Today, Bord Bia Bloom announced designer Joseph Eustace as the winner of its new ‘Cultivating Talent ‘initiative which aims to support emerging talent within Irish horticulture. Joseph Eustace from Newbridge, Co. Kildare was selected as the garden designer who will have the opportunity to design and deliver a prestigious show garden at Bord Bia Bloom 2023. He will join a host of new and returning Bloom Show Garden designers who is developing gardens based on themes of sustainability, health and wellbeing, charitable causes and much more! Bord Bia Bloom will return to its home in Phoenix Park, Dublin for five days of summer fun across the June Bank Holiday weekend (June 1st – 5th). Now in its 16th year, the flowers, food and family festival expect to welcome up to 110,000 visitors across its 70-acre site over five days.
Cultivating Talent
New to this year’s show, Bord Bia’s ‘Cultivating Talent’ programme offers financial support and 1:1 mentoring from an experienced garden designer to a first-time Bloom designer in order to encourage a pipeline of new talent into the industry. The call for show garden designers came as Bord Bia set out a new vision for Bloom, which has grown from its roots as a gardening festival supporting the Irish horticulture industry, into a major outdoor experience with touchpoints across horticulture, food and family fun.
Joseph Eustace is from Newbridge in Co. Kildare and at 21, is one of the youngest ever designers to bring a show garden to Bord Bia Bloom. He is a third-year student of Landscape Architecture at University College Dublin, and is currently completing an Erasmus year in Freising, Germany. Growing up, Joseph was always interested in nature and his father, Ken, is a landscape designer which influenced Joseph’s decision to pursue a career in horticulture. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the father and son duo decided to launch an online garden design business (Online Garden Designs), offering an accessible and affordable design service.
Joseph’s garden ‘The Next Step’ is a concept garden that depicts our journey through life.
Like life itself, unpredictability is at the core of this garden design and this is highlighted with a number of undulating paths, focal points and destination points within the landscape. Visitors should struggle to find what the correct next step is, to move around the garden, however there is no one path. Sustainably sourced planting used in the design will be recycled into future projects following the festival, along with all steel and glassworks.
Speaking about the news, Joseph said, “I’m absolutely thrilled to have been selected to exhibit at Bord Bia Bloom. For any designer, it is the ultimate career highlight as no other similar opportunities exist in Ireland, and to have the chance to do so at this stage in my professional career feels fantastic! I’m excited to get stuck in on all aspects of the design and build and I know that while a steep learning curve awaits, it will be a really rewarding experience. To also have a seasoned designer as a mentor is a wonderful help, and I look forward to seeing how all of this year’s show garden designers bring their creations to life in time for the June bank holiday weekend”
Kerrie Gardiner, Show Garden and Horticulture Content Manager, Bord Bia Bloom added: “There was a keen interest in the inaugural ‘Cultivating Talent’ programme and we are thrilled to have Joseph on board for Bord Bia Bloom 2023. Throughout the process, Joseph demonstrated considerable technical expertise, fresh thinking and a level of ambition that impressed the judges. I’ve no doubt his show garden will be welcomed and enjoyed by this year’s Bloom attendees. In 2024, we hope to evolve and build upon the success of this year’s programme to ensure that Bloom continues to attract new creative talent from within Ireland’s horticulture sector.”
Show Gardens
Event organisers are currently finalising the line-up for the vibrant show gardens which are one of the event’s most popular attractions. The show garden area features some of Ireland’s leading horticultural talent who entertain visitors through imaginative story-telling and creative concepts that address important local and global issues while inspiring people to get creative in their own gardens at home. Building on the success of last year, Bord Bia’s Easy Steps to Dream Gardens will once again have a show garden that will be designed for visitors to be able to replicate in their own outdoor space with ease.
Tickets
Tickets are on sale via BordBiaBloom.com. Tickets are priced from €25 per person and with every adult ticket purchased, two children under 16 go free.
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