County Carlow was once famed for producing the bulk of Ireland’s sugar beet but fewer sweet teeth and EU quotas mean these days there’s a greater focus on growing ornamental plants, along with the Dolmen County’s tourist offer.
Central to this so far successful strategy is Carlow Garden Festival, a series of events over eight days that kicks off today.
Organised by the Carlow Garden Trail team and now in its 22nd year, the annual festival musters an A-lister peppered group of almost two-dozen acclaimed gardeners and garden designers from Ireland and Britain.
This year’s line-up includes six times Chelsea gold medal winner Bunny Guinness, historic garden consultant and plantsman Neil Porteous, and Irish domiciled German organic guru Klaus Laitenberger.
Over the coming days, in a range of venues, they and other assorted guests will share their experience and expertise with an enthusiastic audience drawn from across these islands in a series of specialist talks, garden tours and workshops.
Speaking earlier this week, Carlow Garden Trail chairperson Robert Miller explained how as well as boasting many of Ireland’s finest gardens, including some of the first walled gardens on the island, the county is also a haven for a growing number of garden enthusiasts.
“The diversity of experiences across the county ranges from public gardens to herb gardens, award-winning garden centres, and forest parks,” he said.
“The county’s gardening attractions are staffed by passionate plant experts, eager to share their knowledge and expertise, and it’s this enthusiasm that led to the creation of the Carlow Garden Festival, which aims to highlight and celebrate the county’s rich horticultural heritage.”
Robert puts the festival’s success down to its intimate, boutique approach, enabling greater access to, and engagement with, the guests.
“The festival offers the chance to meet and learn from renowned gardening experts, who are often only seen on TV,” he says.
“This week-long series of events features a broad range of topics, presented in a variety of garden settings which resonate with attendees.”
Robert says there have been many memorable occasions across over more than two decades but a “standout highlight” has to be visits by Monty Don, who graced the festival in 2015, 2017 and 2019.
“His appearances significantly enriched the festival programme, drawing in large audiences and adding prestige to the event,” he says of the Gardener’s World presenter.
With the help of positive reviews and extensive media coverage, the festival has been successful in boosting Carlow’s reputation as a gardening destination, meaning the thousands who visit Altamont House and its famed Robinsonian-style gardens every year now linger in the county much longer. It’s even given neighbour Wicklow – the so-called Garden of Ireland – a run for its money.
Proceedings get underway this afternoon when Pádraig Webb leads a walk and talk along the serene banks of the River Barrow, while imparting his insights on identifying songbirds, butterflies and other wildlife.
This evening sees a double header at Arboretum Home and Garden Heaven in Leighlinbridge, where Ann-Marie Powell, fresh from her win of the People’s and Children’s Choice Awards at Chelsea is joined by Alan Gray of East Ruston Old Vicarage in Norfolk, as he shares the meticulous process of transforming a blank canvas into one of the England’s finest contemporary gardens.
The scale may be modest and the corporate branding less but Carlow Garden Festival continues to bloom.
