I heard that the French gardeners were back in Navan. Sure enough, when I was there recently, I saw that the new roundabout has just been planted in their inimitable style, and there is also a lot of new plantings in their style about the town.
To say they plant in a different style to what is normally seen in this country would be an understatement. They take outrageous risks, particularly with their plant choice and placement. It could easily fall flat on its face, but it doesn’t and it works! They use an eclectic mixture of short runs of hedging, as features in themselves, specimen trees, tightly clipped specimen shrubs, and even some large pleached trees. There is then a mixture of smaller shrubs, perennials and grasses, mixed up together in a most unusual, almost ‘higgelty piggelty’ manner. The smaller stuff will take a few months to fill out, but if the end effect is anyway like their efforts of a few years ago, it will be spectacular.
There has been some dark murmuring about French contractors, being used by an Irish local authority, what with the way things are. But the counter argument is that they are delivering results. I know of no municipal plantings, anywhere in the country as good – or certainly as flamboyant. Meath Co. Council should be commended for its actions. Many of the specimen plants must have cost a pretty penny, but it is money well spent, as you actually see what you are getting. I think the French are also involved with the ongoing maintenance – high end planting requires high end maintenance. Below is a list of some of the plants used, starting with the specimens, and some of these are out of the ordinary! Blue ceders, weeping and normal.
Very impressive weeping birches, similar to Young’s weeping birch but with much whiter bark. Fastigiate green and purple beech. Photinia “red robin” extra high standards. Clipped pyramid hollies. Clipped pyramid yews, and a very tall pyramid with the trunk showing. Giant redwoods (older planting) Large purple Acer platanoides, Groups of that new hardy (French bred) Eucalyptus gunnii “Azura” Hedges are of yew and hornbeam, some older hedges are of variegated Cornus alba!
A lot of leaf colour shrubs are used such as, golden leycesteria, golden and purple Cotinus, dark leaved weigela, and photinia “little red robin”. Then there are the ornamental grasses and perennials, planted very informally, with of course, the obligatory Verbena bonariensis. Everything is mulched with that fine grained composted bark, which looks really good, but would give less weed control than normal bark chippings. These plantings are well worth a visit, and as the old Navan furniture ad goes: “It’s only an hour from Dublin!”
Bio:
John has a diploma in Horticulture from the National Botanic Gardens, a degree in Botany from Trinity College and a diploma in Tree Craftsmanship from Merrist Wood College in Surrey. He worked in the nurseries of north Germany where he got his interest in craft gardening. He is the owner of Ratoath Garden Centre, whose slogan “mad about plants”, is not far from the truth!
Source: HortiTrends News Room
