Garden on our doorstep with nod to Japan raises funds for Cork Simon

September is a mellow time in the garden, when we start to reflect on the growing year and all it brought.

Harvesting continues and apples are arriving to the kitchen at a pace now, so apple tarts abound and pickling and preserving is at its peak with a glut of fruit and summer vegetables.

It is a great art to be able to preserve the taste of summer in a jar for use over the winter months, providing a flavour of sunny days for winter dishes. Chutneys, jams, sauces and pickles will be produced aplenty in the next few weeks, putting the harvest to good use.

The recent rise in temperature perked plants up and there may be the chance of an autumn revival in the garden, all going well.

September is a great month to get out and about visiting gardens while there is still some colour, and some of that is taking on hints of the new season, as some Acers and Parrotias have started to develop autumn hues.

A visit to Kerry took in the delightful garden of Aly Peah and Neal Cahill at The Water Margin, near Templenoe. As the name suggests, water plays a large part in this relatively new garden, which was begun 24 years ago on a steeply sloping southwards site that measures 1.8 acres.

It was previously rough hill pasture, and one of the first tasks in developing the site was to manage water flowing in, which was channeled around both sides, so in essence water flows down both sides of the garden.

There are also natural drains running down the centre of the garden, which are efficient at draining the garden, particularly needed in the springtime.

A waterfall at the top feeds a stream along the western boundary and it is the first sound heard on entering the garden, even when it’s not in full flow. A dramatic natural feature to be lucky enough to have, even though I am sure it must make quite the roar when in full flow!

There was only a thin layer of topsoil over a layer of sandstone with limestone underneath when the garden began. Considerable amounts of topsoil needed to be imported to create the garden, and today there is a dense layer of trees and shrubs with some herbaceous plants where light levels allow.

While visiting the garden, and being shown around by Neal, there was a sighting of deer, which promptly galloped away at speed. It’s a challenge to establish a garden with these large mammals on the doorstep, watching new trees being planted and waiting to have a munch on the bark!

Neal alerted me to the most obvious sign of deer presence being the foliage of common montbretia lying across pathways with the corm chewed off, apparently these are quite a delicacy for deer. This evidence is quite often awaiting Neal when he takes a stroll around the gardens in the morning.

It was quite the diversion encountering a deer on a garden visit, it does make me realise how lucky I am not to have to contend with this challenge in my own garden.

The Kerry garden has lots of eastern influence as Aly is from Japan. There is a tiger resident along the northern boundary and a dragon to the east, just some of the feng shui elements included.

The planting is lush, a reflection on the plentiful rainfall in this part of the world and a distinct lack of frost being so near to the sea. Ferns of all descriptions abound, from tree ferns to ground ferns.

Hazel trees can be seen to be coppiced and the wood is used to create handrails throughout the gardens along slopes, steps and bridges.

A zigzag bridge gives a nod to Japan, where it is believed that if one were being pursued by a demon (who can only run in straight lines) the bridge could be crossed and the demon would fall in the water!

A woodland area at the bottom of the garden has birch, hazel, acer, bamboo and cornus in residence forming a dense canopy. A curious large boulder sits close to the path in the middle of the woodland, an erratic testament to glacial deposits commonly found in this area. The Templenoe ice cap was in existence here dating back to the last ice age in Ireland 25,000 years ago, and the weight of that glacier is responsible for the creation of the drowned river valleys that exist here today.

Neal and Aly are responsible for adding their own layer of vegetation to this part of the world, and have created a sheltered and dense garden for nature to survive and thrive, and which they can enjoy, nourish and grow plants that they love.

Hydrangeas do very well in their acid soil with plenty of moisture available, hostas too with lots grown in pots to avoid slug damage.

This garden opens regularly to raise money for Cork Simon Community, for further details [email protected]

Plant of the Week

Inula racemosa (inset left) is a tall, herbaceous perennial which, as its name suggests, bears flowers along an elongated flowering stem.

It gets to about 2.5 metres tall so needs a sheltered position to give these giant flowering stems a chance, and it will do best on acid free draining soil.

It has cheerful, sunny, yellow, daisy-like flowers from July into the autumn months.