Helping you to create gardens that won’t cost the earth!

This Website offers gardening training, garden design and horticulture advice that will help create a wildlife haven.

Wildlife friendly gardening is a wonderful way to create a beautiful garden that enhances nature in a sustainable way.  By working to attract wildlife, you are offering valuable habitats and helping to halt the decline of many species.

Wildlife gardening compliments both formal gardens and family gardens. It’s just a matter of understanding the relationships of plants and fauna existing within your own paradise. So no matter the size of your garden, your little plot can enhance biodiversity.

Why not explore this site  and let me know what you think. I am very interested in hearing  your thoughts!

We offer the following services:

• Horticulture services, maintenance and seasonal tasks
• Consultancy services to customise your garden into a natural paradise
• Garden design service and plant lists for individual gardens

Contact Lorraine to make an appointment today.

lorraine@wildlandscape.com

Roses, the Organic Way!

Some roses are showing signs of black spot, white powdery mildew and aphids on their leaves. The natural reaction is to spray them to deal with all these problems. However I tend to shy away from such solutions and instead focus on the causes of these ailments.
Environmental factors do influence the health of roses. Many roses that grow against walls struggle for adequate moisture and fertility. Such conditions will lead to a weaker plant which is susceptible to disease. By applying a thick layer of leaf mould or well rotted manure as mulch each winter, helps hold moisture and valuable nutrients. This is not a cure for black spot however a stronger plant copes better against disease. Regular watering during dry spells creates humidity and alleviates mildew. Pests can be washed off with a jet of water or soapy water.
The final strategy for organic care of roses is to grow varieties that are disease resistance. I recommend Rosa “Compassion” for its perfume, beautiful blooms and terrific resilience. With an annual pruning and organic mulch, you will be rewarded with blooms and heady fragrances that evoke hot lazy summers.

Lorraine Foley is a professional gardener who specialises in creating sustainable gardens and promoting wildlife havens.

Rosa "Compassion"

Food Harvest 2020 Report – “foresight or no-sight?”

By Lorraine Foley
There is much discussion on climate change and its impact on melting ice burghs and lonely polar bears. There is also as much discussion on whether climate change is even anthropogenic, caused by the actions of us. There is a correlation between high emissions of green house gases (nitrous oxide, methane and carbon dioxide) from industry and rising temperatures. The Kyoto Treaty addresses the need to reduce our emissions and halt climate change. By identifying high emitting industries, mitigation methods and research are our main tools for reducing green house gases (GHG).

Farming is one of our highest emitters of GHG in this country. High emission sources include the national cattle herd and the use of nitrogen on the land. In a bid to reduce emissions, research indicates that mitigation methods, reduction in fertilizer use and optimised farm practices will go a long way to reduce our GHG levels. We must meet our EU commitments of 20% emissions reduction by 2020. However Irish farming is undergoing a renaissance with a drive to increase our national agri food exports by 2020. This drive is promoted in the Food Harvest 2020 Report issued by the Department of Agriculture. It will require increases in food production and the national cattle herd size. This is bound to have a huge consequence on our GHG levels. Is research enough to allow for intensification to flourish with very little GHG emissions? Can farming be really sustainable in the face of such expansion and demands?

Let me know your thoughts on climate change and the future of farming. Read my essay on “Food Harvest Report 2020 – “foresight or no-sight?” and its affect on climate change and sustainable farming by clicking here.

To read the Food Harvest 2020 Report, visit http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/agri-foodindustry/foodharvest2020/

Agricultural land rich in natural features

Seeds of Inspiration

Seeds of inspiration!
By Lorraine Foley
Autumn can be observed with hedgerows resplendent in a riot of foliage colour and a bounty of berries and nuts. The fruity fragrances of elderberries, crab apples and blackberries never fails to evoke childhood memories of eating too many blackberries on the way home from school.

In the garden the seeds of many flowers can be collected with the same childlike relish. Let’s consider the perennial agapanthus, as it is easy to grow from seed. The seeds are black within the seedhead when ripe and ready for collecting. Once collected, they can be sown straightaway in a tray filled with peat free compost, lightly covered with grit or vermiculite. As the new seedlings establish they can be transferred to individual small pots later on in the year. Keep these in a warm dry place throughout the winter. The new plants need two years to establish before flowering. Agapanthus grows best in a sunny location providing late summer flowers. They are also ideal in containers.
Other plants that are easy to grow from seed now include wallflowers, foxgloves and sweet williams and of course the vast array of annual flowers.

Sweet William (Dianthus) grow easily from seed

Woodland Gardens

In recent years, I have designed and created a woodland garden that is now establishing into a wonderland rich in wildlife. I used a mix of ornamental and native varieties of trees and shrubbery. The garden is designed to celebrate the seasons. Spring and summer is fresh with the bright green leaves of Birch and Alder. Autumn is announced when the diminutive Liquid Ambera and Parrotica persic explode with a riot of colour before shedding their leaves. The vibrancy of autumn colour is later replaced by the calm ambiance of the brilliant white stems of Betula jacquemontii. The twisted sculptural stems of the contorted hazel also add winter interest. Each year as the wood matures, the canopy will increase, creating an atmospheric rural haven. If you are interested in creating your own idyll haven, see “Creating a Woodland Garden” within this website.

Our woodland garden is a mix of ornamental and native varieties.

Spring Cleaning Time!

This winter knocked the very stuffing out of many plants. The casualty list is long and painful but now it’s time to examine the damage and decide what goes and what stays. This clearance of dead plants can create a new opportunity for developing a planting scheme that celebrates the seasons in our gardens.

The winter of discontent has removed some very mediocre boring plants that plagued gardens for years. Gone are the bland Griselinia hedges and the urbane Cordylines that clashed with our rural landscapes. Now a hedge can be redesigned to include mixed species producing flowers, fruit and nuts. Consider the leaf colour of beech that celebrate the changing seasons from fresh green in spring to copper and russet reds in autumn. No more monotonous green boundaries, let’s celebrate colour and flowers with berberis, viburnum, Forsythia or Escallonia that buzz with life each summer.

Cordylines are fast growing tall palm plant that works so well in a tropical themed garden but not so good in small front gardens. Replace them today with bare root ornamental trees like Sorbus acuparia or the more unusual Cercis or Liquidamber. The opportunities are huge!

Now put on your wellies and get out there!

Latest news!

Lorraine Foley at the launch of her booklet with Ray Butler TD, Noel French (Historian) and Tom Dowling (Meath County Manager)

This is me at the launch of my booklet “Medieval Plants of Trim” earlier this year. This was written and illustrated by me. I hope this reference booklet will enhance the visitors’ experience when they walk through the medieval landscape of Porchfield in Trim, Co. Meath. This booklet is available free from the heritage centre in Trim (beside the castle) and Trim library.

Click here to open a pdf file of the “Medieval Plants of Trim”