Design

A small Irish suburban back garden in late spring, naturalistic planting in repeating groups with a sandstone path leading to a single weathered wooden bench under an ornamental tree, low stone wall along the boundary in soft afternoon light

Design9 min read

Your Own Show Garden: How to Steal the Best Ideas From Bord Bia Bloom 2026

Bord Bia Bloom 2026 wrapped up at the Phoenix Park with 20 show gardens, 11 gold medals and around 100,000 visitors. The principles that made those gardens work translate to a real back garden far better than most people realise. Here's what stood out, and how to actually use it at home.

A modest suburban back garden on a bright Saturday morning, half of it tidy and freshly edged, the other half scrappy and overgrown, showing the before-and-after potential of a single weekend

Design7 min read

How Would I Get My Garden From Drab to Fab?

Eight things we've found make a garden feel drab — and the small, weekend-doable moves that lift it. No grand redesign, no spending half your wages at the garden centre.

A well-layered small Dublin garden with sandstone paving, structured planting, and a timber pergola on a bright overcast day

Design8 min read

How to Design a Small Garden That Actually Works All Year

A practical framework for designing small outdoor spaces in Ireland — from reading your site honestly, to choosing plants that earn their place across four seasons. Before you buy anything.

A split view of a garden showing a neatly pointed stone patio on one side and a lush planted border on the other, mid-afternoon light

Design6 min read

Hard Ground, Soft Touch: Understanding What Your Garden Is Actually Made Of

Hard landscaping and soft landscaping are the two building blocks of every garden. Understanding the difference changes how you plan, budget, and sequence your project.

A beautifully layered small urban garden with diagonal paving, lush planting, and a focal point mirror on the far wall, photographed in warm evening light

Design7 min read

Making Small Gardens Feel Generous: Design Principles That Actually Work

A small garden doesn't have to feel small. The principles that make a compact space feel abundant are well established — and most of them cost nothing to apply.

An overgrown Irish suburban garden viewed from the back door, early morning light, full of potential

Design6 min read

Where Do You Actually Begin? A Practical Framework for Garden Redesign

Most garden redesigns stall before they start. Here's the framework we've found helps people cut through the overwhelm and make a real start.

An Irish suburban garden on an overcast morning, a ceramic mug resting on a low wall in the foreground, a flat featureless lawn stretching into the middle distance

Design7 min read

Landscape Paralysis: Why You Want a Beautiful Garden and Still Haven't Started

There's a name for the gap between the garden you're pinning at midnight and the one staring back at you on a Sunday morning. We call it Landscape Paralysis — and it's more common than moss on a north-facing wall.