Pure imagination: How to grow edible and incredible plants

Ellen O'Regan got advice from Willy Wonka (Gareth Snook) and garden designer Tom Leavy during their visit to Bord Bia Bloom

Gareth Snook who plays Willy Wonka in Charlie and The Chocolate Factory – The Musical, at the Bord Bia Bloom show garden. Pictures: Brian McEvoy, Fennells

One of the more magical gardens that wowed judges at Bord Bia Bloom this year was inspired by the edible and incredible wonders of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.

As the West End and Broadway hit Charlie and the Chocolate Factory — The Musical is set to make its Irish premiere this Christmas, Bord Gáis Energy Theatre has once again teamed up with landscaper Tom Leavy to create a dreamy and delicious garden, inspired by Roald Dahl’s world of pure imagination.

Gareth Snook who plays Willy Wonka in Charlie and The Chocolate Factory – The Musical pictured with garden designer Tom Leavy. Pictures: Brian McEvoy

Complete with sculpted Oompa Loompas and a chocolate river, the garden blended together nature and theatre, and his key focus was on creating an “edible and incredible” planting scheme, says designer Tom.

“We have plants that are edible, like apples, pears, plums, figs, cabbage and kale, and then the incredible plants are plants that have been traditionally used in folklore medicine or in modern pharmaceuticals — sage, lavender, thyme, hops, lemon balm, and even rose all have medicinal uses,” he adds.

CLIMATE & SUSTAINABILITY HUB

Tom brought home a silver medal for last year’s Bord Gáis garden inspired by Beauty & The Beast — The Musical, and he says this year’s brief of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory gave him the freedom to be creative and a bit over the top with his mouth-watering design.

Those who took a trip to the theatrical garden during the June bank holiday weekend and over the past week also got the chance to meet Willy Wonka himself, as actor Gareth Snook (who plays the role of Willy Wonka in the Bord Gáis production) was be in character throughout the week and weekend.

Gareth Snook and Marty Morrissey.

He promised Irish Examiner Home that he would not send any children down the chocolate river — “as long as they behave themselves”.

And he is also looking forward to his stint in Ireland later this year playing the iconic role. 

Gareth says the stage production, like the Bloom garden, will be a “mind-blowing, spectacular feast for the eyes”.

“If you know the book or the movies, the story is exactly the same,” he says.

 “Now it’s a musical, full of spectacular scenery, and there’s an instant connection with the audience and the environment, and the actors and the characters.”

DELICIOUS DESIGN IDEAS 

Garden designer Tom Leavy was also keen to make a connection between audience and environment. 

He designed the Bloom show garden so that all who visited it would be inspired to make their own gardens more edible and incredible.

“In landscape design for the last 20 or 30 years, we plant mainly for aesthetics,” he says.

Gardener Tom Leavy.

“In this garden, I have planted for aesthetics, but I have also planted a landscape that is edible, and is usable. You can go out to the garden and you can eat from it, and you have plants to use for different ailments.”

ADVICE WE CAN USE IN OUR OWN GARDENS

Making your own garden as practical as possible is also a sustainable choice, which helps to reduce the emissions from imported produce, adds Tom.

“Hopefully in 10 or 15 years you will see people using their front gardens, the front of their estate, and window boxes to grow vegetables, medicinal plants, and fruit trees, and people can go out and pick stuff in the evening before dinner, and it will have zero air miles,” he adds.

SMALL AND URBAN PLOTS

For those with smaller urban gardens who want to make them more functional, Tom says a good place to start is plants and herbs for teas.

Anais Tiana Bakala (10) and Harley Judge (6).

“Lots of people go to health-food shops and they will pick out teas like lemon balm, hops, valerian, lavender, mint, nettle — but we don’t have to, they’re incredibly easy plants to grow once they’re given the right conditions at all,” he says.

“Many of the plants that are in this garden, they’ll thrive in any well-drained, somewhat sunny garden.

“They might be planted in the fronts of people’s houses and they might not even know they have medicinal uses, and that they can bring them in and use them in teas. They’re really nice, and really fresh, and really easy to have in the front or back garden,” he adds.

If he were starting a garden again from scratch, the first thing he would plant would be trees, says Tom. 

Apple trees can grow well in most gardens, with dwarf varieties suited to smaller spaces, he notes, adding that fruit trees often thrive in urban spaces which are more sheltered and have more carbon dioxide, and will “reward you year after year”.

“Then if you were getting more into gardening, I would look up no-dig gardening on YouTube. 

"Start small and start easy, with some veggies that are very easy to grow like your kales, courgettes, spinach, chard and beetroot. 

"It’s a very easy way to get into vegetable growing, and getting your edibles into the landscape,” he says.

Gareth Snook who plays Willy Wonka, with Anais Tiana Bakala (10) and Harley Judge (6).

• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – The Musical will run at the Bord Gáis Theatre from December 5, 2023, to January 7,–2024; tickets, from €26.50, are on sale now through Ticketmaster