The way our children live now is all about the connectivity of the digital kind. Yet the future of our planet is all about the connectivity of a different kind, to the natural world. Woodie’s Connectivity garden aims to nurture this connection, promoting outdoor time by providing a stimulating and enjoyable experience for children.
Designed by Brian Burke, the garden features multiple play opportunities. Two play towers are accessed by ladders and link via a raised gantry to a sunken structure in the centre of the garden. The structure incorporates a roof deck with a trapdoor to provide access to the room below. A crafting table provides a social space where children can collaborate and create, a performance corner serves as a mini amphitheatre, while a natural pond encircles the structure. The perimeter is planted with herbs, fruit and vegetables to provide the raw material for the mud kitchen, a further play element.
BRIAN BURKE
Brian Burke is a landscape contractor and award-winning garden designer. He attained his B.Sc. Hons. (Surveying) from Trinity College Dublin in 1994 and has 25 years’ experience in the construction, landscaping and gardening business in Ireland, the UK and the US. He has a keen interest in pan-generational design, accessibility in the garden, and the therapeutic properties of horticulture.
A perennial participant at Bloom, Brian was the winner of RTE Super Garden in 2015 and picked up a Silver-Gilt Medal at Bloom that year for his garden ‘Non Forsit’. He also won Silver Medals in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
