Why we're still lavishing time and money on our gardens 

Our love for the outdoors continues to bloom, with late summer and autumn stars such as hydrangeas catching the eye

Hydrangeas are one of the real star performers in the garden over the next few months. Picture: iStock

TAKE a trip to any garden centre in Ireland now and you will be met with tables full of fresh plants all either giving of their best or soon to burst forth into bloom. It has been a strange season thus far for garden centres like every industry. They have had to deal with the pressures and financial strains of lockdown and then create the correct environment and procedures for the “new normal”. However, unlike many other businesses garden centres must all have had a bumper season in terms of business since the lockdown, for everyone is at home and can’t go on foreign holidays.

So the time and money is being spent on the garden instead and without question, the over-riding positive to come out of this extremely difficult period has been our deepening appreciation for the garden and the natural world all around us and their importance.