OPINION / 08
Noeleen Smyth thinks we should take the Chelsea Flower Show’s lead and just let it grow!
H
aving trained in both horticulture at Teagasc National Botanic Gardens and the RHS UK, and in botany at TCD Dublin, sometimes reconciling both parts of myself and my overall worldview regarding plants can be challenging. I’ve discovered that when I’m in a garden, I’m drawn towards the more exotic. I am loving the new fern and flowerless plants displayed at the National Botanic Gardens. They bring very exotic Cycads from the great palm house out for a bit of an Irish summer holiday. However, when I’m out in wilder places, on the fringes of our urban and rural gardens - such as the Special Area of Conservation on Howth Head or walking by the road verge - I hate seeing garden exotics and exotic hardy annuals, often sold as “wildflower mixes”, mingling in. I am clear in how I feel about garden plants in the wild, but how do I feel about the wild in the garden? The wild is a big trend, and not unsurprisingly, as along with other countries we have declared a biodiversity emergency. Our plants and animals are under increasing threat of extinction along with our wild habitats and landscapes. Pollinators, in particular, and the shocking demise of our bee species have raised our concerns into action. Indeed, plenty of excellent guidance for managing and planting in various situations exists on the All Ireland Pollinator Plan Website (pollinators.ie).
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HC / Summer 2022
to humans, a neatly manicured lawn looks tidy, but … to our wildlife it must look like the apocalypse!
WILD
INSIDE That bastion of horticultural excellence, The Chelsea Flower Show encouraged us to embrace the wild side this year with the winning garden A Rewilding Britain Landscape, designed by Urquhart & Hunt. Here was an interpretation of the wild countryside of South West England, a landscape with beavers at the centre as ecological engineers. Here in Ireland, we had our own rustic landscape gold winner at Bloom: the Sustainable Dairy Farm Garden by Sean Russell. Instead of the beaver at the centre we have a dairy cow. Both are interesting interpretations of a wilder theme. Often, our vision of a wild landscape is in reality unindustrialised farmland. This farmland and its species rich grassland supports a large number of rare Irish species. It is one of our
rarest Irish habitats. We have lost over 30% in just 6 years, known more formally as our EU annexed calcareous grassland and lowland hay meadows. Every piece of natural or semi-natural grassland with Irish wildflowers is precious to us and our pollinators, including the bees. ‘Control’ is at the centre of our definition of a garden. The rewilding garden at Chelsea left our gardening guru from the BBC, Monty Don, pondering the question, “Rewilding Britain was beautifully done, but was it a garden?” The wild inside sits a little funny with all of us. Are we afraid of that ‘loss of control’?
HOW WE CAN EMBRACE THE WILD AND NOT LOSE THE RUN OF OURSELVES Managing our lawns and amenity
