTENTS

Contents NEWS

LANDSCAPE

03 HORTICULTURE NEWS

31 C OMPROMISED LANDSCAPES Cost estimating specialist Colm Kenny counts the cost of budget overruns in the Irish landscape

EVENTS 06 H orticulture trade events

33 T HE LQMS: WHY YOU NEED TO BE INVOLVED

BORD BIA 08

Eoghan Riordan Fernandez brings the industry up to speed on the most important horticultural initiative in recent history

All the latest news from Bord Bia

RETAIL

10 T HOUGHTS ON THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE FOR GARDEN RETAILERS

Liam Kelly charts the evolution of garden retailing and

sets a course for a possible future

Terry O’Regan shares some surprising French perspectives on Ireland’s landscape

IN PICTURES

NURSERY

36

12 G ROWTH IN EUROPE Teagasc nursery stock/ornamentals advisor Dónall Flanagan reports from IPM Essen and the recent nursery study tour to the Netherlands and Germany

TEAGASC 16

34 L ANDSCAPE PERCEPTION

INSIGHT

40 T HE GARDENING MARKET IN GROWTH Mike Neary announces the good news about Ireland’s flourishing gardening market

41 LABOUR MARKET REVIEW

All the latest news from Teagasc

Michal Slawski discusses the findings of a recent horticultural labour market review

DESIGN

18 T HE GREATEST LEVELLER

EDUCATION

Frazer McDonogh says why water is important in designs and explains how to get it right first time

21

43 LESSONS FROM HOME AND ABROAD Yang Shen shares some thoughts on studying horticulture in China and at UCD

T HE DESIGNED GARDEN Mary Hackett reports from the Garden & Landscape Designers Association’s recent seminar

46 LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE How you can create a sustainable career path Maria Achtida points the way

25 B LOOM IN THE MAKING Kerrie Gardiner gives us a flavour of plans for the 2017 show garden

23 C ONFESSIONS AND GOALS

Patricia Tyrrell resolves to get more organised in 2017

INTERVIEW

28 PERSISTENCE PAYS - REALISING THE AMERICAN DREAM

JOBS 48

All the latest Jobs from jobsinhorticulture.ie

SUPPLIER & SERVICE DIRECTORY

49

Barry Lupton talks to Declan Blackmore

2

GLDA, IHNSA Trolley Fair, Rentes Spring Fair, IPM Essen

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2017

Source products & services

01 / NEWS CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF HORTICULTURE ANNOUNCES DATES FOR CONFERENCE & AGM It is going to be a very busy year for Dr Owen PE Doyle who is now installed as the president of the Chartered Institute of Horticulture (Great Britain and Ireland). The dates for the 2017 conference have just been announced and will take place on 13 & 14 October at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Dublin. This year's theme is ‘Healthy Horticulture: Healthy Business, Healthy Food, & Healthy Activities’. This is a good opportunity to meet and network with UK colleagues from across the horticulture spectrum. The event is being sponsored by Bord Bia. The full lineup of speakers and tour itinerary will be announced in the coming weeks. More at horticulture.org.uk k

HTA NATIONAL PLANT SHOW 2017 The HTA National Plant Show, sponsored

by Hortipak, will take place on Tuesday 20 and Wednesday 21 June 2017 at Stoneleigh Park, Coventry. Now in its eighth year, the show offers the very best of British plant suppliers all under one roof. The HTA takes a ‘back to basics’ approach, focusing purely on plants at the best time of year for retailers to plan their ranges for the following season. There are opportunities for exporting Irish nurseries at this event, as Tully Nurseries found out in 2013 when they won best new plant award for Hebe ‘Rhubarb & Custard’. More at nationalplantshow.co.uk. ✽

NEW FLORIST OPENS IN

CARRICKMACROSS Another sign of positivity comes with the opening of a new florist in the rural location of Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan. The proprietor of the new venture is local man Daryn Cunningham, who has established a number of florists in London and the surrounding areas under the brand ‘James Bernard’. Daryn tells HC that “It's a purely commercial decision and I see lots of opportunity in the recovering Irish market”. More at james-bernard.co.uk. ✽

HORTICULTURE NEWS MAJOR ADARE MANOR PROJECT FOR NANGLE & NIESEN Over the last few months, an exciting project of tree planting has been underway on the Adare Manor estate. Over a thousand trees including English oak, Turkey oak, Hungarian oak, red oak, maples, dawn redwood, beech, copper beech, golden beech, sweet chestnut, horse chestnut and lime trees have been carefully selected, prepared, delivered and planted with the help of tree nursery Nangle & Niesen and landscapers Peter O’Brien & Sons.

Ronan Nangle of Nangle & Niesen told HC why the Adare Manor project is so unique in comparison to others. “It is the scale involved. These trees are big. The smallest is in excess of 50cm girth and the largest is in excess of 110cm in circumference. It is the largest movement of domestically grown super large trees (in excess of 60cm) to happen in this country’s history. It is the sheer size of these trees that marks them out, and the fact that they were all grown in Ireland.

Some of the Quercus robur (common or English oak) in particular are fantastic specimens. Selecting the trees was a collaborative process between Nangle & Niesen and Adare Manor. In particular, Cian Foley and John McManus of Adare were heavily involved in the selection process, visiting the nursery on numerous occasions and carefully going through the suggested trees. Once the trees were agreed it was a matter of preparing them for lifting and ensuring that the process for managing them was in place. The lifting of trees of this scale takes experience, time and skill. Our special lifting team, working to the agreed hole by hole planting schedule, lifted the trees in sequence while our loading team tied the trees on site and brought them back to the yard for delivery. Loading the trees on to the flatbed 45ft container took place three times a week. Most loads took between four and five trees, but for the very biggest ones, only two could fit on the truck. Work on the 125 extra large trees began on 15 November and the last tree was loaded on 6 February.” More at nangleandniesen.ie ✽

NEW GARDEN INSPIRATION BOOK - DREAM GARDENS

BY LEONIE CORNELIUS In Dream Gardens one of Ireland’s leading garden designers, Leonie Cornelius, provides an outline of the skills and inspiration necessary to design a garden space that matches your style, your everyday needs and your gardening desires.

Focusing on how a garden makes you feel, Leonie guides you through every step of the design process in expert but clear detail, from discovering the principles of good design to finding the right style and helping you with the practicalities of building your new garden.

More than a straightforward how-to guide, Dream Gardens will inspire readers to dream big and create a stunning and truly personalised outdoor space.

Leonie Cornelius is one of Ireland’s leading garden designers. Currently a brand ambassador for Woodies, she has worked on the RTÉ Today Show and is a judge on the popular RTÉ Super Garden show. Her designs have won her several show garden medals. As a garden writer, she has written for many magazines and newspapers, including the Irish Independent and Irish Mail on Sunday. More at leoniecornelius.com ✽

Spring 2017 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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NEWS / 01 KINBARK NURSERIES PLAN NEW MATURE TREE FACILITY Kinbark Nurseries Ltd is proud to announce the planned development of a mature tree facility at its nursery in Camolin, Wexford. This planned facility will enable Kinbark to provide mature trees to developments and businesses nationwide and is expected to be launched in spring 2018. Over 25 years, Kinbark Nurseries has developed into one of the leading tree nurseries in the south east of Ireland. It is already one of the most established producers of bark mulch in Ireland, offering high quality bark in various grades from fine to playgrade.

Kinbark also provides landscaping and transplanting services. More at kinbark.ie ✽

NAD LAUNCHES NEW ORGANIC FERTILISER/MOSS CONTROLLER ON IRISH MARKET Viano BIO-Press is a 100% natural liquid fertiliser for lawns with indirect action against moss. BIO-Press is certified for use in organic horticulture, having recently been awarded Viano products’ Organic Symbol status by the​ Irish Organic Farmers and Growers Association (IOFGA). It is ideal to apply on lawns with moss infestation and before scarification. The product is being positioned as a 100% natural liquid fertiliser for lawns, with indirect action against moss. The NAD team recently showcased the whole Viano range at the IHNSA Trolley Fair, where it was well received by garden retailers. ✽

SUCCESSFUL IHNSA TROLLEY FAIR AT TULLY NURSERIES There was a good turnout of buyers which included garden centres, DIY stores and landscapers at the first IHNSA Trolley Fair of 2017, held at Tully Nurseries on 7 March. Also at the event, Bord Bia presented mainly positive findings in the latest Value of the Garden Market 2016 report. The mood was buoyant, and apart from the buying opportunities presented, much networking was being done in the food area, which is another of the big improvements that have been made since the event has moved back to the nurseries. It was also a chance to see the impressive developments that have taken See more IHNSA photos on pg 36. place on an ongoing basis over the last number of years.

Martin and Joan Tully are rightly proud of what they, their family and the team at Tully’s have achieved. The event continues to go from strength to strength and the next opportunity takes place at Kelly Nurseries on the 4th of April. More at trolleyfairs.com ✽

TEAGASC & INDUSTRY SPECIALISTS ASK - HOW SAFE IS YOUR CROP? This well attended seminar held on March 14 took place at the impressive Teagasc Ashtown venue and research centre. The Growing Safer Crops seminar was targeted at the horticultural food sector but there were many practical lessons that could be utilised across the wider sector. The focus of the seminar was that an increasing importance is being attached to the area of microbiological contamination of fresh fruit and vegetables. A major source of contamination can be

4

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2017

the water you use on your farm. Water for washing, cleaning and irrigation can potentially cause problems with your produce. This seminar informed attendees about the new FSAI guidelines on fresh produce safety, simple tips on producing safe food, how to take a water sample, advice on boring for water and wells, water quality of our rivers and how to clean up your water if you do have a problem. Speakers came from Teagasc, the EU Commission and industry specialists. IASIS points were awarded to attendees on the day. Dermot Callaghan, head of horticulture at Teagasc, tells HC: “Today’s event was organised to increase awareness among growers and producers on the safe production of fresh produce and to focus on certain key activities which can reduce risks". The event organised by Teagasc Horticulture Development Department had invited speakers dealing with setting the EU scene, reducing food safety risks in the fresh produce context, how to drill and source a safe borehole water supply, specific microbiological risks and expert views from the UK. More at teagasc.ie ✽

01 / NEWS ITB SETS SIGHTS ON BLOOM ITB and Fingal County Council are working on another collaborative garden for Bloom 2017. Staff from both organisations and ITB students are planning and preparing for the competition and are ever hopeful of a successful event again this year.

The ITB Horticulture team is reviewing the curriculum of the level 6 part time Higher Certificate in Professional Horticulture Practice, updating it and aligning it with the degree programmes which were revised early in 2015.

The first year students are busy working on their Horticulture in the Community programme, in collaboration with the local community to design and build a garden at a primary school in Dublin 15.

There is still time to apply for places as the CAO is open again for late applications. Any students who wish to study horticulture at ITB beginning in September 2017 should log onto the CAO website and choose either BN022 Bachelor of Science in Horticulture (level 7) or BN113 Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Horticulture (level 8.) More at itb.ie ✽

HYGEIA TAKES GOLD AT HARDWARE SHOW 2017 INNOVATION AWARDS Hygeia Garden Care, based in Oranmore in Galway, has won a major award for innovation for its organic based lawn fertiliser product GreenForce Lawn Gold, taking the first prize in the Best Garden Product category at The Hardware Show 2017, which took place recently in Dublin.

A new product, GreenForce Lawn Gold treats moss while feeding the lawn with a slow-release technology, requiring no raking of the treated moss. The Hygeia team impressed the panel of judges, led by well known entrepreneur and former Dragons’ Den Judge Bobby Kerr, with its progressive technology and significant commercial potential.

The Innovation Awards 2017 were judged by a Dragons’ Den style panel of industry experts and buyers.

Congratulating Hygeia on their award, Annemarie Harte, CEO of Hardware Association Ireland said, “A key and defining objective of The Hardware Show is to showcase new product

innovation to hardware/DIY retailers and builders merchants and Hygeia really stood out in the Garden Category for their fantastic new product. We’re sure that their GreenForce Lawn Gold product will be a huge success in the market - both in Ireland and internationally, and we wish the team continued success".

Pictured at the Show with the Innovation Award for Best Garden Product is Elisha Daniels, marketing manager at Hygeia Garden Care, who told HC “the award was a huge vote of confidence in the product and the wider team at Hygeia.

The Innovation Awards at The Hardware Show 2017 were sponsored by Topline. ✽

GREAT TURNOUT AT TEAGASC BOTANIC GARDENS CAREERS & OPEN DAY There was a large turnout of existing and prospective students at the Teagasc College of Amenity Horticulture Careers & Open Day. A number of companies including NAD, SAP, Redlough and Donnybrook Landscapes among others were recruiting on the day. There was a buzz of positivity among students and a real sense that there will be ample jobs available when they graduate. ✽

KIERAN SKELLY K & M NURSERIES ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Skelly, Kieran – K & M Nurseries, Ballyhagen, Carbury, Co Kildare and formerly of Beherna, Virginia, Co Cavan. Died tragically on 31 March 2016. R.I.P. We, Kieran’s wife Muriel, daughters Lydia, Bianca and Mckayla, sons Jerome and Dylan, grandson Tadhg, brothers and sisters and extended family would like to express our heartfelt appreciation and sincere thanks to all who sympathised with us on our recent sad loss. We are forever indebted to our good friends Deirdre and Willie Ayres and their family for the use of their lovely home to mourn Kieran’s passing and to wake Kieran’s remains. We much appreciate those who called to the house from far and near, those who attended

the rosaries, sent Mass cards, letters of condolences or flowers and to the large numbers of people who attended the funeral Mass. Sincere thanks to Fr John Fitzpatrick PP and Fr Alphonsis Murphy PE who came all of the nine nights and said the rosary and conducted a beautiful funeral Mass. To Fr Frank Kelleher and Fr Dermot Prior who travelled from Cavan to be with us on the day. Sincere thanks to Patrick Larkin Undertakers for their sympathetic, professional and constant support throughout the funeral. Thanks to the sacristans, altar servers, singer, organist, Eucharistic minister and gravediggers. Thanks to Robert Bergin for supplying superb food after the funeral. Thanks to the firemen, ambulance crew and guards who attended the fire at our home on the day. Thanks to the nursery industry for their support. Thanks to everyone who organised events, made donations or donated prizes. We express our heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped us in any way to make our path in life that little bit easier since that tragic day. As it is impossible to thank everyone individually please accept this acknowledgement as a token of our sincere appreciation. ✽

Spring 2017 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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EVENTS / 02

2017 EVENTS DIARY DON’T MISS!

✽ 01 - 06 JUNE BLOOM 2017

✽ 04 APRIL

IHNSA TROLLEY FAIR 2017

A crop of special offers for your garden centre.

Special deals only available at the fair, 10am-4pm.

Venue: Kelly’s Nursery, Streamstown, Mullingar, Westmeath trolleyfairs.com ✽

✽ 04 APRIL

ITB COLLEGE OPEN EVENING

DON’T MISS!

Come along to our open evening where we will have drop in desk, workshops and demos for all our courses. 5-7pm.

Venue: Institute of Technology Blanchardstown, Blanchardstown Road North, Dublin 15 itb.ie ✽

✽ 07 APRIL - 28 MAY

PARKS - OUR SHARED HERITAGE

This exhibition chronicles for the first time ever, three centuries of the rich artistic & social history of these magnificent parks.

Venue: Farmleigh Gallery, Phoenix Park, Dublin 15 farmleigh.ie/parksoursharedheritage ✽

✽ 04 MAY

HORTICULTURE TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE

Venue: Teagasc, Ashtown, Dublin 15

DON’T MISS!

Bloom, which is organised by Bord Bia, celebrates its 11th anniversary this year, providing a showcase for garden plants, garden design, construction, horticulture and gardening as a hobby.

Venue: Phoenix Park, Dublin 8 www.bloominthepark.com ✽

✽ 20 - 21 JUNE

HTA NATIONAL PLANT SHOW

Now in its eighth year, the HTA National Plant Show will once again showcase the very best of British plant suppliers all under one roof. The show offers a ‘back to basics’ approach, focusing purely on plants at the best time of year for retailers to plant their ranges for the following season.

Venue: Stoneleigh Park, Coventry, UK www.nationalplantshow.co.uk ✽

✽ 13 - 20 JUNE FLOWER TRIALS 59 Breeding companies in three regions present their latest innovations and future developments in pot and bedding plants.

Venue: The Netherlands and Germany flowertrials.com ✽

✽

✽ 05 - 07 MAY

ALLIANZ GARDEN SHOW IRELAND

Fabulous festival of flowers, food and fun.

Venue: Garden Show Ireland, Antrim Castle Gardens, Randalstown Rd, Antrim gardenshowireland.com ✽

✽ 18 MAY KILDALTON HORTICULTURAL COLLEGE OPEN DAY

DON’T MISS!

Venue: Teagasc, Kildalton Agricultural & Horticultural College, Piltown, Kilkenny. teagasc.ie/events ✽

✽ 23 - 27 MAY RHS CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW

✽ 20 - 22 JUNE SALON DU VÉGÉTAL The Salon du Végétal is the annual meet up for professionals from the flowers and plants trades. Over three days nearly 500 national and international exhibitors and 13,000 professional visitors are brought together.

Venue: Parc des expositions Nantes, France salonduvegetal.com ✽

✽ 04 - 09 JULY RHS HAMPTON COURT PALACE FLOWER SHOW Gorgeous gardens, fabulous florals & fantastic shopping in an unforgettable setting.

Venue: Hampton Court Palace, Easy Molesey, Surrey, UK rhs.org.uk/shows-events/rhs-hampton-court-palaceflower-show ✽

The world’s most prestigious flower show that inspires millions through showcasing the best in garden design.

Venue: London Gate, Royal Hospital Chelsea, London rhs.org.uk/shows-events/rhs-chelsea-flower-show ✽

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DON’T MISS!

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2017

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BORD BIA / 03 EXPORT PERFORMANCE IN 2016 In January Bord Bia launched its annual Export Performance and Prospects 20162017 Report which shows that overall exports are up +2% to reach €11.15bn. The strongest performing sectors last year were prepared foods (€1.92bn, +9%), beverages (€1.4bn, +4%) and dairy product and ingredients (€3.38bn, +2%).

The value of exports to the UK market fell by 8%. However, this has been offset by strong growth in international markets (+13%), in particular North America, China and the rest of Asia, and EU markets (+3%).

Stronger mushroom export volumes offset by challenging exchange rates resulted in lower edible horticulture exports during 2016. The UK is the only large scale export market for Irish mushrooms, although there are some exports to France

and the Netherlands. Despite stronger volumes to the UK in 2016 the value of mushroom exports declined, on the back of a weaker Sterling.

Exports of amenity horticulture crops were valued at around €16.3m in 2016 which is an increase of some 2% compared to 2015. This increase was largely due to stronger exports of daffodils and cut foliage used in floristry.

In 2016, the export sales value of nursery stock was relatively steady at €6.1m with the majority of exports to the UK. Despite challenging exchange rate fluctuations, exports benefited from consolidation of the nursery sector and a recovery in the UK landscape market.

Export markets look set to remain challenging in 2017 amid ongoing market uncertainty. However, the pickup in global dairy demand is expected to continue while further opportunities for growth are likely in beverages. Increased beef export availability may put some pressure on returns while prepared consumer foods exports are likely to face ongoing competitive pressures, most notably the UK. ✽

“THE THINKING HOUSE” INSIGHT CENTRE Ireland’s food, drink and horticulture industry will for the first time enjoy unrestricted access to the latest global trends, research, consumer insights and industry innovations thanks to a new integrated, state of the art consumer research and market insight centre titled “The Thinking House” at Bord Bia’s headquarters in Dublin. The Thinking House with its facilities and services was recently launched to amenity sector clients.

The creative space includes a trends zone to highlight the latest innovations in marketing of food, drink and horticulture from around the world and a packaging and branding gallery to promote best in class design and to showcase Bord Bia’s recent work with Irish food and drink brands. The living room and its adjacent viewing room will allow Bord Bia and the industry to conduct qualitative focus and discussion groups, equipped with audio, video recording and live streaming capacity, while the library presents invaluable access to a wide range of databases and reports that would previously have been financially prohibitive to source for many small to medium sized companies working in the industry.

New specific market research in the horticulture sphere which will be available in the first half of 2017 will include the measure of the gardening market in Ireland and behaviour and attitudinal consumer research in the gardening and fresh produce markets. ✽

FRESH PRODUCE RETAIL MARKET VALUE GROWTH IN 2016 The retail grocery market was valued at €10.2m in 2016 which was growth of 3% on the previous year. The fresh produce category now makes up 16% of the total grocery spend. In 2016 the fresh produce market was valued at €1.496bn with fruit accounting for €709m, vegetables €585m and potatoes €201m. Increases in the average price and frequency of purchase in all three categories contributed to the increase in the value of the retail market in 2016. The value of the retail potato market showed the greatest increase growing at 24% while the value of the fruit and vegetable segments of the market grew by 10% and 3% respectively. Volume growth was also recorded across the three fresh produce categories.

Potatoes were featured in 10% of all grocery shopping. These trips make up 22% of all grocery sales. When potatoes are included in the basket, these grocery trips are worth more than average, highlighting the importance of the potato category to retailers. For further detailed information on the fresh produce retail market (including on individual product lines) contact Bord Bia. ✽

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POTATO PROMOTION The three year EU and industry funded potato promotion campaign “Potatoes: more than a bit on the side” is now into its second year. There will be two key bursts of promotion activity in 2017 (summer and autumn). The main activity now centres on the ongoing monthly digital and social media activity online, which continues to drive consumers to the campaign website. Additional PR activity is augmenting the activity online using the campaign ambassadors (TV personality and dietician Aoife Hearne and young chef of the year Mark Moriarty) with a particular focus on activity in the buildup to and around St Patrick’s day.

Recent consumer tracking research on the campaign indicated increased potato consumption, positive attitudes to potatoes around key campaign messages of health, versatility and convenience, with 19% recalling seeing fresh potato advertising in the last year. In 2016 Kantar Worldpanel retail market data for the year showed both volume growth in the market and an increase in the frequency of purchase. ✽

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2017

03 / BORD BIA APPLE MARKET RESEARCH In order to provide apple growers with insight on Irish consumers, Bord Bia recently carried out an in depth consumer analysis on Irish attitudes to eating apples. The objectives were to understand the consumer awareness and perceptions of Irish grown eating apples, and to explore how Irish grown eating apples could be positioned as a premium option within the category. The research process included desk research and an online quantitative survey with 1,000 nationally representative consumers, and an online community was engaged with to gain a deeper understanding of behaviour and perceptions of Irish eating apples. For further information on the research contact michal.slawski@bordbia.ie ✽

“JUST ADD MUSHROOMS”PROMOTION CAMPAIGN The final phase of activity in the “Just add mushrooms” campaign was completed in 2016.

Over its three years the campaign has seen an increase in the cumulative volume of sales in the combined markets of 30,200 tonnes since the campaign began (22,500 tonnes in the UK and 7,700 tonnes in Ireland compared to the baseline figures in 2013).

Other key achievements of the campaign were as follows: SOCIAL MEDIA: From 18,000 Facebook fans to 132,001 (GB 118,658, Ireland 13,343) 2,017 Twitter followers (GB 71%, Ireland 5%) Over 350,000 social media engagements Social media reach/exposure of 10 million+ WEBSITE: 554,671 web sessions (GB 474,621,Ireland 80,050) Total visitors 454,734 Average dwell time: 1.21 In April, Bord Bia and the industry are planning to submit a new application to the EU for funding to support further promotional activity and building on the achievements of the recent campaign. In the interim, Bord Bia and the industry are jointly funding mushroom promotional activities in the UK and Ireland markets during 2017. ✽

GROMÓR CAMPAIGN The GroMór gardening campaign had a successful year in 2016, achieving an impressive advertising equivalent value of just over €0.5m, for a very moderate spend on PR. Social media was the main channel utilised for the campaign, and the fanbase on Facebook grew to over 11,000 followers, from a base of 4,000 at launch in March. The revamped website with a more user friendly format attracted over 16,000 unique visitors, and more than 40,000 page views.

Objectives for the 2017 campaign are to build on the success of the last year, with plans to increase the number of GroMór ambassadors and implement a greater number of gardening demos in GroMór garden centres throughout the country, as well as increasing the profiles of GroMór nursery participants with a full suite of grower point of sale material available to garden centres.

Last year, 65 REI garden group garden centres and 18 nursery growers, members of the Irish Hardy Nursery Stock Association, participated in the campaign. New businesses are welcome to participate, so do get in touch if you are interested in hearing more.

The ultimate aim is to build on the momentum generated to date, with collaboration across the industry with a view to submitting a bid for EU funding in the near future to implement a three year campaign to further promote gardening and the use of garden plants. ✽

CONSUMER RESEARCH ON STRAWBERRY MARKET Bord Bia recently carried out new consumer research with the objective of understanding consumer perceptions of Irish grown strawberries. The research included a desk, quantitative and qualitative stage.

KEY FINDINGS INCLUDED: ●O ne in four consumers aged 18-34 and almost four in 10 consumers aged 45-55+ are consuming strawberries less than once a month. These two consumer groups represent an opportunity target market to encourage increased consumption. ●T o drive further volume by consumption, health messaging should be communicated to educate the consumer on all the nutritional benefits of strawberries. ●T aste, freshness and health are key associations with Irish summer strawberries that are in season. ●L ocally produced strawberries are perceived to be the best tasting as they are sweet, juicy and plump. They are also deemed to be much fresher because they haven’t travelled as far as imported strawberries. ●S trawberries evoke pleasant emotions focusing on the nostalgia of summertime and childhood and there is an opportunity to build in emotional messaging to promotional campaigns.

For further information on the research contact michal. slawski@bordbia.ie ✽

Spring 2017 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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PHOTOS: BY GAJUS

RETAIL / 04

Thoughts on the Past/Present and Future for Gardening Retailers Independent retail consultant, Liam Kelly charts the evolution of garden retailing and sets a course for a possible future

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ith 2017 being my business’s 10 year anniversary it seemed appropriate that I should comment on issues I have come across over that decade and have a look at where garden centres need to position themselves going forward into the next one.

For the most part I work with medium and small retailers who recognise there is a problem and have a hunger and a real need to improve and drive sales. This can be a learning process for all concerned as I impose myself on their operation and twist and distort it into a retail business, which in most cases means a new way of thinking for everyone involved in the company, albeit with positive results. It also means that I get to see all the problems that affect a business, and generally their issues can be summed up in one major, all-

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encompassing question: How do I become a retailer?

Perhaps it is not asked as blatantly as that, but it is certainly the crux of what of most clients require.

This is very understandable as many came from a plant growing, farming or other background and fell into selling to the public almost by accident, as that love of growing plants turned into a source of income and then developed from there. But many had no retail acumen. Back when they started, the closest thing to link selling was the ubiquitous bag of bone meal suggested as a fertiliser with a few hundred Leylandii, and merchandising meant ’Stack them up neatly over there’. A few retail consultants from overseas came and went over the interim but there is a uniqueness to retailing in this country that requires knowledge of our growers and wholesalers as well as a need to know how the garden centre owners/managers themselves think and what drives them.

Perhaps that’s how I slotted in so neatly, as I kept (and still keep) my product knowledge up to date by occasionally working the floor in a couple of garden centres to keep myself sharp on what the customer wants and how they have evolved over the last decade.

This retail schooling is still an ongoing process, as many gardening retailers can lose that once-gained retail savvy that brought them to where they are now. They can become

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2017

04 / RETAIL big enough not to worry or focus so much on merchandising, signage, link selling, etc., as they have enough marketing magnitude to suck in customers, and generate sales within their stores just by having enough impulse and colourful products in large volumes. That’s not to say that these uber garden retailers are not successful or good at what they do they are - but they could be doing a lot better in my opinion if a little more savviness and retail smarts were applied within their stores by going back to retailing basics.

That focus on being a retailer and the art of selling is as important now as it was a decade ago, and needs to be constantly reviewed, renewed and improved, so it really needs to be a perpetual part of our past, present and future.

But right now, customer wrangling and directing is what most garden centres really need to focus on, basically finding ways of driving more customers into their stores. Businesses need to be more vocal in telling those retailing facilitators attempting to help them what they need - a concerted focus on encouraging and teaching people to garden and therefore pushing them into being garden retailers. As always, communication is an ongoing battle within every retail group; if not enough people participate then you get what a small group requires rather than what the whole of horticulture needs.

In fairness, we are all still learning. As the customer and their wants and needs change, retail gardening in general needs to mutate and evolve into something better and stronger in order to compete with the many strands of retail that distract from what our sector has to offer, and especially to contend with other retailers exploring ‘outdoor living’; an area that was once totally the domain of garden centres. And that retailing adaption will continue over the next 10 years, as garden retailers fight for their position within the whole retail milieu, jostling with practically every other seller for a cut of the public’s disposable income and attention. And that leads us nicely into the future…

Part of this fight will involve these newly made retailers stepping beyond their quasi comfort zones of buying and selling products – which is what retailing is at its most basic - and entering the world of selling experiences. Not just the whole retail therapy shopping thing but a more full blown experience of interaction with the customer by holding events that are not garden related and are designed with the intention of drawing people into the business, especially those who would have no other reason to visit. Some are already doing this to a degree but those that really want to be successful should be planning on putting on regular, punter drawing events. Where are the food festivals? Where are the music concerts and other performances? Who’s running art galleries?

How many have allotments? The list of experiences that can be shoehorned into almost any garden centres is endless.

Many garden centres already dabble in some of the above but not in a completely professional or planned manner. It can often be an ad hoc mix of half formed ideas or under budgeted plans which are poorly executed, and therefore fail miserably. As mentioned already, if there were to be a focus of combined effort by garden retailers and those who supply and support them, it should be on training and helping with the execution of creating reasons for the public to visit garden centres.

And what about tourism? Some garden centres are very focussed on the tourist side of their business, but again there is no concerted effort to advertise as a whole to both international, and more importantly to Irish tourists. This will need to be a focus in the coming years as garden centres are well placed to accommodate and adapt to the role of tourist centre for their county or area.

The flipside of this can be that garden centres are well placed to be the focus of the local community but can alienate their local customer base by being too focussed on attracting those from afar, just having a token notice board of local events or leaflets in an unused corner. Community gardens, allotments for children, workshops and sponsorship would all be good places to start, all of which could be accommodated in most centres. This emphasis on community is another important area for investment, both with money and with a redirection of time and resources to refocus on ‘local’ - the buzzword in food and crafts at the moment. And there’s nothing to say it can’t work in tandem with national marketing mentioned above if the balance between both is right.

All of this needs to be supported by an effective marketing plan, and again garden centres need to be able to draw on the experience of those groups that support retailers in general and our sector in particular to create something with enough momentum to make a difference.

Garden retailing has turned a corner and is improving every year. It can grow even more with extra effort and imagination from everyone in the broader horticulture sector.

But in the end, don’t forget you are a retailer. You just might need to change what you sell. ✽

LIAM KELLY - Since establishing Retail Services & Solutions in 2007, Liam has become one of the most influential people within the retail side of Irish horticulture.

His knowledge of the mindset and ethos of those in this sector, combined with his problem solving ability, experience and hands-on work ethic make him uniquely placed to offer advice and help to those who need it most.

Key to his success is his knowledge of purchasing, pricing and sales combined with his understanding of layout, signage and merchandising, and how the interaction of these can lead to increased sales and profits. His focus is on garden centres, nurseries, hardware and DIY stores, where discretion, honesty and unbiased opinion are crucial and appreciated by those who secure his services.

Liam Kelly, Retail Services & Solutions, Garden Centre Design & Consultancy, 086 822 1494, 059 913 0176, lksolutions@eircom.net

Spring 2017 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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GROWTH in EUROPE

Teagasc nursery stock/ornamentals advisor, Dónall Flanagan reports from IPM Essen and recent nursery study tour to the Netherlands and Germany DAY ONE: BOOMVELT DEN MULDER This was the first Teagasc nursery stock study tour after an absence of a few years. The focus of the tour is to introduce growers to new and innovative nurseries and take in IPM Essen. There were eight participants - a mixture of growers, suppliers and lecturers. The tour took place from 23 to 25 January, travelling from Dublin to Düsseldorf. Weather for the duration of the visit was about freezing point. The tour was organised by Dónall Flanagan.

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isiting six nurseries, one garden centre, one trade show and one trolley fair was very rewarding, not to mention good fun.

Over three days we set out to see a range of nursery styles from young to finished plants, trees, shrubs and bedding. I had a few tips of places to visit and had seen one or two previously, and they were mostly very impressive. All sites were in the Venlo region of the Netherlands and Kempen region in Germany.

Overall the impression from the sector is mixed. There is some concern about Brexit and the biggest tree nursery in Europe (just down the road) going into liquidation last October. We were told there are simply too many trees on the market. On the positive side, bedding and young plant growers were upbeat and this was evidenced by increases in glasshouse investment.

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Our first visit was to Boomvelt Den Mulder, a 200ha tree nursery producing trees from 8-10 to 35+. As winter daytime temperatures were only between -3oC and +2oC for about six weeks, no lifting was being carried out at that time. Plants had been lifted in November, rootballed and covered in straw to protect them. Another knock on of the cold weather was that it was too cold for customers to plant, so no deliveries were being made. The result will be a major bottleneck in March.

At the time of visiting they were only able to prune and cane.

Noel Kinsella noted, “It was interesting to see their approach to pruning their stock,” which was very tight. Rodge, who showed us around, explained the production cycles and sales aspects. Multistem trees are a key product. Trees are budded or grafted in their glasshouse and then replanted every two years in the field depending on vigour. Slow growing lines are grown on their own land. Land is rented at €2,000 per year so there is a need to get trees in and out as quickly as possible. Rodge pointed out that his Dutch clients were happy with three separate plants used as a multistem but that French clients wanted one true multistem plant. Den Mulden is launching a webshop this spring which will be available to the public and trade to purchase from. Webshops were a common feature of other nurseries visited.

Treevention is a local trolley fair in Venlo with about 30 exhibitors. I believe we were not the only Irish visitors there, a free lunch is sure to bring in a crowd. The trolley fair was organised a little differently to our own. Exhibitors have their

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2017

PHOTO BY MAKAULE

NURSERY / 05

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“Interesting to see that a Ryanair version of a garden centre can work when the market gets saturated with garden centres that all offer more or less the same” Paul Fitters own pitches as in a fair and plants are displayed over a bigger area on sloping shelves at ground level. It encouraged more browsing than having plants on trolleys. Another key difference was that the fair was held on Sunday and Monday in a warehouse.

We met Bernt Rotjes that afternoon, who set up a young plant nursery while he was in college. Some 20 years later, he and his brother are producing 40m plugs a year from a 20,000 m2 glasshouse. Before visiting I was told he produced some of the best young plants in the world and after visiting I knew why. The attention to detail was exceptional. Liam McMahon noted he was “impressed with the obsessive attention to detail throughout the nursery and the nearly spotless glasshouse production areas – weeds and liverwort were unseen". Everything had a place and was stored when not in use. Small things added to the overall picture. Cutting material was handled in small plastic crates, washed daily and sterilised weekly. Plugs were protected from compaction while striking cuttings etc. Every aspect of production was refined to be clean and quick. Some machines such as mechanical weeders for the field stock plants and trimming and vacuuming machines were designed and built specifically for their site. Each tray had a RFID tag, these are scanned by passing a boom over them. One bay takes less than a minute, an inventory of the whole site is completed in less than four hours. The propagation room has space for about 45 people to work at its peak in during the summer, but there were just 14 there as we visited. Labour is mostly done by regular seasonal workers and Rotjes supplies accommodation in the local village.

A common feature that became apparent as we visited different sites was that much cutting material was imported e.g. from Kenya and South Africa. One grower had sent their own

licenced stock to South Africa and cuttings were sent back exclusively to him. Seasonal availability and good quality control in these countries has made this not just cost effective but essential for the increasingly early bedding and young plant season. Fast and reliable transport is an essential part of this process. Being near Schiphol and Dusseldorf is advantageous.

DAY TWO: IPM ESSEN I had been told for a long time IPM Essen is the must visit trade show in Europe and one day isn’t enough. That’s right on both accounts. Our group spent Tuesday at the show. IPM Essen is vast with about 12 large halls; my phone told me I walked up to 12,447 steps or 7.2 km, and there was plenty of browsing and chatting along the way. It was great to see Irish companies like Kelly’s, FitzGerald's, Bord na Mona and Forest Fresh Christmas Trees competing on an international stage. As with any trade show, they are of most use if you go with a purpose in mind. If you feel you get overlooked when emailing or calling suppliers in Europe you have their attention here and get plenty of information. I was most impressed with the new lines of plants being launched at the show which was only a small part of it. There just wasn’t enough time to see it all.

DAY THREE: GÜNTER AND SUSANNE VAN SOEST Our first site visit on the following day was to Günter and Susanne Van Soes. They are significant producers of seasonal plants less commonly seen in Ireland. Their main crop is Lantana camara that starts in week 24 and they being to sell half grown plants from week 8. This is ideal as it make space available at just the right time. Finished plants sell from week 14 and peak at week 16. All plants will be gone by week 30 when the new crop cycle begins. They have developed their own 11cm colour pot ‘Happy Plants’ range. Plants are watered by flooding concrete floors as needed, taking 12 minutes to fill, soak and drain.

Pests and diseases are managed by starting with clean stock. Silwet Gold is applied to all new plants to kill all pests.

This is followed up with regular Naturalis L sprays and widespread use of yellow sticky strips. The quality assurance scheme EuroGap is used for looking at records, pesticides etc but it doesn’t look at the plant quality. Again, we were very well cared for by our hosts, though no one able for the beer was on offer first thing in the morning!

GROUP 1: (LEFT TO RIGHT) WARREN EVENS, NOEL KINSELLA, ROSS MCMAHON, JOHN RYAN, DÓNALL FLANAGAN, PAUL FITTERS, ROB JACOBS, ADRIAN BYRNE

Spring 2017 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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Nangle&Niesen wholesale nursery

Irish grown mature & semi-mature trees

Font: Ag

5 REASONS TO MAKE NANGLE & NIESEN YOUR

FIRST CHOICE WHEN IT COMES TO SOURCING TREES Quality - We pride ourselves on the quality of our trees and operate to the highest horticultural standards. We operate rigorous quality control systems throughout every stage of the growing process.

Range - Over 40,000 trees with more than 200 varieties to choose from including a large stock of mature and semi mature trees.

Experience - A history of over 40 years of growing and supplying trees provides a wealth of knowledge and experience unsurpassed in Ireland.

Reliability - Our proven track record means we can be trusted to give the best advise and service.

Price - All of the above allied to competitive prices and great value.

www.nangleandniesen.ie Rathcullen, Aherla, Cork Tel: 021-733 1126 l Fax: 021-733 1663 l Email: info@nangleandniesen.ie 14

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2017

05 / NURSERY

GROUP 2: (LEFT TO RIGHT) LIAM MCMAHON, SUSANNE VAN SOEST, NOEL KINSELLA, WARREN EVENS, PAUL FITTERS, JOHN RYAN, ADRIAN BYRNE, ANNAGRET KRAUSE, GÜNTER VAN SOEST, ROSS MCMAHON

Next up it was father and son operation Flores in Terra, specialising in tropical plants. Albrecht Brand started growing tomatoes but then looked to grow ornamentals in a less competitive market. Stan, his son, has since joined the nursery and together they grow a wide range of tropical plants that are fairly hardy e.g. Musa, Dicksonia, Rhaphiolepis and some novel food crops such as lemongrass and Stevia.

Customers are mostly large garden centre chains but sales are also supported by a completely separate company selling online. This company calls in and collects as their sales require and Albrecht bills him weekly for what they buy. Paul Fitters noted, “It shows that specialising can pay off [in The Netherlands] and results in having a more varied nursery and workload, but in the case of tropical plants risky too, as the heating cost can be enormous in winter”. The week previous to our visit, a night of -8oC had cost €1,200 in heating.

One of the most innovative sites visited was a garden centre, Jacobs Budget Plant. Rob Jacobs was a nursery producer on the edge of Venlo town. He converted to a garden centre some years ago, but found that there was an opportunity to differentiate. His USP is lower price plants, with ‘Always Better Value’ on the trapline. He now only sells plants and pots. There is a separate café on site. The garden centre has reduced labour costs as much as possible. Planograms are available for each bench and these are planned up to a year in advance. He has developed a number of webshops and has set his price point to make a 7% lower margin than his competitors. When purchasing plants Rob's’ first criteria is quality and secondly price. It might sound lofty, but to be honest I couldn’t fault the quality of the stock we saw there.

Jacobs Budget Plant has one person running the websites and his own team making deliveries within an hour’s drive of Venlo. The online team will grow by two people this year.

The websites use search engine optimisation such as Google Adwords, Facebook ads etc to promote the business. Paul Fitters commentated that it was “interesting to see that a Ryanair version of a garden centre can work when the market gets saturated with garden centres that all offer more or less the same". There are daily sales reports compiled for 50 garden centres in the Netherlands and Jacobs Budget Plant is now consistently in the top five. The costs of the investment haven’t yet been returned in online sales; however, footfall to

the garden centre was up 30% last year.

Our last two sites were poles apart. Leenders is a family run nursery producing mostly ground cover and conifers for the eastern European market. They had some very nice trials of Hebe combinations in bowls. Unusually, plants were packed in crates for dispatch, perhaps something that would not be done at warmer times of the year. Boeker focusses on plug production of bedding plants from cuttings, again sourced in Kenya. This site was the least mechanised we visited with a high reliance on migrant labour, with Boeker providing accommodation and transport for their employees.

We were all struck by the levels of openness and hospitality from the nurseries we visited. Liam McMahon commented, “I was very impressed that they shared so much information freely and gave such great hospitality”. We got a great reception everywhere we visited. Fly cake is much nicer than it sounds. Soup, sandwiches and beer were all on offer so no one went hungry. We saw that the growers have some issues similar to ours, logistics and cash flow are essential to make a business successful and can overcome even a difficult climate.

The take home message was that most growers were happy to meet other growers and share information. We just need to go meet them. ✽

ó

D NALL FLANAGAN has been teaching with Teagasc for a number of years. Before this he worked with Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Co Co Parks Department, landscaping and in protected crops. He will be based with the Teagasc Horticulture Development Department in Ashtown, serving the nursery stock and ornamental sector.

Dónall Flanagan, Ashtown Food Research Centre Mobile: 087 703 5823; Tel: 076 111 4021 Email: donall.flanagan@teagasc.ie

Spring 2017 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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TEAGASC ezine / 06 RHI-RENEWABLE HEAT INCENTIVE AND HORTICULTURE? As part of Ireland’s strategy to meet its obligations under the 2009 Renewable Energy Directive, the government has targeted the delivery of 12% of final heating demand from renewable sources by 2020, a target which is unlikely to be met. A public consultation period on the design and implementation of a renewable heat incentive (RHI) in Ireland was launched in late January.

Teagasc Horticulture Development Department has been facilitating impacted horticulture sub-sectors to understand how the future shape of a scheme might impact their sector.

Recent meetings and consultations with the mushroom sector and the protected crops sector have resulted in detailed

submissions around the grandfathering clause, boiler sizing, energy efficiency criteria and fuel standards to be made.

The RHI in effect means that generators of renewable heat for non-domestic buildings can be paid per kWhr for hot water and heat which they generate and use themselves. The RHI tariff will depend on which renewable heat systems are used and the scale of generation. The annual subsidy which has not been set yet is proposed to last for 15 years. As such, users may be incentivised to spend money on changing to a renewable heat source and earn enough money from the tariffs to pay off their installation over a reasonable period of time. .✽

‘CLERY’ - THE LATEST STRAWBERRY VARIETY This year the strawberry season will start about two weeks earlier, because of the introduction of the new June-bearing strawberry cultivar ‘Clery’. Two weeks is a long time in the early strawberry market. ‘Clery’ not only boasts a high yield and long picking season but is also a very high class one fruit quality. The fruit is large and firm, which allows for much faster harvesting and greater savings on labour costs. The cultivar itself is Italian and comes from the breeding programme of CIV (Consorzio Italiano Vivaisti). ✽ THE LARGE,BRIGHT RED, VERY FIRM AND CONICAL SHAPE OF ‘CLERY’ STRAWBERRIES

FOOD SAFETY The FSAI has published new guidance to assist growers with the safe production of fresh produce (i.e. fruit, vegetables, mushrooms, herbs etc) on farms. The guidance outlines the potential risks associated with fresh produce and provides practical advice to growers to reduce these risks and improve food safety. The guidance was developed in conjunction with growers, processors, retailers as well as representatives of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), Teagasc, Bord Bia, the EPA and the IFA. The new guidance document and its accompanying

simplified leaflet can be found at www.fsai.ie. Those producing fresh produce for sale must be registered as a grower with the DAFM in accordance with Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 852 of 2004 on food hygiene.

Application forms at www.agriculture.gov.ie/farmingsectors/horticulture/ foodproducerregistrationformsandinformation.

Teagasc has organised a food safety seminar at its Ashtown premises on 14 March to develop understanding of producer requirements. Horticultural producers and their staff are welcome.

More information on www.teagasc.ie/horticulture ✽

HELEN GROGAN, JIM COSTELLO, ANDY WHELTON AND OTHER MEMBERS AT THE FIRST MEETING OF THE NEW LEAVES PROJECT TEAM AND STEERING GROUP AT TEAGASC ASHTOWN.

ALTERNATIVE CROPS FOR CUT FOLIAGE SECTOR Teagasc researcher Helen Grogan was recently awarded funding of €0.5m by DAFM for innovative research to support the cut foliage and nursery stock sectors

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over four years. The project is entitled ‘New Leaves - alternative crops for the cut foliage sector’ and will identify novel foliage plant lines in response to growing demand for high quality products from export and home markets. Various propagation technologies will be

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2017

explored to produce interesting lines of Eucalyptus spp, Pittosporum, Viburnum spp, Pittosporum spp. Ozothamnus spp, and Brachyglottis spp. On completion of the project, stocks of elite ‘mother plants’ will be available for propagation under licence by cut foliage growers or specialist plant nurseries. Practical advice will be available to help growers deal responsibly with pest and disease problems that reduce their profitability.

To support this research, a contract horticultural technician post (ref CT/ ASH/0217) and a post-doctoral research Fellow level 1- horticultural biotechnology post (ref PD1/ASH/0217) are advertised on the Teagasc website at www.teagasc.ie/careers and www.teagasc.ie/about/opportunities/ post-doctoral-opportunities. ✽

06 / TEAGASC ezine CRYPHONECTRIA PARASITICA AND PLANT PASSPORTS It has come to light recently that currently no Dutch nurseries and traders are authorised by the Dutch National Plant Protection Organisation (NPPO) to move Castanea sativa plants into protected zones. Ireland has a protected zone for Cryphonectria parasitica which means that C. sativa plants moved into Ireland have to comply with additional safeguard provisions including the requirement that the nursery issuing the plant passport is authorised to do so by the NPPO. A plant passport is an official label, and it is necessary that all producers, importers and traders in plants and plant products covered by the plant passport system be officially registered with the NPPO. In Ireland this is the DAFM. A guide to the plant passport system, including a list of plants subject to plant passport requirements, is on the DAFM website. ✽

APPOINTMENTS Conor Gallinagh has recently joined the horticultural team at Kildalton College as a nursery stock technician. Conor is a recent graduate of UCD where he completed an honours degree in horticulture. Conor comes with a wealth of nursery experience having worked in his family’s nursery and garden centre in Stranorlar, Co Donegal for many years. He previously worked at the National Trust’s Mount Stewart Gardens where he was employed as a plant collections officer.

Conor will be responsible for the management of the Kildalton College wholesale nursery as well as training of students in horticultural skills in propagation, nursery management, landscape construction and mechanisation. Conor will also be working closely with the Teagasc horticultural development department in screening potential new lines and box blight trails for the nursery stock industry. ✽

Loan features ●L oans of up to a maximum of €150,000 ● L oan term of up to six years The scheme was developed in co-operation with the Strategic ● L oans are unsecured Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI), which confirmed that ● O ptional interest only repayments available at the start of AIB, Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank will distribute the loans, the loan making €150m available to farmers and horticultural producers ● I

nterest rate of 2.95% for the term of the loan throughout Ireland at a low cost interest rate of 2.95%. This is Loans can be used for supported by €25m being provided by the DAFM, including

THE AGRICULTURE CASHFLOW SUPPORT LOAN SCHEME (SBCI)

€11m in EU exceptional adjustment aid. It should be maximised by the horticulture sector, particularly those sectors most affected by Brexit.

EVENTS

2017

●W orking capital requirements ●A more sustainable alternative to short term credit facilities ● An alternative to merchant credit

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TEAGASC EVENTS CALENDAR 2017 The dates and locations of the following 2017 events may be subject to change. The latest updates will be available on www.teagasc.ie/horticulture ✽

APRIL 2017 ● 1 9 April - Nursery stock biopesticide and spraying workshop.

Venue: Kildalton College, Piltown, Kilkenny ●2 7 April - Strawberry Seminar.

Venue: Teagasc, Dublin Rd, Enniscorthy, Wexford MAY 2017 ●4 May - Horticulture Technology

Conference. Venue: Teagasc, Ashtown, Dublin 15 JUNE 2017 ● 1 -5 June - Teagasc Garden at

Bloom. Venue: Bloom in the Park, Phoenix Park, Dublin 8 ● 1 3 June - Cut foliage event.

Venue: Kildalton College, Piltown, Kilkenny

SEPTEMBER 2017 ●2 1 September - Top fruit seminar.

Venue: Kildalton College, Kilkenny OCTOBER 2017 ● 1 9 October - Mushroom Industry

Seminar. Venue: TBC NOVEMBER 2017 ●2 November - Nursery Stock Seminar. Venue: Kildalton College, Piltown, Kilkenny

Spring 2017 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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DESIGN / 07

The Greatest

Leveller

Frazer McDonagh, one of Ireland’s leading water feature experts, explains why we all need to include water in our designs and provides some insight into getting it right

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ater is an essential element for all great gardens. Big, small, traditional, avant garde, historical, contemporary… no matter what style, context or intention water creates a powerful effect.

Water and meaning Water adds life to the garden and can greatly enhance a setting through movement, light, sound and reflection. It has a compelling, mesmerising quality that draws the eye and it adds a mood of tranquillity and relaxation. We are drawn to water as is all life. Insects, birds, frogs and everything else in between seek out water. To include it in a landscape affords an opportunity for us to connect with nature in a very natural way. Water is life.

Water can be used in many forms depending on the guiding

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style. It can resonate and mimic nature with cascading waterfalls and softened edges. It can be formal and accent architecture and structure with hard, linear edges. It can be a focal element which helps to define style like a traditional fountain or modern water blade. Water can also set a tempo for a space from a still reflective plane, which evokes a sense of peace, to a heart rate raising flow over hard surfaces. The scale, speed and context of water will greatly influence human response so care must be taken when designing it into a garden or landscape.

Factors to consider The first things to factor in when considering the inclusion of water are the size of the space, the surrounding context and overall style.

Formal gardens are best suited to water features with a

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07 / DESIGN

geometric shaped pool or trough with a water spout, blade or fountain. The use of geometry and structure allow for unity between elements. While conflict between elements can create dynamism it is challenging to pull off well. In my experience, naturalistic gardens can accommodate both natural and formal features. The use of a more structured layout in a natural setting can – when done correctly – can make a bold statement, which accents the natural elements. Small gardens in suburban situations are best suited to formal ponds while larger rural landscapes suit more natural features. Think of it this way: when choosing the type of feature, consult with the surroundings and allow them to inform what will sit most comfortably.

Size matters Water features should be treated in a similar way to other features in the garden with respect to size. I think most people are a little afraid of water and undersize their water elements. Often, as plants establish, the feature becomes crowded and hidden. Be brave and go bigger!

Location, location, location Location is an important factor to consider. Avoid siting a pond close to mature trees as roots can damage ponds, canopies can create too much shade and autumn leaf fall can result in a dirty

looking pond and problems with pumps and filters. Construction might also negatively impact tree health. Seek out a location where you can achieve a 50/50 balance between light and shade, which is best for plants and wildlife. The location should also be accessible. There is little point putting an element in a far off location where interaction will be limited.

Safety first One of the most important issues in designing a water feature is safety. You need to know exactly who will have access to the water and what their capacity is. Children, animals, older people, people with disabilities and just your average person can all run into trouble with water. While it is impossible to design out all potential accidents great care must be taken to ensure appropriate steps are taken. Where there are real concerns it is worth considering the inclusion of a pond grid which sits just below the surface. Even if someone fell in they wouldn’t drown. The above noted, safety concerns should not be a reason for excluding water.

Construction implications There are several different methods of constructing water features and they all have merits and drawbacks. The three primary methods are using hard landscape materials and waterproof renders or sealers, hard landscape

materials and waterproof liners, and finally puddled clay. The choice of method largely depends on the situation and desired outcome. Geometric shaped formal ponds are generally built with brick sides rendered, with a pond sealer applied. Liners are always challenging to use and unless you have a hard landscape edge – where the liner can be sandwiched and thus hidden from view – it will be tough to mask the interface between the water’s edge and surrounding soil. Naturalistic features and cascading waterfalls are the hardest water features to create. The key is to make them appear like they were always there. Anything less and they’ll look out of place and artificial.

Creating such features is as much an art as it is a science and I would advise anyone to bring in an expert unless you are very confident. My own confidence has come from years of working with water in all sorts of settings. I have spent hours studying natural features, understanding how water flows and falls over rocks, how the flow shapes the rocks and vice versa. If you want to learn how to place rocks in features, get yourself into nature.

How deep is your love?

I love that water attracts life and you should too. Nothing complements water more than fish, plants and wildlife. If you’re keen to maximise the

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Maintenance and infrastructure All water features require management input. It’s as simple as that. With a naturalistic feature you are attempting to mimic nature and maintenance will usually centre on encouraging the development of a balanced system and annual assessment. Plants often have to be thinned out every few years. They are only doing their thing, and if they’re not managed they will eventually dominate and take over.

I personally love to use Sagittaria latifolia - also known as arrowhead plant – as it’s an excellent water cleaning plant.

Other species such as Scirpus spp. and Mentha aquatica, also do an excellent job.

In more formal settings it is vital to consider the use of filtering systems which are needed to limit algae, increase oxygen and stop water becoming stagnant. There are a number of internal and external filtering systems on the market, which work very well but also need regular cleaning. UV filter units clean water by zapping the algae particles but they also kill the small animal

Kilmacanough, Wicklow

Silver Medal Winner 2016 Silver Gilt Medal 2013 Silver Medal 2011

pond life so I prefer to keep water clean by using the right balance of plants that filter and clean the water along with moving water from a pump. Consideration also needs to be given to location of the pond infrastructure. Ideally nothing is visible. In my experience this where a lot of people fall down. If you are designing a pond, design in appropriate pump housing which is both accessible and discrete.

Water, they say, is the great leveller. No feature can add more atmosphere or cause more stress. Get it right and it’s magic, get it wrong and the results can be expensive, ugly, time consuming and regret provoking. We all love water and should strive to include it where possible but if you’re not 100% confident you need to drop the idea or call in expert assistance. ✽

FRAZER McDONOGH is an award winning water specialist and garden designer, perhaps best noted for his garden creations at Bloom in the Park and numerous UK RHS shows. He can be contacted at Tel: 087225 8220 or via www. rockandwaterscapes.com

PHOTO BY KORALEY NORTHEN

potential diversity of a feature you’ve got to dig deep, both figuratively and physically. The greater the diversity of depths or levels, the more life you can support. For instance, water lilies and water hawthorn need 60-90cm, while marginal plants sit comfortably in 20-30cm. Incorporating shelves to facilitate plants is always worth considering. The shelves and levels provide unique habitats defined by light, oxygen and temperature. A variety of plants will help to oxygenate the water and create an equilibrium.

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THE DESIGNED GARDEN COMPLETING THE PICTURE

PHOTOS FROM LEFT: M+R-C-GARDENERS COTTAGE, VAN MIERLO TUINEN - GLDA PICTURES05, M+R-C-ELM PARK RD

Mary Hackett recounts the recent and much talked about GLDA seminar

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ehind every well designed garden there is a team of talented and dedicated professionals: the Landscape Architect or garden designer, the landscape contractor and the nurseryman who take a site and a client brief from inception to reality. Each has a unique and essential role to play. The GLDA’s 2017 seminar explored their individual roles and the teamwork involved in ‘Completing the Picture’.

Summary of Speakers ● ●

S ue and Bleddyn Wynn Jones, Crûg Farm Plants, Caernarfon, Wales W ebsite: crug-farm.co.uk

Our first speaker was Bleddyn Wynn Jones who, with his wife Sue is owner of Crûg Farm Plants. This Welsh nursery has introduced an extraordinary range of plants to cultivation. The title of Bleddyn’s talk was ‘Collecting seed

and plants in the mountains of northern Vietnam’.

The Wynn Jones first went to the mountain known as Fansipan in 1999 and have returned multiple times since.

Another journey, this time in association with the University of British Columbia, is planned for April 2017. Fansipan is located in Lào Cai Province in Northwest Vietnam. At 3,143 metres (10,312 ft), the mountain is called ‘the roof of Indochina’.

Collecting specimens in upland areas increases the probability of winter hardiness in Wales, as Bleddyn pointed out. Y Ty, the second area addressed in this talk, like Fansipan is cloud covered for much of the year. The Red River, seen tumbling down a mountain gorge, showed how close the Chinese border is in this area.

The presentation included both descriptions of the plant material illustrated and observations on hardiness and ease of propagation of the species. As he outlined the plant’s characteristics, Bleddyn added his own assessment of the garden worthiness of the specimens. We saw how deforestation for the purpose of farming ginger is radically changing the local ecosystem. There was a sense of urgency in the presentation – Bleddyn’s shot of virtually unexplored virgin forest, clinging to limestone slopes, underlined the challenge facing this fragile environment.

Taking questions, Bleddyn noted that introducing new plants to cultivation is helped by shows such as Chelsea and also by working with both the National Trust in the UK (Mount Stewart trials many species) and with Botanical Gardens all over Europe.

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T homas Doxiadis, Architect, Landscape Architect ASLA, B.A. MArch, MLA W ebsite: doxiadisplus.com

Our second speaker of the morning was Thomas Doxiadis, a Greek Landscape Architect with an international reputation. The title of his talk was ‘Utopia and Entopia in Mediterranean Landscapes’.

In 1999 Thomas founded the architecture/landscape practice doxiadis+ which prioritises environmental and landscape ecology principles in project design with a little added craziness. Sensitivity to existing built and ruined environment, textures, rocks, plants, trees, villages, goats and even snakes is central to Doxiadis designs. We travelled with Thomas from the urban landscape of Dimosio Sima in central Athens, to the Greek Archipelago hotel resort on the Cycladic islands through a villa development on Antiparos in the southern Aegean, with side glances at a range of other public and private projects.

A recurring team was the balance between respecting the client’s desire for utopia and the designer’s commitment to entopia, a balance between the client’s wish for the Garden of Eden and the Landscape Architect's commitment to the expression of truth to place.

This was particularly evident in the villa development on Antiparos. Where a contemporary road would zigzag down the hillside, causing more destruction than the houses themselves, here access roads follow either the perpendicular lines of the xerolithies (dry stone walls) or the parallel lines of the pezoules (terraces). The vegetation strategy was equally sensitive. The patterns of existing vegetation were imitated by planting indigenous plant varieties in percentage mixes. Plants located closer to the houses were placed at a high density, giving clients the cultivated feel they required.

Irrigation was only allowed for the house plantings. Planting away from the houses was graduated, allowing space for natural revegetation between the plants. Beyond a certain distance no plants were introduced. The ideas for the project came from the site limitations, which Thomas emphasised was his preferred way of working.

Thomas also shared project designs for the development of Varkiza Didaclic beach outside Athens. His has a continuing interest in urban design and suggested some imaginative developments including the redesign of urban streets as planted public park areas. ●

Emma Mazzullo, Mazzullo and Russell

Landscape Design, London ●

W ebsite: mazzullorusselllandscapedesign.com

Our first speaker of the afternoon was Emma Mazzullo who addressed her topic ‘Collaboration not Confrontation’ with verve. She emphasised that the private landscape designer can learn from procedures initiated by the commercial contracting industry. It is in the best interests of the whole team to work together to achieve delivery of design to a high standard, on time and within budget.

The value to the landscape designer of being on site early in the process was illustrated by suitably hair-raising project

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shots. Emma emphasised the value of working with the engineer and Architect, not only to agree practical issues like footings around the proposed building but also to manage the site so that damage to soil and landscaping elements including existing trees is minimised.

As part of her presentation, Emma considered the developing practice of putting key landscaping plants into the tender for consideration by the client and inclusion in the project budget. The importance of working with trusted nurserymen was central to her thesis. She observed that some shrubs required for the proposed Garden Bridge are already being grown in Kent nurseries.

“We all want the same thing,” Emma said in conclusion.

“A wonderful project, a happy client and a good journey.

Collaboration will get us there.” ● ●

N oël van Mierlo, Van Mierlo Tuinen, Deurne, Holland W ebsite: vanmierlotuinen.nl

Concluding the seminar with an impressive presentation which included video clips and extensive overviews of his company’s work, Noël van Mierlo emphasised his commitment to working with nature and his belief in the value of open mindedness. His gardens aim to create a natural wellness experience in a space that gives the client joy. This is achieved by bringing together nature, people and architectural skills.

He summed up his design principles as:

People

●N eed a comfortable and private place where they can

enjoy nature and celebrate life. ●S uch a space should trigger adventure and curiosity.

“As a designer, it is my business to guide my client to appreciate the details of the design.”

Nature

●A nature-sensitive garden should stimulate all the senses

and embrace the people who live and play in it. ●T o achieve this he aims to achieve authentic, natural

planting and design.

Architecture Nothing is more powerful that a well designed structure created with care for detail and sensitivity for the landscape in which it is to sit. ● To achieve this he is meticulous about detail and uses pure, natural materials where possible. ● The overall message was that a garden must be built with craftsmanship, attention to detail and care. Work with specialists who love their job and can communicate well.

And finally, Noël delivered the most important advice of all – connect with your client.

In thanking all the day’s speakers, Patricia Tyrrell observed that every presentation was unique with the thread running through the day of a focus on nature, the fragility of the natural environment and the importance of collaboration with both nature’s dictates and the skills of our fellow crafts persons to achieve successful landscaping projects. ✽

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2017

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Patricia Tyrrell, leading designer and chairwoman of the Garden and Landscape Designers Association, applies her critical eye, rational thinking and creative soul to her own practice and sets out a number of goals for 2017 - goals we should all heed

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ometimes I think I’m held back by my own success.

I always have projects on the go and am constantly being pulled this way and that. I love it really, but my busyness comes at a cost, and there is rarely time to sit back and take stock, to strengthen my good practices and address my weaknesses. As business picked up last summer after the recession, new work piled on top of work that had been on the back burner, thus creating a perfect storm. A whole year went by, running from computer to project with no time for anything else. I promised myself that 2017 would be different and have been working towards that goal, though for a long time it felt like I was swimming towards an island called ‘More Time’ which was gently drifting away. But now I feel that I have finally reached it and it has been worth the effort. It is giving me a chance to stand back and think about which path to take.

I think Socrates’ famous quote that ‘the unexamined life is not worth living’ applies to more deeply philosophical matters than how you run your business, but it always springs to mind. It’s really important to ask yourself what you are doing and why. Taking an honest look at how you work is a challenging endeavour, far harder than I had imagined. As a designer I’m used to solving problems and making the most of opportunities, but when it comes to myself and how I work, it’s not so easy. Below are the first products of my honest and hard look at what I do. They are a set of goals I’m planning to achieve, and some suggestions on how you can apply them in your business too.

GOAL 1: LEAVE LESS TIME BETWEEN CONFESSIONS Pardon the humour, but this is key. I have to make time to review, reflect and adapt what I do. Just because I’ve always done something a certain way doesn’t make it right. In fact, the things I think I do right may well be the things which are holding me back.

GOAL 2: PIN DOWN FEES AND WORK PRACTICES I’m a passionate person and love what I do, and while this has

PHOTO BY MAICASAA

always stood in my favour when winning clients over, it also has the potential to cost me dearly. Sometimes I find myself so wrapped up with a new project that I fail to pin down and communicate the basics: fees, work practices, schedules and so on. Clients can also fail to draw attention to the basics but really, it’s down to me. As a project proceeds it’s not a good idea to be sending out bills not knowing if your clients will be delighted or have a heart attack at the sight of them. Better to have your workflow broken down into stages with payment scheduled at each stage laid out and transparent. No prevarication from now on! This year everything will be nailed down, buttoned up and watertight from the outset.

Have your charges clearly laid out. I have found it’s a good idea to pin them on your wall, where you can see them when someone phones. It prevents you from on the spot equivocation and psychologically it is easier to read them off and give them a ballpark figure. Then email them your process or stages of working, with the appropriate fees.

Everyone knows where they stand.

If the client says yes, well happy days. If they say no you haven’t wasted your time and theirs, and left yourself in a stressful situation.

GOAL 3: BREATHING SPACE The seasonality of garden design and landscaping can mean periods of intense activity, running from one job to another and never coming up for air. Recently, since the economy picked up I have heard lots of people in the industry complain of a time shortage. There are a couple of problems with this, not least that you have no life. Time passes so quickly. Do you really want to spend it all working? It’s important to have some ‘me’ time. You will feel more rested and be able to think more clearly.

Apart from your work life balance, gifting yourself some time allows you to stand back and look at what you are doing.

It allows you to ask some questions in relation to making a living. Do you need to charge more or become more efficient in certain areas or just fine tune what you are doing?

It allows you to look around for opportunities that you might otherwise miss, and to do a better job finding materials and plants that will make you stand out amongst your peers.

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GOAL 4: UPSKILL Garden design involves many skills and as technology advances, those skills need to be upgraded or changed to keep up to date. We all have knowledge gaps. We are experts in some areas, but not so great in others. It could be computer related, such as learning SketchUp or CAD, improving your social media skills, or in relation to running your business more professionally and with better plant knowledge or design skills.

For example, I recently taught myself SketchUp, something I confess I resisted for a long time as I didn’t like how it looked compared to hand rendered 3D drawings. It has become an invaluable tool for me to combine with hand rendering. Never close your mind to new ways of working.

Learning something new opens us up to fresh experiences and opportunities where you are likely to meet new people, probably with similar interests, and make new connections and friendships as a result. It allows for the possibility of earning more money, by allowing us to do things more quickly and efficiently.

Acquiring a new skill is also good for our self-esteem and can have long term benefits in terms of brain health.

So push yourself out of your comfort zone. Take up an evening class, an online course or even take some time out to study. You won’t regret it.

GOAL 5: KNOWING YOUR LIMITATIONS As a nation, we are reluctant to admit to not knowing something, particularly if we feel it is expected of us. If your client has certain requirements which are beyond your expertise, then there are lots of skilled craftsmen and professionals waiting in the wings for your call.

There are a number of areas of landscape design where we can truly benefit from some specialist knowledge. Some elements we are completely comfortable with and some design elements are truly scary, natural water features for example. It’s easy to create a contained water feature in metal or stone, but a natural feature requires a lot of expertise. So call in an expert.

For garden buildings, once we move beyond the domain of the garden shed, it may be time to call in an Architect.

Lighting too can be a murky area and there are some wonderful specialist lighting companies out there.

Not everyone in the landscape business has plant knowledge, so call in someone who does. Your design will look so much more professional with a properly thought out planting plan than with a bunch of shrubs grabbed from the local nursery and plopped in at random.

Expertise can be useful in other areas too. Graphic representation may not be your strong point, but it can really sell a design idea. Why spend days producing something mediocre when there are experts who can whiz up your ideas into something truly impressive?

The collaboration of skilled professionals or craftspeople

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has a synergy to it, working together to create something of beauty. A design idea will never come to fruition without the necessary skills. If you don’t have them, go out and find them.

GOAL 6: GET OUT AND ABOUT I am a firm believer in choosing my own plants. Before creating a planting plan I always visit nurseries to see what’s available and what’s new, and if there are some really impressive specimens to inspire my designs. On each visit I learn some new plants and reacquaint myself with older ones.

As seasons pass there is always something new to learn, so you need to visit often. Every visit is a joy, and pushes me forward to new and better combinations. This is something I do well and though it takes time, I don’t intend to change it. For activities that you are passionate about within your business it may be a path to something new, but without time to reflect this may never happen.

Choosing your plants from a catalogue is sterile by comparison. Choosing from a book without prior knowledge of how a plant grows and develops and whether it is going to be available in the nursery, will create problems for you, for the contractor and ultimately for long term maintenance.

So visit the nursery and get up close and personal with your plant palette.

Looking around at structural elements, I confess I am a little less motivated. I need to make time to visit suppliers of hardscape materials to see what’s new, and trade fairs and shows to discover new and original materials and ways to use them.

There is nothing new under the sun, so I also occasionally visit museums and galleries for inspiration, though again this is something I should do more often.

Garden shows such as Bloom in the Park, Chelsea and Hampton Court and shows further afield such as Chaumontsur-Loire help us to see trends, and how the boundaries can be pushed within the realm of good design and how materials can be used to great effect.

And finally, to listen to successful designers at seminars such as the GLDA’s 2017 Seminar ‘The Designed Garden: Completing the Picture’ or to travel to the Society of Garden Designers’ seminars in London can offer fantastic opportunities for insights into good work practices and approaches.

If you don’t have the time, see Goal 3 above.

GOAL 7: CHARGE MORE Because you’re worth it!

✽

PATRICIA TYRRELL is a landscape architect, garden designer, horticulturist and gold medal winner. She can be contacted via her website at living-landscapes.com

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2017

PHOTO BY VINCENT MCMONAGLE

“I’m too busy,” you cry. “How could I possibly find this time?” Well, if you have ever had an injury, been taken ill or just had problems with your mode of transport, you will realise that the world doesn’t come to an end without you.

Allocate some time. Set it in stone and make it your priority.

You will be amazed at the difference it can make to your life.

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BLOOM IN

THE MAKING

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s the centrepiece of Bord Bia’s Bloom, the show gardens require a huge commitment in terms of time and energy. Although the process officially starts in September preparing application documents, it actually starts in advance of the previous show, where dialog with potential designers and sponsors begins for the following year. There are numerous calls, emails and meetings over the summer months and we try to hit the ground running come September.

Once again this year’s festival will boast a great selection of gardens. Amongst them are Alan Rudden’s ‘Urban Retreat’, John Durston’s 'Nature’s Resurgence’, Teagasc and Pieta House’s ‘Garden of Hope’, and Dara O’Daly at Dublin City Council’s ‘A liveable City’. James Purdy has designed ‘Kaleidoscope of Colour’ for Cuprinol, there is 'Everyone has a Dream’ by Leonie Cornelius at Woodies, ‘Transition’ by Liat and Oliver Schurmann, and a group of designers from Dublin’s Chocolate Factory is collaborating on a garden titled ‘The Spaces Between’.

As preparation ramps up, our show garden designers are starting to get to grips with the details of their gardens. This year, to highlight the work our designers do leading up to the festival, we have decided to give Horticulture Connected readers an insight into the process by previewing the journeys of Tünde Szentesi, Kevin Dennis and Brian Burke. Taking a moment’s breath from their planning, the three designers give us the inside track on their personal preparations for Bloom 2017.

If you are interested in designing or sponsoring a garden at Bloom 2018 please get in touch and I will be happy to discuss the process in more detail.

MY JOURNEY TO BLOOM 2017:

TÜNDE SZENTESI

My journey to Bloom started back in October or November, as it does every year. My original intention was to continue the narrative I started last year with the garden I designed for The Marie Keating Foundation ‘Out the other side: A Garden of Hope’ - which aimed to raise awareness of breast cancer. This time though, I want to focus on issues surrounding men’s cancer.

While developing the early concepts for my garden, Bord Bia issued expressions of interest from a number of sponsors as they do each year. I was inspired by one in particular and decided to put pen to paper and prepare proposals.

Agri Aware is a charitable trust whose aim is to educate and spread awareness of Irish farming and the agri-food

industry. I was excited at the prospect of conceptualising and communicating the messages of such an organisation: the importance of the agri-food industry to both the Irish public and the farming community, the topic of sustainable practices in farming, and the story of modern agriculture and food, from farm to fork.

Whilst still working on designs for my own men’s cancer garden, I researched the subject, prepared my concept proposals and submitted them to Bloom and Agri Aware.

I worked hard to develop proposals that would effectively deliver my sponsor’s message ‘Farm to Fork’, and to my delight, was shortlisted and invited to pitch my ideas in person.

In preparing for the interview I developed a sketch design and fabricated a physical model. I find this is a very helpful process. Building a model prompts me to start thinking about the spatial arrangement and scale of my design, potential construction issues, and even how I might go about detailing certain elements later on in the process.

The interview went well and I was over the moon when I heard that Agri Aware liked my proposals and had selected me to represent them at Bloom. It was at this point that I halted work on my men’s cancer garden so I could focus on Agri Aware.

My sponsor and I are currently refining the brief and I am busy developing details, sourcing materials and having initial meetings with my ever dependable contractor, SAXA Landscapes.

For me, plants are key to the success of a show garden and I am always keen to bring new and forgotten plants into my garden. In recent years I have worked closely with Gardenworld Nursery, Nightpark Nursery and Yellow Furze Nursery to have the stock ‘show garden ready’ just in time for the June bank holiday.

My construction schedule is almost ready and I am looking forward to the challenge of building on the success of my previous Bloom gardens: ‘Out the other side: A Garden of Hope’ (2016), Water in the Air (2015), and Eco Tango Garden (2013).

TUNDELANDSCAPES tundelandscapes@gmail.com

Spring 2017 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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DESIGN / 07 CREATING AN OASIS IN THE PARK:

KEVIN DENNIS

Bloom is the largest and most vibrant garden event in Ireland. It celebrates the appreciation of garden design and horticulture while creating a fun and relaxed atmosphere.

Garden enthusiasts from all around Ireland flock to Bloom to look for inspiration and to spot new trends.

Each year it showcases talent from all around Ireland with contrasting styles of design and planting combinations. I have been keen to return and create a garden at Bloom, and 2017 feels like the right time.

This year I will be creating a show garden for my sponsor Santa Rita. Santa Rita is one of Chile’s oldest and most enterprising wine producers. The Chilean wine was launched in Ireland in 1989 and regards Ireland as one of it’s most important international markets.

Bloom organisers issued an expression of interest from The Santa Rita to apply with a sketch proposal and design brief for consideration for their 2017 show garden. I was lucky enough to be shortlisted, which gave me the opportunity to meet before the panel and present my design proposals in response to their brief. Thankfully it went my way and it is now time to put the project together. I am working closely with the Santa Rita team to develop design details.

The Santa Rita and Cityscape brands will come together to celebrate today’s lifestyle and moments to be cherished and enjoyed. The garden is entitled ‘Living Oasis’, which celebrates that oasis moment that we look for in our lives, and here it is found through the medium of plants, water and the clean lines of contemporary design.

By definition we all see an oasis as a fertile green area in a desert but it can be an oasis of calm in the hectic lifestyle of living in a city. Any outdoor space can be become a retreat or a place to hide away in, to take a deep breath and unwind.

The mental and physical health benefits of gardening have been proven to improve our quality of life.

As a fan of city garden spaces, I like to explore how we can use horticulture and design to create spaces that are a point of gravity in our lives to take time out and reconnect with

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nature. This garden will be an exaggeration of the oasis theme to highlight what we can achieve in any garden.

The ‘Living Oasis’ garden will have a planting scheme combining exotic and native plants and trees to create a mainly green themed garden. I am focusing on the texture of the foliage, blending from coarse textures such Astilboides tabularis to the fine textures of Deschampsia ‘Bronze Veil’. By blending green tones and textures to create an interesting palette of plants I hope to achieve a garden that has a primitive feel with an exotic look. Flowering colours will be used to add some heat to the space with yellow, orange and red splashes and white in areas for some calm and distance.

There will be trailing plants on some of the hard structures which will give the effect of plants dripping and overflowing, softening the rigid clean lines.

This show garden will be unconventional in its use as there will be no main walkway through the space. The entrance to the open garden pavilion seated space will be through a hidden entrance to the rear of the garden, leaving the element of surprise to the invited visitor.

I am looking forward to the challenge a show garden always brings and to the knowledge acquired through researching this project.

CITYSCAPE GARDENER info@cityscapegardener.ie www.cityscapegardener.ie

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2017

07 / DESIGN ON CLOUD CANINE IN BLOOM:

BRIAN BURKE

I am involved, with a group of local volunteers, in the restoration of a neglected, abandoned and derelict famine graveyard in Athy in Co Kildare. Before Christmas it dawned on me that the project could potentially be a great show garden at Bloom 2017. I thought it had a lot to say about the neglect of entire chapters of our history and how selective we are about the strands of our heritage that we deem to be worthy of commemorating. While the garden was certainly possible, I felt the resplendent setting of Bloom might compromise the solemn message. The depths of winter would probably be more appropriate.

Around the time that I resigned myself to forgetting about the famine garden, the email inviting design submissions arrived. Of the four that I saw I submitted proposals for two. The temptation is to take a blanket bomb approach and apply for several gardens but I relented, realising that I needed to adopt a more pragmatic, surgical approach. I’m glad I did. With a busy day job and a tribe of kids, the time simply does not exist to run with a blunderbuss strategy.

So, I focused on the two that enthused me most. I submitted a quite hastily prepared proposal for Santa Rita which came to nothing. I didn’t invest too much time on it so was not overly disappointed or surprised that it made no headway.

It was when I saw the invitation from Dogs Trust that I knew the direction in which to point my energy. I instantly recognised the potential to incorporate stimulation and entertainment for the dog into a dynamic family garden. My intention was clear not a dog’s garden, not a family garden, but both.

I submitted the initial concept for Dogs Trust which I knew was strong enough to hold attention. When Kerrie called to say that they wanted to sit down with me I put everything else on hold to create the space to develop my ideas through solid research. I arrived at the meeting well prepared and armed with a clear vision in my head and on paper.

Having your ideas precisely set out on paper is vital for clients. You might be well able to articulate verbally, but leaving something concise and coherent for their review and deliberation afterwards is critical.

There is an important point here: there was not much time between the call and the meeting. Bloom is all about compressed schedules, about doing a lot in a short space of time, about not whinging and just knuckling down and producing. So here was the entire process in miniature; produce under pressure. What faith would a potential sponsor have in a designer who shows up ill prepared for a meeting like that? It’s your first test.

It may seem curious that I chose to pursue a client seeking design submissions rather than simply going about it myself. Well, the answer is that I recognise the opportunity that the canvass route represents. It’s a ready made, fully engaged and motivated sponsor, and success means that

you circumvent so much of the onerous and objectionable process of looking for money. Being pitch prepared requires a bit of work but it makes a world of sense to do everything you can to get on board, particularly when you deem the alliance to be a good fit, which in this case I certainly did.

I was determined that the lessons I have learned over the last two years be incorporated into the approach to this year’s show. Securing a client in advance of Christmas is a crucial part of that masterplan. Unlike previous years, conversations with plant suppliers are well advanced and the trickier aspects of the build are already being fine-tuned by my...eh, technical team (Paddy). We have also already had a series of productive meetings with the clients, feedback from which has been incorporated directly into the design.

But don’t forget that support and feedback can work both ways. My experience has greatly helped my sponsor to understand how they can best prepare for the event with volunteers, logistics, media and the general approach to the weekend. This is valuable knowledge accumulated from observing these things in previous years.

Designers with experience of the show have extensive insight and input on these decisions that translate to positive exposure and feedback for the sponsor. It’s not knowledge that I would have been conscious of having or if I did, would probably not have placed much value on it but, you know what? It’s there and it’s pivotal to a sponsor in getting results.

So, yet again all roads lead to the Park for our annual stamina/endurance/stress test. Eventually when I am old and decrepit and strumming a banjo in a rocking chair on my front porch I will try to analyse and understand the unquenchable compulsion that makes a person go through such physical and mental anguish on an annual basis. Some day. There is probably a deep rooted, underlying psychological phenomenon at play but, for now, it’s just because there is nowhere else on earth any of us would rather be that weekend. And that’s good enough for me.

BRIAN BURKE GARDENS brian@brianburkegardens.coms ✽

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INTERVIEW / 08

PERSISTENCE PAYS REALISING THE

AMERICAN DREAM

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think it’s a safe bet to assume all graduates of horticulture contemplate travelling abroad with their newly acquired skills and knowledge. Those that do rarely regret it.

Whether they remain abroad or return home the exposure to different cultures, work practices and techniques always stands. A question I frequently ask horticultural professionals is the advice they would give to a graduate. While responses vary, they always include encouragement to travel. If I were to start again, it’s what I’d do.

Declan Blackmore had a dream to travel. Having graduated from Kildalton in the late 80s, he sought opportunities abroad and leapt at a chance for an internship in the US. He never looked back, at least not in terms of returning home to work. Now 30 years on, and Declan is president of Summerhill Landscapes Inc, one of the most successful landscape contracting companies operating in America’s most prestigious locations: the Hamptons. He may not have returned home, but he didn’t forget where he came from or how he personally benefited from the opportunity to travel. Once he established himself, he set about offering internships to international students. He is committed to providing students with authentic and life changing experiences, and many of those who took up the opportunity now find themselves in senior roles in the company.

Declan Blackmore’s story is one of passion, drive, energy and persistence. It is the horticultural American dream.

SUMMERHILL TEAM FOR 2016 AT THE SUMMERHILL FARM FOR THEIR ANNUAL PICNIC

What motivated you to follow a career in horticulture?

For as long as I can remember I assumed I would go into farming, our family farm business. I spent my childhood working on my family's 200 acre farm in Kilkenny.

However, my elder brother, Brian, would be the one to take over the farm. Since I wanted to work outdoors with the land, I chose horticulture because there were more opportunities in that field for someone without land. And since I'd always had a keen interest in gardening, combined with working outdoors, I chose to attend horticulture college at Kildalton College in 1986.

How did you pursue your career after completing your formal education at Kildalton College?

I actually started pursuing my career while still attending Kildalton College. Their approach meant going out and working in the industry for a year as part of the training. In December 1987, I saw an advertisement for an internship in America.

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HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2017

BARRY LUPTON INTERVIEWS DECLAN BLACKMORE

The notice informed that there would be interviews for the opportunity to work with the Lynch Family in the Hamptons.

I grabbed a bus from Waterford to Cork on Friday evening in preparation for my interview on Saturday morning. I didn't think I was going to get the internship, but Monday morning I received the call that I was successful and four months later I was working in America.

What provided the impetus for you to emigrate to the US? At the time, there was a program called the Donnelly Green Card Lottery Program. I submitted 500 applications to Washington and was successful in obtaining my green card. I continued to work in the landscape industry for four years before creating Summerhill Landscapes Inc in 1993. We presently employ a staff of 125 at the height of the season and are one of the East End's leading landscape companies.

My modus operandi has always been clear, to be the best in my industry, the attention to detail guy of a boutique landscape company. I am proud to have Brendan O Dwyer from Limerick (20 years served to date) and Edward

08 / INTERVIEW Corcoran from Cork (12 years served to date) who came through the internship program and are now active partners and play a huge part in operations and management of the company. I think my Irish heritage and strong interpersonal skills have gone a long way in growing my business.

Can you describe your average daily routine?

This has changed drastically over the years. As we've become larger, my responsibility has increasingly been in sales, marketing and building relationships with Landscape Architects, builders, contractors, etc. My qualified staff handle the day to day operations very well. I try to visit as many job sites as possible in any given day for quality control purposes, but my biggest responsibility is in opening new doors and developing strong working relationships with Landscape Architects, some of whom are Christopher LaGuardia FASLA, Edmund Hollander FASLA, Andrea Cochran FASLA, Piet Oudolf, Margie Ruddick ASLA, and David Kelly ASLA. What type of projects does Summerhill Landscapes focus on?

We generally focus on the high end projects in the Hamptons, where any request is possible. Some projects have taken up to two years to complete. On completion, Brendan and his talented team will prepare a complex maintenance package for the new landscape and develop the flower and vegetable gardens further with the new clients. Eddie, the construction team and myself will move onto the next install project. Spring can be overwhelming trying to get projects completed and get clients into their houses for Memorial Day and Fourth of July holiday weekends.

While contracting is viewed as a demanding job with little thanks, it does have some rewards. What would you consider to be the most rewarding aspects of your work?

The Landscape Architects are always aiming for the awards in the architect rural design magazines, so joining in their success if we are part of the project can be rewarding.

Winning a competitive bid on a large landscape project is always a good day’s work for me. Finally, rolling out the green carpet for a client who has been walking in mud for many months during house construction and seeing their exhausted facial expression transform into a happy smile is always gratifying for the team and myself.

Conversely, what do you consider to be the most demanding parts of the work?

Unrealistic client expectations and time management. If the client has been misinformed with unrealistic expectations by an Architect or designer, it can be very challenging to meet their expectations. Good time management is the shortest route to efficiency and productivity in my opinion.

There is little to no regulation of the landscape construction sector in Ireland, something which has undermined both the quality of works being completed and also the public perception of the sector. What level of regulation do you operate within and how is it manifest?

There are a lot of regulations in the East End of Long Island. It is an environmentally protected place where all

development projects carry hallmarked regulations including stringent protection of the local water table, due to the fact that we are an island with a sandy soil. Stormwater management, wetlands protection, clearing restrictions on a new construction site, chemical use reported and nematodes control are all areas that must be compliant with local town and village code. The towns and village have a code enforcement team to inspect and enforce that the contractors and homeowners are in compliances with the local codes.

While landscape contracts exist, they are typically only used for commercial work in Ireland. The use of contracts in domestic projects remains the exception rather than the norm. At what level are contracts employed in your business?

Summerhill Landscapes will not start any project without an executed contract to protect both parties. Grey areas create problems, but black and white minimises issues. Not sure if the good old handshake would work in the Hamptons.

Our contracts are all carefully reviewed and approved by a labour attorney.

The Association of Landscape Contractors of Ireland (ALCI) is Ireland’s professional body representing the contracting community. In the absence of the government regulations, they work tirelessly to raise the standard and profile of the sector. Are you a member of a professional body and if so what function do they perform?

Summerhill is actively involved in the Southampton Business Alliance and the Easthampton Business Alliance group, the NSLA (Nassau Suffolk Landscape Association) and The Farm Bureau Group. All of these groups actively represents the agriculture and horticulture sectors against new code change and regulations.

I am also a member and a supporter of the following: the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Southampton Historical Museum, the Easthampton Historical Society, the Parrish Art Museum, the North Sea Citizen’s Advisory Council and a Friend of the High Line in New York city.

We make every effort to give back, by performing community work or social work. I am not aggressive but I've built up enough of a name and infrastructure to be able to balance having a family and continuing to conduct business while allowing my two partners to continue to build and energise the business.

If you were to wave a magic wand and change any aspects of the contracting sector in the US, what would it be?

I would make the organic process of landscape and gardening mandatory.

A recent wage survey conducted in Ireland showed that landscape operatives earn only just above the minimum wage. What sort of wage levels are obtainable in New York?

I will never lose good talent over money. In the Hamptons, the starting rate is approx. $14-15 dollars per hour (€13-14) and it goes up from there.

There is a perception on this side of the water that workers in the US have few rights, limited holidays and that it's

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●S ay what you do and do what you say ●W hen you bring your manager a problem, bring a

solution with it ●N ever stop building your contact list ●5 0% of your business is product the other 50% is marketing ●B e a good leader ● Knowledge is a powerful tool, use it ● Good communication results in fewer problems ●F inish strong, your next referral is depending on it ●R eturn all calls within 24 hours, no exceptions ●B e nice and sincere ● Great customer service is a major ingredient to success

pretty much a dog eat dog place to make a living. What has your experience been?

As a product of the internship program and now an employer to many, the US offers so much opportunity if one works hard and has a dream. I agree that the pace in New York is fast and furious and not for everyone. Our teams arrive in our operational yards at 6:15am and must have all trucks loaded and on the road by 7am. We have staff who have been with us for 10-15 years and seem to be content.

We are only waking up to the potential impacts of our influence on the environment and while it remains a low priority for many on the front lines of contracting, things are starting to change.

How does the environment sensitivity play into your role?

The East End of Long Island is a very unique environment protected by strict regulations and it is not only a place where pollution of all types is controlled, regulated and minimised, but the use of organic methods is encouraged, as is the recycling of landscape material like concrete and mulch.

You offer a unique mentoring and internship program for international applicants. Can you explain a little about why you developed it and how it has evolved over the years?

Again, my partner and I am the product of an internship from Ireland to Southampton, New York, and I want to share my story and experience with horticultural interns from all over the world. If I can inspire, mentor and teach a young horticulturist with some wisdom, knowledge and direction in their future to explore the possibilities of their potential, isn't that amazing? If I can play a minute part in their future success, that is truly gratifying.

We started the internship program 20 years ago with Brendan O’Dwyer and now we bring 12-15 interns every year.

While an intern is with Summerhill Landscapes, I want them to have an experience that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. I want each and every one of them to exceed their expectations in their careers. I encourage, mentor and help them to achieve their maximum capabilities. I presently have approximately 20 people in upper middle management who all started in the internship program.

I want to give a shout out to Mike O’Keeffe and his amazing staff who work so hard to keep these programs going in challenging times. Summerhill is honoured to have been part of the internship program for 20 years and will continue to support and promote it for the next 20 years.

We live in interesting times, and living in the US you are at the epicentre. Do you see the changing political landscape impacting your business and if so, how?

I am very fortunate to live in an economically protected bubble called the Hamptons. To a certain degree it’s a recession proof place, far removed from the real world. We are privileged that we work with a high end clientele and we have a product that is presently in demand. Summerhill has become a leading firm that holds a good market share in our demographic.

What advice would you give to a horticulture student wishing to pursue a career in landscape construction?

Follow your dreams, set high goals and don't fear failure as some of the most successful people in the world failed before they succeeded.

I have found with a lot of Irish interns that they are more capable than confident. I encourage them to explore and find inspiration in other successful people. As a young man I was inspired by people who had wisdom and success.

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How do you see your business evolving over the next decade?

I hope to continue to cultivate slow, steady business growth through continual selectiveness on the projects we take.

Maintaining good margins and constantly improving quality.

Our European style seems to appeal to our clients. We launched a new exclusive all season high end flower garden service called Kathryn Flower Gardens in the spring of 2016.

We acquired a 60 acre old tree farm and are in the process of rejuvenating it with new trees. Overall, we keep doing what we have been doing for the past 24 years. There is no landscape company in the East End that matches our percentage of horticulturalists and that injection of passion and knowledge is thanks to the agency in Ireland.

Is the US home, and if so, what makes it home?

My greatest achievement to date is having my wife Ann and my three children Jack (13), Liam (11) and Kathryn (9), so I am proud to say that the US is my home. The US has given me the opportunity to fulfil my dreams and goals. I never expected success to this degree and will always be grateful to this wonderful country. And there will always be a place in my heart for Ireland, which I know my kids love as much as I love the United States. I am, and will always be, proud of my heritage and Irish upbringing. ✽

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2017

09 / LANDSCAPE

Cost estimating specialist Colm Kenny counts the cost of budget overruns in the Irish landscape

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ith improving conditions in the construction industry the financial reigns are slowly being released by clients and developers. Ireland’s design community is finally getting its teeth into projects with substance. The diversity of large scale projects requiring huge resources and hundreds of man hours to develop that have passed across my desk in the last few months has been staggering. When I open these proposals I’m often conflicted, on one hand I’m inspired by the creativity while on the other I’m filled with disappointment. More often than not these schemes will end up being scaled back, reduced and ultimately compromised. Why? Because when they’re actually priced they’ll exceed allocated budgets, often set by clients and other consultants who only look at the bottom line and don’t value the proposed landscape scheme.

“What all designers need to do is specify, specify, specify” The overrun invariably means the designer has to return to the drawing board, and allocate additional resources to revise the design in order to ensure it comes within budget.

Nobody's a winner in this scenario. The entire design team is affected and so too is the client as the project is delayed going to site. The designer won’t make a profit on the project unless they get paid an additional fee, but it’s very hard to get paid twice on the same project. In the end, everyone loses.

With a reputation among other design professionals for not sticking to a budget, it’s important for Landscape Architects and designers to have clear instructions on the client’s financial commitments to landscape proposals to prevent cost overruns on projects. Cost overruns and contractor variations are huge causes of conflict for all parties and can lead to tensions from the client and contractors. This is especially true if the landscape contract is to be carried out under a RIAI Blue form of contact (where quantities do not apply) as the drawings and specifications take precedence over the pricing document. There are a number of steps that landscape design professions should undertake on each project to ensure that variations are omitted and cost overruns are minimised.

Once the initial design is carried out, following through with a cost estimate before you spend any more time on detailed design drawings can save time and money. If you’re not in a position to undertake such a service with confidence, ask the client for assistance. They may have a quantity surveyor employed as part of the design team who could review the scheme and provide an order of magnitude cost. If not, an experienced contractor may give you an indication of the likely costs associated with your scheme. Once this cost estimate is carried out, you will be in a better position to confirm if you are within budget. The added advantage of early contractor involvement is that you can get expert advice from the contractor on the ‘buildability’ of your scheme. This may help reduce costs as they might suggest a more effective way of constructing elements of the scheme. Likewise, check in with the nurseries to ensure proposed plants and trees are

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LANDSCAPE / 09 readily available and can be easily sourced, hence reducing costs of imported stock.

It’s easy to leave details off plans, especially if the design fee is low and is a common problem on small jobs where designers don’t want to take the time to specify every detail.

However, it can be a much more expensive problem on large designs. Once the job has started on site, designers may feel guilty or don’t want to be the source of contractor claims so they just go ahead with whatever assumption the contractor makes. In fact they may not even raise the issue as they don’t want to draw the contractor’s attention to it. What all designers need to do is specify, specify, specify. Be very clear about the products and materials you want installed, how you want them installed, and what the final job should look like. Be wary of cut and paste specification documents. All specification documents need to be site specific. If they’re not written correctly and included in the tender package for contractors to price, it will be a source of conflict and possibly a claim further down the road.

Design changes once construction begins, and usually generates a changed order and a price increase unless it is an omission. Some changes are required due to design errors or oversights. Some are required by local authorities who rightly or wrongly say that some aspect of your design needs to be revised. However, the biggest cause of changes is caused by clients, who decide late in the game to up the specification.

Careful management of clients is a hard thing to do once the project has started. It’s vital to make as many decisions as possible with the client’s involvement in the process and with their approval prior to starting construction. It’s much easier and cheaper to move a line on a drawing than to move a real path or retaining wall. With today’s 3D design tools, it’s easier than ever to visualise your design before any work is carried out.

The type of contract and conditions associated with it will impact on what details are required on landscape drawings. It is important to inform yourself what type of contract the project will be procured on. If it’s a Blue form of contract it means that the drawings need to be watertight and co-orientated with other design disciplines.

Everything needs to be indicated on the drawings and in the specification documents. Even if it’s included in the pricing document, where the quantity surveyor has made an assumption, if it’s not on the drawing and it’s required it will be an extra as the drawings and specification document take precedence over the pricing document.

There is a small bit of room to manoeuvre with a yellow form of contact as items can be inserted into the bill of quantities which becomes a contract document.

All these simple steps are easy to make, but the root of the problem can often be traced back to low design fees. Even if you land the job on what you initially think is a decent fee, the love for the job gradually drifts away as the design changes.

Unrealistic deadlines and the constant value engineering of your design can leave it looking like the work of an engineer with lots of grass, concrete paths and Prunus ‘Otto Luyken’.

Talk about being soul destroying. We all get into business to make money, not friends.

Fees have always been low for landscape professionals compared to other design team members' costs, yet the value

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“The added advantage of early contractor involvement is that you can get expert advice from the contractor on the 'buildability of your scheme” they add to a project in terms of design and site features can be comparable to Architects. Architects have more responsibility as they often act as contract administrators, but if you strip this out of the equation, I can’t see why the fees should be in the same range. Architects can often get 4-5% of the contract value while Landscape Architects are often on a set fee no matter what is thrown at them during the project.

Low fees combined with a client’s demands for services which are not in the original proposal lead to further resentment.

If fees were to improve and everybody was content with their proposals and knew what they were to be paid and what is expected of them, then I believe the possibility of cost overruns on projects would be reduced, and we would all have an interest in the project and put lots of love into it. As a chartered quantity surveyor, I am obligated to abide by the rules of the SCSI, which are explicit on charging appropriate amounts for professional services.

In theory, this fee can only be reduced if the level of service is reduced and not when there is bullying into a lower fee for the same, if not higher service. Consultation and agreement within the landscape design industry in Ireland need to take place to agree a fee structure template for all practices and designers. I am not suggesting that everybody needs to charge the same fee or hourly rate, but rather a template for presenting proposals to potential clients, with agreement on the scope of services included in each stage. Until this happens clients will take advantage of landscape designers and blur the lines between what is and what isn’t included in landscape design proposals.

It is impossible to control all the factors which influence final budgets, so focus on what you can control: the work that you do. If you do nothing else this year, don’t find yourself at the end of it regretting the lost profit, the compromised projects, the additional stress and the potentially dented reputation for want of paying close attention to the detail. Stand your ground on fees, designs and budgets and don't let your work be compromised by value engineering. ✽

COLM KENNY, B Ag. Sc (Land Hort) MSc Quantity Surveying. Colm is a landscape estimating specialist. He provides cost and implementation advice to landscape industry professionals, technical advisors, contractors and facility management companies. He can be contacted on 087 288 5016 or by email info@landscapeqs.ie

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2017

09 / LANDSCAPE

THE LQMS:

Why you need to be involved

Lead researcher on the Landscape Quality Management System project, Eoghan Riordan Fernandez brings the industry up to speed on the most important horticultural initiative in recent history

related bodies and drawing in feedback and direction from stakeholders. Following a meeting late last year it was decided to focus our energies on assembling best practice documentation from leading practitioners from Ireland and also from international counterparts.

PLANS FOR THE NEXT THREE MONTHS

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f you’re not already aware of the Landscape Quality Management System project (LQMS), you should be. It represents the ongoing collective works and efforts of Ireland’s commercial horticulture community to develop a gold standard system for Irish landscapes. Through the Irish Association of Landscape Industries (IALI) founded in response to increasing concerns about the lack of transparency and quality control in the landscape - the project aims to develop a system which can be utilised by all to ensure the landscapes created in Ireland are built to the highest possible standard. As lead researcher on the project, I find myself at its very heart.

When I replied to the expression of interest document I didn’t really have an in-depth knowledge of the issues facing the wider landscape sector, but I wanted to be involved and I love a challenge. Since securing the position to lead the first phase of the project, I’ve gained much insight into the workings of the sector, its strengths and weaknesses and perhaps most importantly, where the opportunities exist for us to make a positive contribution through the project.

THE LQMS Ireland’s landscape sector is a bit of a free for all with little consistency, limited regulation and practically no oversight or transparency. While there is amazingly high quality work being completed across the country, this is down to the efforts of individuals rather than a coordinated system. We currently have no agreed forms of contract, standards or specifications, there is no formal requirement for landscape projects to be signed off by recognised professionals and the tendering process is a muddy puddle. And that’s being kind. The LQMS aims to address all these areas and we need your support to do so.

It is proposed to deliver the LQMS in two key phases. Phase one centres on information gathering and document formulation on three primary areas: design, procurement and tendering.

Phase two will focus on implementation and refinement.

Although the project is very much a collaborative endeavor, it is myself, under the direction of project leader Tony Williams, who have responsibility for production and realisation.

WORKS TO DATE Since November I have been working closely with Tony on information gathering, building connections with

Once we have assembled, reviewed and refined existing best practice documentation I will be focusing my energies on the creation of a standard form of landscape contract which will underpin the LQMS. The creation of the contract will then lead to a requirement for related documents and procedures such as tendering documents, specifications and standards. These will be the focus of the next three months.

PARTICIPATION The key to this project is active participation by all stakeholders.

We are creating a system which will shape how we work in the future and we all have an important role in how it evolves.

Participation will also underpin adoption. We are keen for it to emerge from the sector rather than be something applied to it from the outside. We really don’t want to be in a position where we’re being told ‘nobody told me’ or ‘I wasn’t consulted’, or ‘that won’t work’. Now is the time to have your say, to direct how we shape best practice in Ireland. This is no easy task and requires a huge effort on all our parts for it to work.

In January I made a presentation to the ALCI and met with some of their members. I was enthused by their interest and listened to many of their concerns. While the majority were glad to see something happening there was also a sense that it might come to nothing. There is a sense that the problems are simply too big and too ingrained to solve. I think we can all appreciate that but it shouldn’t be a reason for inaction, it should be seen as a battle cry. A call from the front lines for reinforcements. I’m on the front line and I want your support.

If you have thoughts or comments on the LQMS project or would like to get involved please get in touch. ✽

EOGHAN RIORDAN FERNANDEZ is a Landscape Architect and horticulturist with a background in carpentry and building. He is the owner and director of Sequoia Design, a landscape consultancy design and urban interventions practice and Landscape Architecture tutor at UCD. He also works as a creative director and site manager for the Big Love For Barnardos charity events. He can be contacted at eoghan@iali.ie

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LANDSCAPE / 09

PERCEPTION

EARLY IRISH TRUMP WALL AT OLD HEAD OF KINSALE TO EXCLUDE SO-CALLED IRISH, MEXICAN AND FRENCH CITIZENS

Landscape Architect, activist and founder of Landscape Alliance Ireland, Terry O’Regan shares some surprising French perspectives on Ireland’s landscape he definition of landscape in the European Landscape Convention, which is now also part and parcel of our planning and development legislation, features the word ‘perceived’. That has always given me some cause for unease as it seems to separate the cerebral from the reality. A recent illuminating experience has not quite eliminated that unease, but it certainly gives us all some food for thought.

At the end of January, Ireland hosted an exploratory visit of experts from the French Ministry of Sustainable Development.

The visit, initiated by our French colleagues, was prompted by the fact that since May 2015 Ireland has a national landscape strategy and the French authorities, despite having a wide range of measures in place that deliver on the aims and objectives of the European Landscape Convention, do not in fact have an overarching landscape strategy. To inform their deliberations they are visiting a number of states with such strategies in place.

Assisted by our own Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs they experienced an intensive three day programme of meetings and site visits that concluded with a short day visit to Cork, jointly hosted

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by Brendan O’Sullivan of the Centre for planning Education & Research at University College Cork and myself representing Landscape Alliance Ireland.

As is the nature of such visits, both sides gained from the exchange of experiences and methodologies. But what I found particularly interesting was their different perception of our landscape.

They were very taken with the number of large mature natural trees in the rural landscape. Now I would have thought on my visits to France that they had a landscape very generously endowed with trees, but they said yes, they do have plenty of trees in their towns and cities but they are inevitably pruned and contained, whilst in the rural areas the trees are typically contained and controlled in defined woodlands and forests.

They also remarked on the diversity of paint colours applied to houses in our landscape, enquiring if people are free to choose whatever colour they desire. Apparently in France you may be told by the authorities what colour paint to use.

Our lack of footpaths along roads in rural areas was also remarked on, with the rider that in France this tends to be overdone and to urbanise the landscape. Maybe we failed to show them more of our sometimes ‘overcooked’ roadside walls and balustrades?

Our itinerary in Cork was rather limited due to time constraints, but a short walk around Kinsale elicited the observation that it was a vibrant small town with a wide range of shops not just offering tourist fare, but also ‘butchers and bakers and candlestick makers’ and more outlets providing for the practical needs of the local population.

We ended our journey at the ‘no entry’ gateway to the Old Head of Kinsale golf course as an example of what is perceived by many in Cork and elsewhere as a failure in our planning process due to the lack of free public access to the

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2017

09 / LANDSCAPE The National Landscape Forum 2017 organised by Landscape Alliance Ireland is provisionally programmed for late June and it is hoped to convene the forum in the midlands in partnership with local communities. Check their website www.laiireland.com for updates.

lighthouse and coastline. As we stood there looking at the incongruity of a barb wire entangled heritage structure of ancient castle walls and a ruined tower house, I could not help remarking that Ireland was well ahead of Trump's Mexican wall; whatever about his Mexican wave hairstyle, we have had a wall in Kinsale for decades designed to keep out not only Irish visitors and perhaps the odd Mexican, but now some French visitors as well. Maybe it is time to give the Battle of Kinsale another go.

That said, I now look at our somewhat haphazard but occasionally ‘free’ landscape with a somewhat different perception. The reality that will never dawn on The Donald is that we will only progress when we are open to seeing the issues through other’s perceptions.

TERRY O’REGAN, B Agr Sc Hort(Hons), FILI, MIoH, founder of Landscape Alliance Ireland, has served the landscape industry in Ireland for some 45 years and advanced the intent and aims of the European Landscape Convention for some 20 years.

He now divides his time between providing landscape consultancy services in Munster and working as a Council of Europe international landscape and heritage expert in Kosovo. He continues to promote and refine his ‘jargon free’ landscape circle methodology and is currently leading a pilot study on its use at local and regional administrative levels in Kosovo.

The LAI website will shortly be relaunched as www.lai-ireland.com. Contact Terry at terryjoregan@ gmail.com or 021 487 1460.

“Vive la différence and Olé, Olé, Olé, Olé, Olé...” ✽

Suppliers of Quality Trees & Hedging www.dublingrass.ie

01-8386867

Fána Nurseries is a top quality producer of trees ranging in size from 6-8 bare root to 30-35 girth root ball.

The height to girth proportions of the trees is excellent and our bare root trees have excellent fibrous roots.

Our range available from 12-14 girth upwards have been transplanted three to four times depending on the size tree.

40 Acre Tree Nursery . 35,000 Trees in Production . 60 Different Varieties Sizes up to 30-35cm . Excellent Quality Stock Supply & Delivery Nationwide

The Groundcare Machinery Specialists

Fána Nurseries also supplies bare root and root ball hedging like Fagus, Taxus, Buxus and Prunus.

We invite you to visit our nursery and see the quality production for yourself

w w w. f a n a n u r s e r i e s . c o m

Ballyhooly, Co Cork . 025 39860 . fananurseries@gmail.com

Spring 2017 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

35

IN PICTURES / 10

IHNSA TROLLEY

PHOTOS BY: KORALEY NORTHEN

FAIR AT TULLYS NURSERIES

ABOVE: PETER CALLAGHAN & LIAM MCMAHON (NAD); LEFT: GERALDINE JENNINGS & MICHELLE ALLEN (O’CONNOR NURSERIES)

WILLIAM SMITH (ABBEY NURSERIES)

ROSEMARY FLANNERY (FLANNERY'S NURSERIES)

JOE & NUALA YOUNG (YOUNG NURSERIES)

PHOTOS: JOSEPH BLAIR

GARY GRAHAM (BORD BIA), LINDA WALSH (IPSOS) DÓNALL FLANAGAN & CONOR GALLINAGH (TEAGASC)

NIAMH & JOAN TULLY

36

FEIDHLIM DOCKRELL & BARRY BYRNE (TULLY NURSERIES)

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2017

LOUISE JONES (TEAGASC) & MARTIN TULLY

NOEL WALSH & ANDY ROBINSON (WHITES AMENITY)

STEVE HARPER (BORD NA MONA), DONACH GARTLAN & ROBERT BYRNE (LC PACKAGING), ALAN TIERNEY, THOMAS HOGAN, SARA SHIRLEY (TIPPLAND HORTICULTURE)

THE HARDWARE SHOW

PHOTOS: JOSEPH BLAIR

10 / IN PICTURES

ANNEMARIE HARTE (CEO HARDWARE SHOW), JASON LEONARD (WES-CHEM PRODUCTS), STEPHEN & DEREK DOYLE (DS SUPPLIES)

PAUL DOWLING (DOWLING LANDSCAPE SERVICES) WITH CONOR SCULLY (SCULLY.IE), LIAM MACMAHON (NAD) WITH STEPHEN KEATING (INTACT SOFTWARE), COLM O'CALLAGHAN (BRAYHORT)

BORD BIA - THE THINKING HOUSE

THE THINKING HOUSE - BORD BIA INSIGHT CENTRE

PAT FITZGERALD (FITZGERALD NURSERIES), MIKE NEARY & LORCAN BOURKE (BORD BIA)

RACHEL DOYLE & EAMONN WALL (ARBORETUM)

MICHAEL O'REILLY (THE GARDEN DESIGN SHOP)

JOE YOUNG, PETER DOWDALL & TIM SCHRAM

PAT FITZGERALD (FITZGERALD NURSERIES) & NUALA YOUNG (YOUNG NURSERIES)

Spring 2017 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

37

IN PICTURES / 10 PHOTOS: VINCENT MCMONAGLE

GLDA SEMINAR

BLEDDYN WYNN-JONES, THOMAS DOXIADIS, PATRICIA TYRRELL, EMMA MAZZULLO & NOEL VAN MIERLO (SEMINAR SPEAKERS)

EMMA MAZZULLIO AND GRAHAM WATSON

MARY & JOHN O'REILLY

DAVID SHORTALL & RONAN NANGLE (NANGLE & NIESEN)

RUTH LIDDLE (GARDEN SCULPTURES) & KERRIE GARDINER

WILLIAM KEARNEY, KERRIE GARDINER, GARY GRAHAM

MARINA & THOMAS DOXIADIS

COLM O'DONNELL, CHRISTY BOYLAN, VYVIAN WHITE & THOMAS MOORE

PHOTOS: JOSEPH BLAIR

TEAGASC CAREERS & OPEN DAY

DUN LAOGHAIRE RATHDOWN PARKS DEPT STAFF

PAUL FRITTERS & MJ DEVITT (NEWLANDS GARDEN CENTRE)

38

CAROL MARKS (BORD BIA) & DR OWEN DOYLE (PRESIDENT OF THE CIOH)

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2017

AARON REDMOND & COLM O'SHEA (REDLOUGH LANDSCAPES)

IPM ESSEN

PHOTOS: JOSEPH BLAIR

10 / IN PICTURES

DAGMARA STRACHOTA, NIAMH TULLY & EDDIE O'KEEFE (TULLY NURSERIES)

EILEEN KELLY (KELLYS NURSERIES)

PAT FITZGERALD WITH FITZGERALD NURSERIES STAFF & CUSTOMERS

JOE & NUALA YOUNG (YOUNG NURSERIES)

AIDAN O'HARTE (HARTE PEAT)

THE DEKER HORTICULTURAL SUPPLIES TEAM

RENTES PLANTS

SPRING SHOW

GER HICKEY (GARDEN SERVICES), MARY LILLIS LANDSCAPING, JOHN VAN VEEN & SEAN VAN VEEN (RED OAK GARDEN SERVICES)

ROY RENTES WITH THE RENTES OFFICE TEAM, ANOTHER SPECTACULAR DISPLAY OF PLANTS.

TEAGASC ASHTOWN OPENING DÓNALL FLANAGAN, HELEN GROGAN, MICHAEL CREED TD, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, FOOD AND THE MARINE, DERMOT CALLAGHAN, MICHAEL GAFFNEY AT THE OPENING OF THE EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND CONFERENCE CENTRE IN TEAGASC ASHTOWN RIGHT: EOIN DOYLE (PRESIDENT OF THE CIOH) WITH MICHAEL CREED T.D. (MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, FOOD & THE MARINE)

Spring 2017 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

39

PHOTO BY LIGHTPOET

INSIGHT / 11

THE GARDENING

MARKET IN GROW TH

Mike Neary, Manager of Horticulture with Bord Bia, details the host of programmes, shares some positive new about Ireland’s flourishing gardening market

40

purchasing occasions. Garden products have the largest share of value, at €340m, though account for a quarter of purchases made. Within the outdoor and flowering plants sector, hanging baskets and pre-planted containers, bulbs and flower seeds for planting and herbaceous plants have all seen particularly strong increases in value and purchasing activity since 2014.

Purchasing of trees increased by almost a quarter compared with two years ago, but the related lift in value was more conservative, at just 5% - considerably lower than all other products measured. In contrast, shrubs and hedging, which are viewed as being less fashionable, enjoyed a strong bounce on both purchasing occasions and spend in 2016. Interestingly, the profile of purchasers of shrubs and hedging exhibits an older profile; half of all purchases are made by those over the age of 55.

Activity in the grow your own market - defined as purchasers of herbs/ fruit and vegetables for planting out appears to have peaked for now, with a 5% decline in purchasing occasions

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2017

being recorded in 2016 compared with two years ago.

Another area demonstrating growth in purchasing and spend is wreaths.

Purchasing occasions increased by a third since 2014, and spend is at its highest since measurement began.

In the area of garden products, the most marked growth in consumer spend has been in barbeques, which is being driven largely by an increased spend per purchase occasion. Purchasers of barbeques are markedly younger than purchasers of other garden products; six in 10 purchasers are under the age of 35.

Although spend on peat/bark/soil treatment has contracted a little since 2014, purchasing occasions are on the increase again.

Activity in the landscaping market has picked up. Consumer engagement has increased by almost a fifth, and total spend is up by 5%. ✽

MIKE NEARY, Manager of Horticulture at Bord Bia. For further information contact the Bord Bia Horticultural Division or the Food Industry Development Division in the Department of Agriculture, Food & Marine at email: Agripromo@agriculture.gov.ie

PHOTO: KORALEY NORTHEN

E

very two years Bord Bia carries out a comprehensive measurement of the gardening market in Ireland.

The most recent measure of the market was carried out in 2016 on behalf of Bord Bia by IPSOS mrbi.

The amenity market – as measured by consumer spend - is currently valued at €729m, an increase of 16% since last measured in 2014 when it was valued at €631m.

There have been robust performances across all sectors, with the number of purchasing occasions and value both showing healthy growth.

The strongest increases have been recorded in the soft landscaping areas – outdoor and flowering plants, and indoor potted plants. The latter has momentarily, at least, stalled the longer term decline in popularity which had been emerging. Fresh cut flowers and garden products have also reported significant, if relatively more modest, uplifts since 2014.

Currently, outdoor and flowering plants are valued at €168m, and account for 37% of all amenity

11 / INSIGHT

PHOTO BY INDUSTRIEBLICK

LABOUR MARKET REVIEW

Michal Slawski, development and marketing specialist at Bord Bia, disseminates the findings from the recent horticultural labour market review

B

ord Bia recently commissioned a review of labour in the horticulture industry. An initial review was completed in 2007 and updated in 2016. The labour review was updated to provide current estimates of the level of employment within horticulture, as well as the factors affecting employment. Information on the total scale of employment within horticulture, as well as all the subsectors, is important for planning purposes. The new survey also broadened out the scope of previous work, looking at some of the upstream and downstream industries that support horticulture and provide further employment. Finally, a value has been put on the contribution that horticultural employment makes to the local economy.

In addition to desk research, a substantial number of interviews were also carried out across all sectors to provide a comprehensive picture of labour within the industry.

Maintaining and developing both the domestic and export markets for horticultural produce is critical to expanding employment opportunities. While much of Ireland’s horticultural output is sold on the domestic market, the industry has also developed important export markets, particularly the UK for mushroom exports. Based on current available data, the industry employs over 6,600 staff at farmgate level and a further 11,000 in value added and

downstream activities. Farmgate horticultural employment is estimated to be worth €165m annually to the Irish economy, in the context of farmgate output valued at €424m.

The review identified a number of key factors and challenges impacting on the labour area in feedback from the industry including changes to the minimum wage: increasing competition for staff as the economy grows; the uncertainty associated with Brexit; the need for ongoing investment in the sector in order to maintain competitiveness in the international marketplace; upskilling staff and the need to market the horticultural industry positively so as to encourage students (and new entrants) to consider horticulture as a career.

Labour is a critical input for horticultural businesses and for some, labour costs can represent up to 50% of overall costs.

Labour cost competitiveness and availability are common concerns for the industry. Against a backdrop of tightening business margins, especially where businesses are supplying the retail sector, future wage certainty is strategically important for horticultural businesses if they are to develop long term growth strategies. The recent volatility in euro/Sterling exchange rates is another major issue facing horticultural businesses.

“Labour is a critical input for horticultural businesses and for some, labour costs can represent up to 50% of overall costs” Spring 2017 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

41

INSIGHT / 11 The level of seasonally adjusted unemployment dropped to 7.9% in Ireland in September 2016.

Economic growth is increasing demand for horticultural produce and this business boost is very welcome, following the slump of the economic recession. However horticulture is facing increasing labour competition from sectors such as construction, IT, hospitality and food service, which are also responding to the economic stimulus.

Migration is an important feature of the labour market in Ireland. While the recession period brought negative migration flows, 2016 saw the shift to positive migration flows again.

Availability of migrant workers has been critically important for the horticultural industry in Ireland and elsewhere in Europe, the mushroom sector being a case in point. Other sectors that are very seasonal in nature also rely on migrant workers, e.g. soft fruit, flowers, vegetables, bulbs and potatoes.

Ensuring that there is a strong supply of seasonal migrant workers is strategically

important for the ongoing development of the horticultural industry. The report highlights where labour shortages are identified in the horticultural industry that consideration will have to be given to addressing this challenge through the work permit system. Labour supply and demand will require ongoing monitoring with a view to proactively managing labour availability for the industry.

Looking at Irish labour costs in its various components shows that ‘other labour costs’ represent 13.5% of the total labour costs for Irish businesses. The additional costs for businesses generally, over and above the gross wage bill, include statutory social contributions, non-statutory social contributions, benefit in kind etc. The effective cost of labour – minimum wage plus 13% - must be borne in mind when the level of the minimum wage is being discussed.

The review benchmarks Ireland’s minimum wage in the context of other countries, showing that Ireland has the second highest rate after Luxembourg and is closely followed by the rate in Germany, France, Holland and Belgium.

MICHAL SLAWSKI is a development and marketing specialist at Bord Bia. He can be contacted by phone on 01 668 5155 or via michael. slawski@bordbia.ie

These contrast with much lower rates in a number of eastern European countries.

Ireland is ranked next to the UK, the country’s largest trading partner.

The report indicates that Ireland’s minimum wage grew from €5.85 in 2000 to €9.15 in 2016, i.e. a 65.7% increase over the base year. The UK minimum wage is currently £7.20 while the euro equivalent (based on £0.85 exchange rate) is €8.47.

In nominal terms, the UK has a cost advantage over Ireland at this exchange rate. The cost advantage will need be monitored in the context of Brexit, exchange rate volatility and purchasing power parity. ✽

Kildalton College

Piltown, Co. Kilkenny

Helping people establish careers in horticulture for 45 years

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Kildalton College has an extensive horticultural unit for student training, including a commercial nursery, fruit and vegetable production unit, protected crops and sportsturf units, as well as 16 hectares of established gardens and woodlands.

For further information: Email: Kildalton.college@teagasc.ie Website: www.teagasc.ie/training/colleges/kildalton/ Facebook: Teagasc-Kildalton-College Telephone: 051 644400 or 051 644407

12 / EDUCATION

ZHOUSHAN CITY, CHINA

LESSONS from HOME and ABROAD

I

YANG SHEN, an international student completing a level eight honors degree at UCD, shares his thoughts on studying horticulture at home and abroad

am currently completing my studies at UCD where I am participating in what is referred to as a two plus two programme. This involves me completing my first two years at home in China and the latter two in Ireland.

At the end of my two study years in China I had the option of choosing a major in either agricultural environmental science, forestry or horticulture. I chose horticulture because since my childhood I’ve had an interest in plants. I wanted to study horticulture as it is the subject which enables us to make better use of plant materials. I think it is good to study horticulture as it includes both food production and also landscape, helping us to get both environmental benefits and improve human wellbeing. Another reason for me to choose horticulture as a major came from undertaking modules such as botany and plant physiology during my first two years.

It has been a year and a half since I came to Ireland. Here let me give you a brief description of my life in Guangzhou, China and in Dublin.

I spent my first 18 years in Zhoushan, an island city in the East China Sea, 1,400 km from Guangzhou. Growing up in a coastal area is an interesting experience, as I enjoyed the seafood and natural scenery of my home town. Just like most teenagers in China, my main focus at that time was preparing for the college entrance examination. I passed this exam and later in September 2013, I was admitted to the College of Life Sciences, South China Agricultural University (SCAU), in Guangzhou.

Unlike my home town Zhoushan, a peaceful small city, Guangzhou gave me my first impression of a metropolis.

The city has more than 13m people and is part of a 44m metropolis area referred to as the Pearl River Delta. The city lies northwest of Hong Kong. It was the first time I had studied in a place far from home, and had to look after myself without the help of my parents.

Apart from economic scale and culture, the biggest difference between Zhoushan and Guangzhou is the climate.

There seems to be no winter in Guangzhou, only hot humid

summer weather all year around. It took me a few months to get used to those differences. Well, I guess all things are difficult before they are easy.

Another thing I would like to mention is the food in Guangzhou. There is a Chinese saying: “One should eat in Guangzhou”. This metropolis is in the Guang Dong Province which also has the jokey name “Eating Province”. For example, morning tea consists of a wide range of dishes such as shrimp dumplings, garlic pork ribs and red rice roll, all of which are more than delicious. This is Cantonese food which people in this country will be familiar with from the many Chinese restaurants in Ireland.

SCAU is located within the center of Guangzhou city. I could never believe that the campus of one university could be that big in a city centre. The SCAU campus is nearly 300ha in total, more than double the size of the UCD Belfield campus. During my two year study period in Guangzhou, I met a number of friends and lecturers who were all nice people. Being a student of this Chinese/Ireland education programme, the best thing is that most of our modules are presented bilingually, which from my point of view helps a lot with my college life here in UCD, especially with the terminology in botany. I can still remember the stressed atmosphere, when everyone in the dormitory in SCAU was busy preparing for the IELTS exam (English language proficiency test). Learning a foreign language is difficult but now I consider it totally worthy. My major in SCAU was biological science for the first two years of my degree, which not only gave me another point of view for studying horticulture, but also helped me lay

"I heard that potatoes are a favorite food of Irish people, but was still astonished by the vast array of chips and wedge products in the supermarkets"

Spring 2017 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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EDUCATION / 12 a solid foundation of natural science.

SCAU is a very big university with 40,000 students. The general ambience in Guangzhou is like most other big cities in China, crowded and also in Guangzhou it is very hot. With so many individuals at SCAU the campus is not always as quiet as it is here in UCD. Every time there is a college level or university level event, there are huge crowds of people milling about. I suppose the advantage of having so many people is that there are always enough students available for any large college activities for social or sports events, whenever and wherever. With so many students on campus, some of our common required courses have to be taken in a very large auditorium, which is quite different from here in UCD for my degree programme.

I had an excellent experience studying in Guangzhou, even if the weather was very hot. But generally, it helped me recognise a different style of life, fast paced, competitive, and flourishing when compared with Zhoushan. On the other hand, the out of class activities were more colourful in Guangzhou when compared with my home town, since there were so many different types of entertainment and with students from different regions in China.

In August 2015 I came to UCD to finish the final two years of my college studies. As soon as I arrived in Dublin I noticed the change in latitude, with cooler weather, and a longer daytime at that time of the year. For a few days I found it hard to fall asleep before 10pm with the sky remaining bright for so long.

My life here started with pre-sessional classes to help me integrate into UCD. I stayed in a host family with a kind lady and her four children. A family of that size is quite rare in China nowadays. As the single son of my family I found a larger family really interesting. During this time I lived in a peaceful area in Dublin 24, and every day it took me about two hours to travel from UCD to home. I lost my way several times before I finally remembered the route, but I was moved by the friendliness and enthusiasm of local people, without whose help I would have been in great trouble. I am so grateful to the kindness of Irish people.

Before I came here I heard that potatoes are a favorite food of Irish people,but was still astonished by the vast array of chips and wedge products in the supermarkets.

While in Ireland there are as many kinds of seafood as in my home town, the range of such foods and the way they are cooked differs a lot.

Shortly after my arrival I was told that weather is one of the favorite topics of Irish people, and I understand that now because a fine sunny day is so scarce here. I used to like to find shady areas when I was in Guangzhou but not after I came here, which is exactly why I got my skin burnt during my last summer vacation in China, under the bright sun and a temperature of 40°C. It’s not easy to study in a second language. For almost a year, every time before tests and exams,my friends and I would say “Oh, if only these bullet points were in Chinese...”.

It takes me twice as long to learn these topics, but hard work often comes with a greater sense of achievement and this thought has supported me during my studies. During my leisure time I go swimming and to the gym; the facilities in UCD are really good.

44

There is a difference in the teaching and assessment methods in SCAU and UCD. The size of my classes is smaller in Ireland compared to those in China.

Considering the population YANG SHEN, STAGE 4 BAgrSC HORTICULTURE, LANDSCAPE AND SPORTSTURF MANAGEMENT in China is STUDENT AND RECIPIENT OF THE PATRICK DEMPSEY MEMORIAL PRIZE, WITH DR MARY 1.3bn against FORREST UCD. 6.4m in Ireland, that is easy to understand. And then, from my point of view, teaching methods in Ireland seem to focus on more practical elements compared with China where the emphasis is more on theory.

In UCD, I have more field trips and outdoor practical classes.

During my field trip to a garden designed by UCD students in Beech Hill College in Co Monaghan, I could see that there were many practical classes including handicraft art, which is almost never seen in a Chinese secondary high school.

In China, we have more theoretical classes to lay a solid foundation of science or liberal arts (these are two different subject divided from the second year of senior high school onwards), and most importantly, in preparation for the high pressure of the college entrance examination.

Comparing assessment methods between SCAU and UCD, apart from the method of calculating a GPA (grade point average) result, I think the main difference is that, while in China our grade is decided by the final exams, in most of modules in UCD it is determined by a series of assignments, preliminary exams, practicals, reports and the final exam.

Also in UCD we have more essay type assignments. The style of final exam is also different. In UCD there seems to be no fixed answer for some final exam questions, students need to combine their understanding of a subject with knowledge delivered through the semester to write our own answers.

Looking back over my last year and a half in UCD I feel that I have gained a lot during my time as a horticulture student, especially from the practical and industry field visits. It was a surprise for me that one day when I was shopping with one of my classmates, he said:”You see the shelf there? Seems we have visited the production sites of most of them and now we know how to grow it!” And although hard to believe, I have travelled to about a half of the counties in Ireland during these field trips. I like the Irish scenery in rural and suburban areas as the green countryside gives me a sense of and connection with nature.

My studies in UCD are drawing to a close, with one semester left to complete. It will soon be time to say goodbye and start the next phase of my life. I want to continue my studies and focus more on business so I plan to study accountancy for my post graduate education. I believe my experience here studying horticulture, with a strong pure and applied science base, will be very helpful as I look forward to my future life and career. ✽

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2017

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45

EDUCATION / 12

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE: HOW YOU CAN CREATE A SUSTAINABLE CAREER PATH Maria Achtida, Architect, Environmental Resource Manager, and Senior Lecturer at Blackrock Further Education Institute (BFEI), sets the record straight about the profession and explains how BFEI can provide you with the skills, knowledge and experience to pursue a success career

2016

represented a challenging year on several fronts: the refugee crisis in Europe, Brexit, the US elections and rising perceptions of insecurity all contributed to a less than positive feel. While the geopolitical landscape remains insecure, increased economic activity in Ireland has provided a sense of optimism. Things are being built, investments are being made and jobs are being created. 2017 presents new opportunities for those willing to exploit them, but we must be cautious and considered in our activities or we will simply repeat the problems of the past.

If we desire to create a sustainable island nation we must think carefully about the long term in every decision we make.

Although not fully appreciated or recognised in Ireland, the discipline of Landscape Architecture is potentially the most important in ensuring the sustainability of our way of life, particularly when employed at early stage planning.

The Landscape Architect draws together all disciplines and manages the complex interface of the human habitat and the natural world.

MISPERCEPTIONS AND UNDERSTATEMENTS Unfortunately the profession of landscape architecture is often misunderstood. I find it frustrating to hear “Oh great, you’ll have to have a look at my garden” when I tell people what I do. Or “Yeah, I want to learn about growing dahlias” from prospective course applicants. As a society, Ireland has a long way to travel before it comprehends, acknowledges and appreciates the true importance of the Landscape Architect.

We are getting there, but it’s frustratingly slow.

46

Confusion about the profession is not isolated to the general public. Many professionals in the wider horticulture sector also have trouble understanding what Landscape Architects do. Most frequently, professionals will confuse garden or landscape designers and even landscapers with Landscape Architects. While these professions share a related history, and many Landscape Architects undertake smaller, private work, I’ve not heard of a domestic designer or landscaper undertaking the work of a Landscape Architect.

A garden designer is a professional focused on the creation of private spaces often domestic in nature. He or she will typically work independently or have strong relationships to contracting companies. A landscape designer also tends to focus on private space but typically on a larger scale. landscapers, or more correctly, landscape contractors are the builders of gardens, landscapes and just about any external space. Such is the confusion regarding the titles, that we had to change the title of our course from Landscape Design to Landscape Architecture. This better reflect the focus and will aid applicants making the right choices.

SO WHO AND WHAT ARE LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS? Landscape Architects are focused on and responsible for the enhancement of outdoor space through good design, the management of the built and natural environment to safeguard the public’s physical, mental health and welfare. In broad terms it is - in collaboration with other design/construction disciplines - creating, managing and sustaining values of outdoor spaces (from small to large scale) in urban or rural settings.

As an emergent domain, Landscape Architecture continues to grow in complexity, drawing and feeding into fields

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2017

12 / EDUCATION as diverse as the natural sciences, engineering, architecture, psychology, art, sociology, horticulture, construction, planning and computing. And in an era of rising concern about our environmental and climatic future, our role has an additional responsibility that goes far beyond aesthetics.

As professionals and people, Landscape Architects are typically passionate about global environmental and political issues, such as water shortages, habitat loss, climate change, sustainability, pollution and biodiversity.

At the same time they are intensely interested in solving problems at local and regional levels through the creation of quality shared spaces. They are interested in people, plants, materials, spaces, buildings and the interactions between them. In addition to requiring knowledge of such diverse fields, the contemporary Landscape Architect will have excellent communication skills and be able to work independently in dealing with complex situations, while also working as part of multidisciplinary teams.

CREATING TRAINING AND CAREER PATHWAYS FOR LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE In 2000, I helped establish a two year course in Senior College Dun Laoghaire (now BFEI) to respond to the market needs in Landscape Architecture and design. As a further education college we wanted to open the profession to a more diverse range of learners and abilities, particularly those who may not have had such positive experience with the traditional education system.

Up until that time it was only accessible through traditional university pathways, which essentially left no option for many potential students. Having established the course, we began to build industry links and to develop progression pathways so graduates could continue their studies. The course was and remains accredited through the key accrediting body in the UK - BTEC Pearson - and our successful graduates receive a BTEC Diploma in Landscape Design awarded by Edexcel.

BTEC higher national diplomas are higher education qualifications

offered in the United Kingdom and internationally that are equivalent to the first and second year of a degree course. Successful BFEI graduates have direct entry into year three in the bachelor degree course in Landscape Architecture in the University of Gloucestershire.

Being a further education college, the course has given many students the opportunity to complete a degree, which otherwise might not have been possible. Some have had negative experiences in their school years and were not able to progress to third level. Others have been professionals in the landscape or garden design business and students with degrees in horticulture and other disciplines and these have been able to develop their design skills or, in the case of other types of professionals, to change their career paths. It personally gives me great pleasure to assist students to pursue careers which they previously had not thought possible.

Some 17 years on, we are proud to see so many students completing our course and going on to receive their degree, postgraduate and masters qualifications. Many of them such as Joe Clancy and Jane White-Fitzgerald received major landscape awards in the UK. All those who completed their studies find themselves in full time employment in the public and private sectors in Ireland, UK, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East. Although garden design is a minor subset of the course, our students and graduates have won awards at every Bloom in the Park since its inception.

COURSE EMPHASIS The landscape course in BFEI is design-project focused with students completing a wide range of proposals from small urban spaces to large public schemes. Complementary fields of study such as history, computer aided design, horticulture, graphics and draughting, botany, environmental studies and construction crossover and feed back into the primary project work. We pride ourselves on providing students with authentic educational experiences and strive to make all primary projects live, for instance, working directly with a practice or local

authority. After 17 years, we like to think we have the balance between theory and practice just right. That said, like the profession we continue to adapt and evolve to new changes.

While the program and final qualification remain the same we are now introducing a QQI syllabus for the first year of studies. This is to enable greater linkage with related Irish institutions. Year two will remain under BTEC allowing graduates to maximise our progression routes.

Student work can be seen at our end of year exhibition in May. Applications and more course information can be found in our website www.bfei.ie/ courses/landscape-architecture. ✽

MARIA ACHTIDA MScAg, BArch, DipMusTHC, MIAEG (TEE) is a Senior Lecturer and Course Coordinator at Blackrock Further Education Institute.

Combining music theory with architecture and environmental awareness Maria brings a unique perspective to the BFEI team. After graduating with an honours diploma in music theory, harmony and composition from the Greek National Conservatoire in 1992, She spent a scholarship year at the University of Rouen in France researching the relationship between architectural space, sound and human psychology. In 1995 she graduated with an honours degree in architecture from the University of Athens before going on to complete a post graduate Masters degree in environment resource management at University College Dublin.

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