Four Nations Special: A focus on England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland – featuring International Garden Designer Peter Donegan MSGD representing the Ireland.
Horticulture Across The Pond
ProLandscaper Magazine October 2024
Words by Ashleigh Brown
Grateful for the opportunities he has encountered, garden designer and landscape architect, Peter Donegan, acknowledges some of the challenges Ireland faces with its smaller horticultural market.
Ireland may be a country rich in history and culture, but one area where it is still growing is within its modern horticultural and landscaping sectors.
The country’s gardening heritage may date back to its earliest settlers, producing crops for harvest, before the introduction of plants from across the world and the Americas in the 16th century which then progressed to the development of landscape design in the 1700’s – but Ireland’s development within the industry seems
to have slowed down in more recent years, according to garden designer, Peter Donegan.
Whilst The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) was founded back in 1804, with shows and festivals such as the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show being hosted at the Royal Hospital Chelsea since 1913 – Ireland’s experience with such events is lesser known to those outside of the island.
The Royal Horticultural Society of Ireland (RHSI) may have been similarly founded in 1816, and is proudly affiliated with over 90 horticultural, gardening, and floral art societies and clubs, but whereas Chelsea draws in designers and visitors from across the globe,RHSI Bellebield and Russborough are still yet to receive the same level of recognition.
According to the RHSI, the society supposedly began when a meeting was held at the Rose Tavern, Donnybrook, Dublin with a group of estate gardeners who had met to drink beer and to worry about “the art of gardening falling away and rapidly declining.” Resolving to exchange expertise and new ideas, the Horticultural
Society of Ireland was set up for gardeners who had served their time and were “of good moral conduct.”
The RHSI was later distinguished throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, and it focused on its shows and exhibitions across Ireland. Now, the modern RHSI is a mixture of amateur and professional gardeners who continue to be committed to education within the industry. So how has the industry seemingly since slowed down in Ireland in the 21st century?
Peter Donegan of Peter Donegan Garden Design started his journey into the industry at the age of 17 when he was assisting in the development of rooftop gardens in multistorey carparks across Dublin.
Quickly learning how to work at a fast pace with a quality finish, the job had its limitations, so it wasn’t long before Donegan chose to run away with his creative imagination and start up his own garden design company. Now, he takes on between 20 and 30 different projects every year, with his professional reputation now providing new challenges across Ireland, France, Australia, and the UK.
From 2019 to 2022 Donegan assumed the role of series garden designer for Ireland’s most watched TV show, RTE’s DIY SOS The Big Build, which he remains a frequent feature of to this day.
He was also selected to represent Ireland to design and realise the WW1 Centenary Peace Garden at Château de Péronne in 2018, before returning in 2022 to design second inaugurated garden at the 13th Century castle known as the “Historial de la Grande Guerre” – home to Europe’s largest war museum. But it was in 2023 that Donegan was taken across the globe, becoming the first Irish landscape architect invited and accepted to design at Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, the Southern Hemisphere’s largest and most prestigious flower show where he won gold.
Donegan then returned to MIFGS earlier this year as a garden judge, and to design the show’s featured garden, winning The People’s Choice Award.
So why is it that Donegan has found himself away from home soil so frequently? “If you take it from a population perspective, it’s all logic,” says Donegan.
“If you’re a designer, landscaper, gardener, or contractor, based in Dublin, there’s a population of about 1.5 million people and a population of just over five million in the whole of Ireland.
“If Northern Ireland, for example, has a population of 1.5, and then you go to London where it’s nine billion, it’s all about the ratio so it makes more sense to take your business to where the people are.” Population also puts demand into perspective. Despite both the RHS and RHSI dating back to a similar period, the demand has grown stronger in England especially, compared to Ireland, both in terms of work and shows.
To put this into perspective, the RHSI Bellefield takes place on the two-acre walled garden and parkland, whereas RHS Chelsea is within an eleven-acre showground.
It is understandable as to why industry professionals may prefer to travel further afield to access a wider variety of opportunities rather than settle on home turf and fight competitors for the limited clientele.
And for those just starting out in the industry or looking to transport their skills across the four nations to exploit the opportunities *across the pond,” Donegan has two key pieces of advice: “Never be afraid to reach out – pop an email, pick up the phone and say can I have a chat?
“And then, the second you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask which seat, just get on.”
1 Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show 2023, first-ever Irish Gold
2 Château de Péronne and Peace Garden in a dried up moat
3 A place to eat and converse where the castles columns once fell
4 Martin Semken, Peter Donegan MSGD and Dean Cartwright, Gold medal MiFGS
5 The Corten Grand Piano BBQ and raised planter for DIY SOS for RTE Television
6 The Veterans Garden and People’s Choice Award, Melbourne 2024
