Mount Congreve, described as one of the great gardens of the world, is only 45 minutes from our home yet it’s taken until now for me to spend more than twenty minutes there. Why? It’s a privately owned garden that has only been open to the public on Thursdays and occasional weekends which has made it quite tricky to get to for anybody with Thursday commitments.
Since the owner of this magnificent estate, the late Mr Ambrose Congreve, passed away there has been a fear that the gardens would close. In July Irish Daily Mail journalist, Tom Doorley described the difficulties the Estate has been under while trying to hand the gardens over to the Office of Public Works as Mr Congreve wished.
Hopefully the glitch has now been resolved as the gardeners were talking about their hope that Mount Congreve might be open from springtime 2014 onwards. There might be a small fee to help to cover some of the costs involved with keeping such a large garden to the standard its late owner demanded and they might be open for three of four days a week. I certainly hope so.
Any fee will be worth every cent.
I wont ramble on about the history of the gardens or how Mr Congreve worked on them for almost his entire life until they grew to include over 16 kilometers of pathways and woodland containing “over three thousand different trees and shrubs, more than two thousand Rhododendrons, six hundred Camellias, three hundred Acer cultivars, six hundred conifers, two hundred and fifty climbers and fifteen hundred herbaceous plants” – the Mount Congreve website can do that for you.
Mr Congreve was a passionate gardener who lived for over 104 years before passing away at Chelsea Flower Show in 2011. The remains of both he and Mrs Congreve are buried at the Temple in the Estate.
For now I’ll leave you with a few images that I took in the walled garden that might give you some idea of the colour you could be experiencing in your gardens during late September if you so wish.
Most of the plants in the gardens are labelled and there’s a free downloadable PDF available on the website giving a synopsis of the plants growing there. I for one will be adding dahlias and asters to my shopping trolley next time I visit our local garden centre.
There hasn’t been any vegetables growing in the walled garden this year unlike a couple of years ago when I paid my earlier brief visit there. It was explained that as the kitchen is no longer operating as it was in the Congreve’s day when they held dinner parties and balls, the House has no need for them. For now the beds have been laid down to green manures until a decision is made about their future.
I’m so looking forward to going back and plans are afoot to return soon with my two community garden groups for their social get together. Thankfully that might be possible this year as the garden opening times have now been extended until the end of October 2013, Thursdays only from 9.00am until 4.00pm. Garden tours are available by arrangement at a cost of €10.00 per person with a minimum of 15 people. Because the gardens are still privately owned a disclaimer has to be signed on entry and for safety reasons children are not allowed.
Blooming Flowers at Mount Congreve during Late SeptemberThese really are gardens worth visiting if you have a smidgen of interest in nature and the outdoor world. What better way to spend an autumnal day. I’m feeling inspired, are you?
Dee Sewell – a horticulturalist and certified trainer who started Greenside Up in 2009 and teaches people how to grow vegetables. Dee specialises in working with community gardens but also offers workshops, allotment visits, consultations, horticultural therapy, afterschools clubs as well as local talks – she tailors her services to meet clients needs. In 2012 Dee launched a Seed Gift Collection containing varieties of vegetable and insect friendly flowers with the aim of getting more people growing. Dee’s blog was a finalist in the 2012 Ireland Blog Awards in the Eco/Green and Lifestyle Categories.
