Teagasc, in association with the suicide prevention charity Pieta House, are delighted to be exhibiting a show garden for the first time at this year’s annual Bloom event in the Phoenix Park in Dublin from Thursday 1st to Monday 5th June.
The Teagasc Garden of Hope provides a peaceful space for spiritual renewal, reflection, and ease. A sense of intimacy is enhanced by the circular format used throughout. The circular form encourages contemplation and walking to relieve stress in a calm and secure setting. A fusion of planting, sophisticated colors and changing water flow creates an uplifting space in which to pause and replenish one’s well-being. The garden aims to evoke serenity and a connection with nature to raise the spirit. The positive contribution of Pieta House is recognized universally and is celebrated through the creation of this garden. Darkness into Light, which is the charity’s flagship awareness event, will be represented by the color scheme of the planting. Following Bloom, a modified design of the garden will move to a permanent home at one of the Pieta House centers.
Bloom 2017, organized by Bord Bia, will run for five days over the June bank holiday weekend in the Phoenix Park, Dublin from Thursday, 1st to Monday 6th. The show continues to grow each year and is now widely regarded as Ireland’s largest garden, food, and family festival, attracting over 100,000 visitors last year.
Announcing details of the Teagasc / Pieta House garden at Bloom, Dermot Callaghan, Head of the Teagasc Horticulture Development Department said, ”Developing a show garden at Bloom 2017 was an appealing challenge on two fronts; it afforded Teagasc the opportunity to combine our horticultural talents from across the organisation to deliver a show garden; it gave us the opportunity to work with and support Pieta house by designing and delivering ‘Teagasc Garden of Hope’.”
Brian Higgins, CEO of Pieta House said, “We are delighted to be involved with Teagasc in bringing the Garden of Hope to Bloom. Having just had the biggest ever Darkness Into Light walk in the Phoenix Park at the weekend, it’s lovely to be returning to the park for Bloom.
“We would like the Garden of Hope to be reflective of the work that we do in helping people to see a bright and positive future. It is fantastic that through the generosity of Teagasc we will be able to allow clients to reflect within the beauty of this garden when it is moved to one of our Pieta House centers once Bloom comes to an end.”
John Mulhern, Principal at the Teagasc College of Amenity Horticulture at the National Botanic Gardens, Dublin said; ”Our Teagasc designers, Laura Cassin, Louise Jones and Linda Murphy combined their talents to come up with the design and have enlisted the expert help of Teagasc landscape construction specialist Paddy Smith and horticultural staff and students from across the organisation to deliver the final garden at Bloom.”
In addition to the Bloom show garden, Teagasc, represented by its Horticulture Development Department (HDD), the College of Amenity Horticulture at the National Botanic Gardens, Dublin and Kildalton Horticulture College, Piltown, Co. Kilkenny, will be exhibiting at the event. Teagasc plays a major role in horticultural research, advisory and education in Ireland. The Horticulture Development Department provides advice and carries our research, while education is conducted at the two main Horticultural Colleges in Ireland, the College of Amenity Horticulture at the National Botanic Gardens and Kildalton College in Co. Kilkenny.
Source: Teagasc – Teagasc and Pieta House to build a ‘Garden of Hope’ for Bloom
