Even the hardiest of souls found themselves being drawn away from the windswept St Patrick’s parade to the relative warmth and comfort of this year’s Spring House and Garden Show.

 Held over four days, from the 16^th to the 20^th of March, the show marks the kick off for the planting season and affords young designers and nursery folk the opportunity to display their talents. With wind and rain lashing outside the great and the good from Irish horticulture battened down the hatches and prepared for another successful show.

Having exhibited at the show for a number of years, Gerry O’Keefe MGLDA, returned once again with another individual piece entitled ‘The Sunken Garden’. Understated use of natural materials has become Gerry’s trademark and this year’s composition was no exception. Utilising earth mounding and an enclosing pergola structure set against a backdrop of reclaimed slate tiles, Gerry created a sheltered, circular seating area centred around a small fire pit. After the ‘fun’ Gerry had last year with children paddling in his pool feature he decided to leave out his water element! Also toying with a curvilinear theme was the M3 design trio. With one years experience on a horticulture course, the group were keen to declare that they are certainly not designers and are proud to be called gardeners. A refreshing admission in a time when many horticulturalists are confusing knowledge of plant cultivation with that of spatial creation. While the M3 garden may have lacked the slickness of some of the other entries it had an inviting charm and freedom of expression that was almost completely absent in the other gardens.

Beyond the two curvilinear compositions of M3 and Gerry O’Keefe the rest of the show gardens consisted of further explorations of the outdoor room theme and were dominated by a common thread of offsets and rectilinear form. Dave Clifford’s entry, suitably entitled ‘Finding the Right Angle’ was a classic exploration of space through geometric pattern. Granite, oak and slate chip dictated a strong linear ground plane while Phylostachys vivax and nigra provided height while accenting the garden’s most popular element, Dave’s homemade oak and bamboo screens. “I wanted to try to reintroduce craft into garden creation, everything comes flat packed theses days, I made these myself in the back garden” commented an exhausted Dave who, given the popularity of the screens, may well have a new sideline.

Anne Kennedy returned to exhibit at the show once again with a collaborative project entitled ‘Near Pavilions’. Working with Daniel Philips, the rising star of bespoke lifestyle product specialists, Patio, they created a dynamic space, which worked as both a showroom for many of Daniels creations and as a medium for Anne’s garden experimentation. “ I wanted to explore the masculine and feminine elements of garden space through the use of a modular theme and by the introduction of vibrant colour. I was also keen to have some fun with the forgotten conifer, which I think is going to make a comeback” commented Anne pointing out her extensive use of Pinus, Picea and Cedrus species. Also returning to the show, but with a garden in addition to his usual landscape stand, was Owen Chubb. A regular at most garden events and old hand in the landscaping business, Owen stayed safe and stuck in the comfort zone of geometry. His entry, ‘Dakota’ was textbook interpretation of increasing perceptions of space through the use of 45º angles.

The deserved recipient of this year’s Best in Show Award went to Naomi Coad-Maenpaa. Capturing the difficulty of sourcing show worthy plant material so early in the season in her garden title ‘Shoots and Roots’ Naomi demonstrated a keen eye for detailing, harmonious spatial creation and a marvellous ability to source and arrange plants. “I wanted to create a simple composition that would reflect the functionality and aesthetics of modern life while allowing nature to be represented but not copied,” said Naomi.

The creation of show gardens can be an exhausting experience, months of planning, weeks of struggle trying to convince increasingly uninterested suppliers to provide sponsorship and an intense build up, exhibit and break down, typically leave exhibitors shattered. The sterling efforts of all those who successfully implemented schemes at this year’s show should be recognised and their willingness to put themselves in the firing line commended. Criticism comes to the lips of the design world far too easily these days and the young hopefuls wishing to pursue design carers should be embraced, nurtured and constructively directed. Having said that, I do feel that with the wealth of design talent currently available in Ireland maybe its time we started testing the traditional perceptions of garden space. There is no reason why we must still travel to Westonbirt and Hampton Court to see new spatial concepts. Please put down the Brooks, Woodams and Sturgeon books and go have some fun. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to utilise the recipes over the course of your career.