Open season for garden lovers

Follow the garden trail this spring, says Peter Dowdall and you will come across sublime beauties, like Lakemount, the life’s work of the Cross family.

To some a wild garden will look unkempt — whilst the perfectly manicured plot will seem too contrived to others. A garden tells much of the person who creates it

It’s that time of the year again when we get to glimpse into the lives — and souls — of those gardeners who are brave enough to open their private spaces for public viewing.

And if you think of creating a garden in terms of decorating, then you understand it has to be as unique and as individual as the person who creates it — and it is because each garden is as individual as its creator that no one garden will appeal to every single visitor.

To some a wild garden will look unkempt — whilst the perfectly manicured plot will seem too contrived to others. A garden will tell much of the person who creates it — their colour preference; their desire to experiment; or play safe depending on whether or not they have an orderly or chaotic personality.

Some gardens are all about the finer aspects of design principles while others are all about the plants. Some are extremely formal in layout and feel — and some will be informal and seem like they just ‘happened’.

What makes it different to decorating any other part of your home is that it is a three-dimensional living space and you are using three dimensional forms in that space.

You’re not just working with colours like painting a wall in the kitchen — no you are working with form, texture, structure and colour. Much thought must be given to combining and contrasting these differing textures and colours and then you have to figure out the flowering time, eventual height and spread of each individual plant and whether they are deciduous or evergreen, herbaceous or of interest all year long.

For many, the rule books will need to be studied and digested before one spade is put in the ground and to others it all seems to come just naturally.

I love ‘Open Garden’ season for all the reasons described above. I have my own feelings on garden design and I am very much a plants person. To me the garden is all about the plants. But it is essential to use the right plants in the correct way, in the right place in harmony with others to get the best out of them.

Their will be dozens of Open Gardens and Garden Trails over the next few months and do try and make a point of getting to see as many as possible. You will pick up tips galore, discover new plants and always meet interesting gardeners along the way and, if nothing else, you will enjoy a nice day out.

One gardener for whom it all appears to come very naturally is Glanmire native, Brian Cross. He and his wife Rose have developed ‘Lakemount’ into one of the finest private gardens in these parts.

I always love the opportunity to visit this jewel of a garden nestled at the top of Barnavara Hill in Glanmire, overlooking the estuary in Cork Harbour. Created in the 1950s by Brian’s mother Peggy, from whom he caught the bug, ‘Lakemount’ has gone through numerous re-creations, changeovers and facelifts over the years.

I must have visited over 50 times at this stage and each time I discover something new, either a species I hadn’t spotted on a previous walk around, or another little area that had gone unnoticed or simply wasn’t there before, maybe something as simple as a well-positioned urn or pot under a tree that is catching the light at just the right time.

It is these little nuances that make a garden truly special. It doesn’t have to have a great big wow factor to make the garden something of true beauty, though there are plenty of them in ‘Lakemount’. From the moment you pull up outside and see the impeccably-kept laurel hedge growing over the equally impeccable stone wall you know you are at the home of a couple serious about their garden. The whitest of white Himalayan Birches, Betula x utilis var jacquemontii is to be found in this garden, and it is not by accident that it is so pristine, no, it is because Brian and Rose go out and wash the bark with a soft brush and soapy water, to keep it looking spectacular. This is one of the few gardens that will appeal to nearly all.

From the wild meadow areas to the formal pond in the front lawn, I defy anyone to visit and not find something that they would like to call their own. Brian’s artistry is prevalent throughout and in latter years, Rose’s imprint is also becoming much more evident with her beautiful cottage garden.

It contains perennial favourites like Lupins, Verbascums, Delphiniums and more, all coming in to colour over the next few weeks and months now that the Dicentras, Brunneras and Omphalodes have started to show.

Not an ‘Open Garden’ in the true sense of the term in that it is not open for people just to drop in — Lakemount is only open to groups by appointment. Most of the visitors to Lakemount nowadays are foreign gardening groups enjoying a tour of the finest gardens in Ireland and if nothing else, this should show you just how special a place is ‘Lakemount’.

I have enjoyed a friendship with Brian and Rose for many years now and if my words are true and the garden reflects the personality of those that create it, then it’s no surprise that their garden means business.

Pristine, with not a plant out of place, nor a weed to be seen; well behaved, if a bit bold; artistic; full of quirky and conventional design features with different rooms and areas flowing seamlessly into each other.

It is a plantsmans’ paradise with a fine collection, expertly used. This is a garden that you will enjoy spending time in, it will capture your senses and make you want to stop and admire, pause and absorb it, in short Lakemount is a garden that works.www.lakemountgarden.com

Brian Cross will discuss garden design and planting at Carewswood Garden Centre, Midleton, tomorrow at 2.30pm (carewswoodgardencentre.ie)