An interview with Nicola Haines, Show Garden Designer
Garden: Coming Home to Nature, sponsored by Fingal County Council
Can you explain the concept of the Coming Home to Nature Garden please?
“The garden hopes to demonstrate ways that biodiversity can be incorporated into new housing developments.”
What did you find the most challenging aspect of the design process?
“We have designed a path through the garden for visitors to walk through, this is a challenge to design in a small space but we hope it will allow a more immersive experience of the garden.”
What elements of the design are you most excited to see brought to life in the build?
“I’m excited to see all the different elements of the garden come together, they have been built as parts and it will be wonderful to see how they all work together.”
How do you address the principles and requirements for biodiversity specifically in the design?
“We show how rain water can be captured to create rich environments for wildlife and people. We will also show biodiverse roofs, houses for a range of birds, habitats for insects and the importance of planting new woodlands for wildlife. Our hope is to show how environments that are good for nature are also good for people.”
Can you highlight some of the specific plants and trees you incorporated into the design, and give reasons for their inclusion?
“We have a range of Iris in the garden, from drought tolerant bearded Iris ‘Sultan’s Palace’ near the houses to Iris sibirica in the rain gardens. We also include our native yellow flag Iris pseudacorus in the boggy wetland area, showing how versatile this beautiful plant can be. We have a range of native and non native trees within the woodland area, a favourite being our native Hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna which is such a beneficial plant to birds and insects and is a beautiful specimen tree.”
Can you give a couple of tips or suggestions for amateur gardeners to make their spaces more sustainable?
Collecting and storing rain water is a really easy way to improve the value to nature of any garden space. Water attracts a wide range of wildlife from a shallow bowl to a large pond, build it and they will come! Embracing untidiness is sometimes difficult, but it’s in the less kempt areas of the garden that nature thrives. Dedicating even a small patch of the garden to long grass and dead wood is a great start.
Nicola Haines studied architecture at the Bartlett School in London before completing horticultural training with the RHS. She worked in a number of architectural offices before setting up Tierney Haines Architects with her husband, Stephen.
Nicola works on all scale of public, commercial and private projects, as well as community-based and educational gardens. An enthusiastic member of the Garden Landscape Design Association, she is passionate about connecting people to nature through design.
Nicola has won numerous awards at Bord Bia Bloom, including a gold medal and Best in Category award for her Citroën Power of One garden last year.
Visit the Show Gardens at Bord Bia Bloom this June bank holiday weekend. To stay up-to-date with news on the show gardens, and the many other fun aspects of Bloom, please stay tuned to our social channels @BordBiaBloom. Tickets to this year’s festival are available here.
