AN EDIBLE ESCAPE IN LIMERICK

A low maintenance, productive garden for a busy family to relax, play & eat!

Step inside this garden

To keep maintenance to a minimum, the entire garden to the front & side of the house will be transformed into an elegant & bountiful fruit & nut orchard with a native long-flowering meadow underneath.  Creating a habitat with harvests long-term for both local wildlife & the family to enjoy.  The long-flowering meadow will also reduce weekly mowing to a single cut once a year!  Behind the house, the stark patio, will be greened with the use of natural trellis & a range of scented & edible climbers.  In one corner an existing play space for the children with trampoline pit & swing set, will become a wildlife garden with pond long-term once they’ve outgrown the equipment.  In another corner, a seating space to gather round a fire pit to  to catch the evening sun.  Large sweeping no-dig beds & woven willow hurdles divide the back garden into these distinct spaces.  The beds, to be filled with both beautiful & delicious perennial edible crops which can be harvested year after year.

 The re-imagining process

Dig deeper & explore how we developed the ideas & inspiration for this space virtually!

The Space

After completing an extension on the house, attentions had turned to the garden & what to do with the space! There were currently a few established shrubs in the front garden, a swing set in the back garden & a new patio but it didn’t look or function as a garden in the ways the clients wanted it to.

The Client Brief

“We want a safe space for the children to play & us as a family to spend time together.  The garden needs to be low maintenance as we have limited time but we do want to be able to harvest some fruit, veg & herbs to cook with the kids.  Also important to us is suporting our local wildlife by re-wilding some areas of the garden & incorporating native plants.”

The Design Process

This client choose our Virtual Design Package 1 – which includes:

 1hr Design Consultation (via video call)

Annotated Sketch Design (emailed)

Accompanying list of suggested plants & materials (emailed)

1/2hr Design Presentation & Q&A (via video call)

The Build 

This garden will be developed slowly over time by the client themselves with help from contractors for the larger landscaping & construction elements.   The sketch design & resources from Package 1 providing a broad guide & reference of suggested features, some planting ideas & approximate locations for each.

Client Testimonial

 

I feel inspired & empowered to start creating a beautiful, relaxing space for my family and all the little wild creatures that we share it with.

I knew I wanted something rustic and low maintenance with edibles and native plants. I just didn’t know where to start! I was attracted to work with Two Green Shoots because of their use of natural, local materials and focus on the garden as a nourishing place for both humans & wildlife. I enjoyed working with them, the process was smooth and easy & I was surprised at how detailed a plan they could produce without ever having been on site.  I now have a sketch design & a very helpful list of plants & materials to make a start!

Sarah Heelan . December 2021