07 / DESIGN
BLOOM IN
THE MAKING
A
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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