Step in and out of Lanigan's guide

Here's a new book to guide you to gardens worth visiting during summer road trips, writes JANE POWERS

I SPENT A FEW days visiting gardens in England this spring. We were at some superb places, but so also, it seemed, was everyone else. My photos ended up looking like L.S. Lowry paintings, full of busy matchstick families, which wasn’t really the effect that I was seeking.

Garden visiting in Ireland is a different thing altogether. Although a few gardens are occasionally thronged, it is not unusual to have the entire horticultural experience all to yourself. And even when a place is crowded, it’s often with tourists from abroad – who seem to appreciate what’s on offer more than our homegrown visitors.

Our climate is so much more plant-friendly than the rest of Europe (yes, even when you take the past two winters into account), and the range of species that we can grow is satisfyingly wide. We have a remarkable natural landscape, and rain that soon covers masonry and wood with moss – so that romantic, green places can be created in half the time that it might take in a drier climate.

Our older gardens have solid, well-designed structures: the enduring product of British engineering and Irish labour. Ireland, in short, offers the visitor a unique set of gardens, unlike anywhere else in the world. We should visit them more.

If gardens that are open to the public don’t get visitors, they can’t exist – except in the rare cases where owners can afford to fund them themselves. I hope this doesn’t sound too preachy, but I’m feeling a bit sad about the demise (or near enough), of various Irish gardens. Fernhill in Sandyford was Nama-ed last year, Lissadell is in lock-down mode after a right-of-way battle, and other historic plots are being barely maintained. Head gardeners have been let go, and specialist work is now being carried out by unskilled or under-skilled contractors.

But the story of Ireland’s gardens in the past decade has a happy side, too. Exciting new creations have appeared – June Blake’s garden in Co Wicklow and Caher Bridge Gardens in Co Clare, for example – and old gardens, such as Oakfield Park in Co Donegal, have been painstakingly restored.

With all this change in this island’s inventory of gardens, a new guide book is very welcome. Shirley Lanigan’s The 100 Best Gardens in Ireland (Liberties Press, €25) is a reworking of her book The O’Brien Guide to Irish Gardens, published 10 years ago. The earlier volume contained over 300 gardens, so a great deal of weeding out was necessary (not a bad thing), to get the number down, and to make room for the new entries. Besides the three mentioned above, these include Jimi Blake’s plantsman’s paradise at Hunting Brook in Co Wicklow, the Delta Sensory Gardens in Carlow, Farmleigh (much in the news recently, and well worth visiting), and the Victorian Walled Kitchen Garden in the Phoenix Park.

It is a chatty, personal book, and if you are not a regular visitor of gardens, it is a good primer. A large format paperback, it is a little unwieldy for most handbags, but it is perfect for keeping in the car for when you are out and about this summer.

Garden festivals and trails

Wicklow Garden Festival: June 11th-19th, with 29 participating gardens and special events (wicklowgardens.com)

The West Cork Garden Trail: June 11th-26th. Special events include a garden day at Glebe Gardens in Baltimore on Saturday, June 11th with morning book signings by Joy Larkcom, Joyce Russell and me, and afternoon talks by Michael Colby and Jimi Blake (see glebegardens.com). On Sunday, June 12th, Inish Beg in Baltimore hosts a plant and garden fair (inishbeg.com). See westcorkweek.com/gardentrail.

The Donegal Garden Trail: A group of 24 gardens across the county, some open for just a few days in summer. One of these latter (open July 9th and 10th, and by appointment at other times) is Dungavida at Falcarragh – the garden of Glenveagh's head gardener, Seán Ó Gaoithín. His seaside plot is a recreation of an ancient Celtic garden with "archeophytes" (plants introduced pre-1500) and lazy beds (donegalgardentrail.com).

The Rathmines Garden trail: June 11th and 12th: Local gardens open in aid of Rathmines Women's Refuge. Teas and coffees in selected gardens. Details available on mylocalnews.ie.

Summer School for food growers

The West Cork College of Sustainable Food Production is running a five-day summer school (June 13th-17th ) for those who wish to grow food in quantity, either for their families, or as a small business. It is based at Glebe Gardens in Baltimore and will visit the farms and gardens of other growers. Among the tutors are some of west Cork's most respected horticultural people: Madeline McKeever of Brown Envelope Seeds, Jean and Peter Perry of Glebe Gardens, and head gardener at Bantry House, Lorna Finnegan. The course fee of €300 includes lunches. For details, email westcorkcollege@gmail.com