Bord Bia Bloom: Sustainability is a winner at this year's festival

Thu, 29 May, 2025 - 18:48

Steven Heaney

Gardens highlighting the importance of recycling, repurposing, and the circular economy scooped two of the top prizes at this year's Bord Bia Bloom.

All of the 21 show gardens showcased at this year's festival, which kicked off at Dublin's Phoenix Park from Thursday, were designed to incorporate environmental measures and with sustainability in mind.

However, the competition's judges said the Repak Most Sorted Garden, which secured the large garden category award, and the medium garden category winner, the European Commission’s ‘Renewed Blooms’ Garden, conveyed "particularly strong sustainability messages for visitors to take home".

TV host and food writer Donal Skehan and sustainable living advocate Eimear Hutchinson at the Repak Most Sorted Garden which won the large garden category at Bord Bia Bloom 2025. Picture: Fintan Clarke/Creative Coalesce

The judges said David Purdy's winning design in the former category showed that waste "is not an inevitability but a design flaw; one that can be solved through thoughtful recycling and regeneration".

They also said that the design by David Negus in the latter category, embodied "EU circular economy principles by repurposing materials and blending nature with human-made elements".

Percussionists Patrick Lynch and Caitriona Frost with artist 'Decoy' at the European Commission's Renewed Blooms garden which won the medium garden category at Bord Bia Bloom. Picture: Chris Bellew/Fennell

The top award in the small garden category went to the Pot Gallery Garden and its designer Alan Rudden which, the judges said, demonstrated how "freestanding and vertical pots can green spaces such as terraces, roofs or balconies".

The overall concept garden winner was the Rainbow Brick Balcony Garden, designed by Limerick artist Gary Kirwan as a tribute to Lego.

Designer Gary Kirwan from Limerick won the overall concept garden category at Bloom 2025 with his Rainbow Brick Balcony Garden, a tribute to Lego. Picture: Sam Boal/Collins

The judges described this garden, constructed from over 800,000 individual pieces over a period of eight weeks as, "playful and unique". The garden itself will be reused at family-oriented events run by Brick Shows Ireland around the country in the coming weeks and months.

A total of 19 medals, including eight gold medals, were awarded to show gardens in advance of the official opening of opening of the event by President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina on Thursday.

Festival-goers take cover as the rain pours down on the opening day of the 2025 Bord Bia Bloom at the Phoenix Park in Dublin. Picture: Liam McBurney/PA

Commenting on the standard of this year’s designs, chief garden judge, Andrew Wilson, said that each year of the event, "the quality of the show gardens steps up an extra notch".

"The judging panel has been delighted by the range of ideas, the creativity, and the quality of the gardens this year," he said.

"It’s especially great to see sustainable ideas at the fore. We are seeing this with recycling, the choice of planting, and the reuse and repurposing of materials throughout the gardens."

Future farmers Trish Halpin from Knocklong NS, Co Limerick and Emily Lambes, from St Patricks NS, Ballinagore, Co Westmeath, at the National Dairy Council garden at Bord Bia Bloom in the Phoenix Park. Picture: Robbie Reynolds

Mr Wilson added that any visitors to this year's event would be "guaranteed to get some great ideas to take home".

Bord Bia chief executive Jim O’Toole congratulated all the medal winners whose creativity and expertise, he said, had been "justly rewarded".

"Now the public can appreciate their inspiring horticulture displays over the next five days. We have an action-packed schedule ahead with something for everyone, including over 300 performances and demonstrations across seven stages," he added.