Garden designer Diarmuid Gavin has spoken about how the unveiling of his latest project in Co Antrim was based on his ambitious plans to “build and plant the newest Botanic gardens on the planet”.
The well-known TV personality last month unveiled the result of three months of work when a 'Coronation Garden' was opened at Hazelbank pavilion in Newtownabbey.
The magnificent Co Antrim structure boasts bubbles, spinning trees, music and a Strictly-style glitter ball and bears expensive metal centerpieces, which read ‘King Charles and Queen Camilla’.
The 59-year-old designer lived in Newtownabbey during the build and got to know local people.
But he said his plan to create his own version of Botanic Gardens in Belfast was carried out at breakneck speed.
Read More: Charles and Camilla delighted by ‘whimsical' coronation garden in Co Antrim
Only mooted in December, the project marked the start of a new green initiative for the Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council area.
“The first sod was cut on March 9,” said Diarmuid.
“Most of this was built by hand and up in three months. That’s unheard of in this industry.
“This was on a different scale to the Clockwork Garden we built at Antrim Castle Gardens to mark the Queen’s Jubilee.
"This was all about the remarkable people who came together – including the council.”
King Charles and Queen Camilla officially opened the Coronation Garden in May.
But Diarmuid has revealed that he made a major change to his lauded garden without the royal family’s permission.
The original ornate signage plan had only mentioned the new monarch and the date of his coronation, May 6.
Diarmuid, however, made a unilateral last-minute decision to change the wording on the metal crown and the entrance gates – based purely on his instinct.
In an interview ahead of Garden Show Ireland, which runs from June 16 to 18, Diarmuid told how he wrote to King Charles before beginning the ambitious project.
“I requested his go-ahead for the lettering to be used,” he said.
“We were putting this up in metal and on a set of gates, so we needed to know.”
But there was no reply from the Palace by the end of April, so Diarmuid took matters into his own hands and changed the sign.
“It was only the following day that a reply came from Balmoral confirming it – luckily for me," he said.
“We only finished the project at 1.30am the night before the royal couple arrived."
The Garden Show Ireland Ambassador created the garden – which has a huge ironwork structure topped with a crown and a glitter ball – to appeal to the King’s ‘whimsical’ sense of humour.
The beds, packed with bee and butterfly friendly flowers, even containing ‘dancing’ topiaries and spinning conical trees that move every 15 minutes to the tune of either Pure Imagination from the Charlie and The Chocolate Factory film or Morecambe and Wise’s Give Me Sunshine.
Discussing this year's Garden Show Ireland 2023, Diarmuid said “this year it’s very much about ‘how to’ - we’ll show visitors how to garden".
“One of the standout attractions is a 'Have A Go At Gardening’ marquee that will be a bit like The Repair Shop (a TV programme where broken or damaged heirlooms are brought back to life), but it lets you have a go," he said.
“We have five different experts in there to talk about plants and planting, vegetable growing, pots and containers for small spaces, houseplants and flower farming."
Garden Show Ireland at Antrim Castle Gardens runs from June 16 - 18.
