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The above images are just 5 that I selected when I googled ' Salthill Gardens Mountcharles', but I wanted to see what a garden this impressive looked like in the very early days of spring, long before the crowds decend, long before the Crocosmia and Shasta Daisys flower. I wanted to see the framework of the garden, how the garden is prepared and see the garden at a time of year not commonly viewed. So I was delighted when the owner Mrs Elizabeth Temple invited me down for a tour...Below your find a selection of pictures from the garden in early spring, a time when the garden shows some real jewels and when the garden just smells of freshness, new growth, fresh foliages and the hope of things to come....enjoy!
Salthill Gardens website is here, lots of great information there also
Salthill Gardens website is here, lots of great information there also
an aerial picture of the house and walledgarden taken c.1985 before Elizabeth started to create the garden
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a stable block converted into the most wonderful meeting roo
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view from the courtyard to Donegal Bay, note the 'cut away' sections of the walls to allow for a lovely water view
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tiered planted section in the courtyard
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Connie and Gracie were all up for exploring!
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The stable block from the outside, now a lovely meeting room and function hall. The courtyard has been beautifully paved and pots full of seasonal plants decorate the space.
There are no team of gardeners in Salthill, no army of tractors and the likes, there is Elizabeth Temple....and a few helpers from time to time...the garden is a credit to Elizabeth and her skill and determination to create something special in the worst of Donegal soils, only a 100yards from the sea....amazing sight folks
There are no team of gardeners in Salthill, no army of tractors and the likes, there is Elizabeth Temple....and a few helpers from time to time...the garden is a credit to Elizabeth and her skill and determination to create something special in the worst of Donegal soils, only a 100yards from the sea....amazing sight folks
beds full of growth
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apple trees in the kitchen garden pruned in goblet style
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kitchen garden area, note the lazy beds planting style
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cracking primula edge the path in the kitchen garden
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winter crocus decorate the base of the beech hedge
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so much fresh growth you could almost smell it
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Elizabeth is a real plants person, a lady so full of energy it was hard to keep up! (I actually interrupted Elizabeth from a days gardening, she was pruning when I pulled up). The passion for plants when Elizabeth talks is infectious, her tales of headign to Chelsea Flower Show, taking notes of plants and then coming on and researching them further to see if they would take to the heavy soil in the garden show the passion she has for Horticulture. Here Connie and Elizabeth are standing in a a new feature area in the garden, a lovely stonework design.
lazy beds for heritage potatoes
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wonderful silvery foliage of Artichokes
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Yew soilders framing a viewpoint from the lower garden to the kitchen garden at top
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the green lawn gradually reduced by the expanding perennial borders
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the greenhouse area
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honesty seeds just catching the light wonderfully
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Every great garden needs a Sanctuary, and the potting shed is most definitely Elizabeths. The vast majority of the plants in Salthill are propogated by Elizabeth in this shed (you can tell she spends quality time in here as it has the most wonderful fireplace in it!), a box full of Dahlia tubers await a rainy day perhaps. The potting shed if packed full of labels, string, cutters, pots all set in order, all purposeful, all part of something special....
Salthill Gardens is open to the public, from May through to September (full details on their website here)
I would recommend that you visit this garden at the start of the year, the middle and again at the end of the season. The array of Cottage garden perennials, unusual shrubs, old fashioned roses (all the walls are covered in rambling roses in the summer!) and trees are a must to be seen.....and for only 5 euro you'd be a fool not to call in and be inspired....as I write this I'm already planning my next trip down.....
Salthill Gardens is open to the public, from May through to September (full details on their website here)
I would recommend that you visit this garden at the start of the year, the middle and again at the end of the season. The array of Cottage garden perennials, unusual shrubs, old fashioned roses (all the walls are covered in rambling roses in the summer!) and trees are a must to be seen.....and for only 5 euro you'd be a fool not to call in and be inspired....as I write this I'm already planning my next trip down.....
just outside the potting she window...
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clumps of Heleborus doing their thing....what a view to have from your potting shed!
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