Carlow Garden Festival

Here in Ireland, we like to complain about the rain – and to be fair, it does rain quite often – but the redeeming feature of our much-maligned damp, mild weather is that we have the perfect climate for a wide range of beautiful plants, from the ornamental to the edible! That’s one of the reasons why we have a long tradition of both formal and informal gardens on our emerald isle, and why even amateur gardeners can achieve fantastic results, regardless of how much, or how little, garden they have at their disposal.

In Carlow, our gardens are green all year, and never lovelier than at this time of year. If you have a green thumb, or if you just like plants and the outdoors, pencil from this Friday until Sunday 30th July into your diary, because we are going to be hosting our annual Carlow Garden Festival, showcasing some of the county’s loveliest gardens, and presentations and talks by a range of well-known gardening experts from both Ireland and the UK. The festival is perfect for those who already have a lot of experience with gardening, and those who dabble and would like to know more. With events kicking off this weekend and plans well underway, tickets are selling out fast, so if you would like to join us, now is the time to get yourself organised for one of the top Irish gardening events of the year.

The gardening and botanical experts who are featuring in this year’s festival include:

Melissa Doran, an award-winning botanical artist, who can take you on a nature walk and help you to learn how to draw directly from nature;
Ireland’s own Dermot O’Neill and Jimi Blake;
Chelsea Flower Show gold medal winner Mary Reynolds;
UK gardening experts Monty Don, Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall, Joe Swift and Roy Lancaster;
and Irish Park Superintendent of the Office of Public Works, Paul McDonnell.

For those with a special interest in producing their own food, we have talks by James Wong about growing delicious vegetables and other edibles. For a full list of presenters and exhibitors, please see here.

If you are from the south-east of Ireland, you already know how gorgeous Carlow’s gardens are during the summer season – if you’re not, this summer is the perfect time to see for yourself, and to learn how to recreate some of that gorgeousness in your own patch of heaven outdoors.

If you need any advice, or help organising your trip, please get in touch with us at Carlow Tourism at: 059-9130411 or info@carlowtourism.com. You can read about the full festival programme, browse special offers and book accommodation at www.carlowgardentrail.com We’re sure you’ll enjoy the gardening festival as much as we are expecting to!