An Interview with Green Party Senator Dan Boyle

I’ve had my run ins with the Green Party. No secret there… [a quick search in the blog will help you there if you're interested ] But when I reviewed the latest Irish budget… I asked would any politician like to meet and have a chat… credit where it’s due… Dan responded and answered yes. [...]

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supporting trees…

you might be wondering why the Seamús Ennis centre is in a gardening  article? Apart from is being an amazing place… It is the tree support in the background of this photograph that it is here. Rather than chop the arms off a fine and well represented  tree in the beautiful village of the Naul… [...]

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the farmers market, portmarnock

On Sunday[17th May '09] I took a trip out to my folks home town. I had heard about this new one… but I was unsure. I have this image in my head that there’s a lady who goes out on a Friday, takes a few turnips from the garden, pops ‘em into a tweed satchel [...]

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i’m a gardener get me out of here….

In 2008  I and a group of over 100 people [2,000 in total] on a gardening team went to south africa with the niall mellon township trust to build gardens. My 2008 story is here [click it.... go on... click it]!! This year I need to raise some dosh. money. spondulas… go on stuff some [...]

{  all posts, thinking of others  } { 5 comments }

ardgillan demesne

I went to see Ardgillan Demesne; It is a park, a castle [but not a true castle...], a playground, a gardens…  the second Sunday in March. It is by far the finest example of a park I have seen in Ireland to date. Unlike Malahide Castle – all parts of the ‘demesne’ were open. It [...]

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malahide demesne

The first Sunday of March I went to Malahide Castle [also called park or demesne]. I like the park. I’ve been here before. But it’s been a while. As an open space – I love it. But the park holds much more than green fields. I was you might say a little disappointed. On the [...]

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fingal independent…

This weeks [febraury 17th 2009] saw The Fingal Independent give Donegan Landscaping a very much appreciated, nice little mention. A massive ‘Thank you very much’ must go to Robin Kielywho has [pardon the pun] literally been with me from the very start almost 9 years ago now It was of course to note the Bord [...]

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1001 gardens you must see before you die

The only thing I didn’t like about this book is the title. A little depressing to be honest. Why it needed Titschmarsh to do the preface i’ll never know [no offence ]. Why they didn’t just change the title to 1001 garden to make you smile and just leave it at that… ? That said [...]

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even more waste at fingal county council

To encourage home composting Fingal County Council sell home compost bins at a reduced rate and deliver them free of charge to residents living in Fingal. So why then two weeks ago did I get a brown bin delivered… One may say that’s good, right? not really. Another boo boo by Fingal County Council then [...]

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where will the waste go…

unknows to some [it was unknown to me] and it seems Trevor Sargeant – he was away this week and his office was only emailed a report of this, this week. Baleally green waste facility in North Dublin is due to close down. For Good. Why? I don’t know. But there is no alternate commercial [...]

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beautiful bulbs

It is that time of year again. It is time to start planting bulbs. [more information on how to bulb plant here]. It is a case of decide what you want – next year – and back track to now. The only problem with planting bulbs, for you as the client, is that the results [...]

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crimes against the garden…?

When I spoke to a colleague of mine about writing an article on robbings in the garden he told me he had seen some himself, but moreso around the winter period. In hindsight I realise this may not be the most amusing opening line for an article but whilst garden theft achieves little or no [...]

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keep your hair on…

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the amazing skerries mills

I thought this would be a boring day out. The ones you got ‘dragged’ out on when you were a nipper. I also thought, at first, the €6.50 tour charge was a bit steep, I was [very] pleasantly surprised. This, had to be, one of the best ‘tours’ I’ve ever been on. Skerries Mills is [...]

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rain water harvesting butts

I always reuse the grey water from my house & throw it over the veggie plot. Butt [!] it’s time to go a stage further. I wanted a water butt. It took a little research and I go two from… fingal county council. Made from recycled plastic, Dublin City Council [their page is a little [...]

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