Scents of a supergarden

SHE has won RTÉ’s Supergarden competition, as well as a silver medal at Dublin Bloom with her innovative garden designs but when it comes to her own garden in Bunratty, Lisa McKnight admits “I just can’t find enough time”.

The past few months have certainly been a whirlwind of activity for Lisa, who qualified from UCD with a degree in landscape horticulture.

Speaking about her passion for garden design, she said, “I’ve always had an interest in art and having the combination of that and plants just won me over. I didn’t study art in college, I was dissuaded away from it by my parents with that old-fashioned idea that you will never get a job as an artist.

“They were encouraging me to go into science and this had just the right combination of what I could do in terms of expressing myself in art but through plants and garden design. I’m more into the design end, rather than the gardening itself. It’s a lovely profession, very rewarding and it’s so visual that I can only but love what I do.”

The self-employed mum of three set up a private practice in 1999, trading as LMK Landscape Consultants. Like many, the downturn in the economy had a massive effect on her business. But rather than let this get her down, Lisa decided to refocus, resulting in her decision to take part in the RTÉ show.

“I was involved in a lot of commercial landscape design and, of course, that was the luxury end of construction so I got quite hard hit with the recession. What was quite a comfortable business became one that just kept the doors open and the bills paid. Pretty much, I decided I needed to change the focus of the business. I got emails about the Supergarden show and I thought this was a great opportunity to see how I would get on in a domestic garden. Just to challenge myself and try something that was out of my comfort zone,” she explained.

For the show, she had to create a design for a back garden in Limerick in only four weeks on a budget of €5,000. “I knew if I was to do it, I wasn’t going to do a half-assed job. The approach I had was to try and design a garden with Irish materials, using Irish labour and local expertise. The workmanship would always have been very important to me. Obviously, I can design but I can’t lay paving,” she laughed.

Recalling working on the show, she said, “All of the personalities got on and everybody was working towards a common end. That was the focus the whole time. Even in the coldest weather, and some of the conditions were really atrocious, I’d be bringing out the biscuits and somebody else would be bringing out the hot chocolate. We all got on really well together.”

Her romantic garden was designed to appeal to the senses, with scented plants, mosaics, artistic panels, created by her sister-in-law Ruth Molloy, and a specially carved seat among its many features.

The garden wowed the judges, who named her the winner of the show, giving her the opportunity to recreate the garden at Dublin Bloom, the country’s premier garden festival.

“I was completely shocked when I found out I’d won the show. All along, I had no idea who my competitors were. You work away in a cocoon, not knowing what the standards were in any of the other gardens. On a whole other level, it was great to have put so much hard work into it and then to be given the opportunity to rebuild the garden in Bloom, which is the highest accolade in the country in terms of garden design. I was pitched against all the best garden designers in the country.”

Taking part in the garden festival meant a few changes were needed to Lisa’s initial design, with her garden now titled Scents and Sensibility.

“There were a set of rules I had to adhere to, the most important being that it had to be viewed from two sides, so I had to redesign one side. I no longer had the boundary that I did in Limerick, so I created a new one with an instant hedge. The planting had to be 10 times better. I was competing in Bloom so I couldn’t have small plants. One tree was brought from a nursery in the Midlands and it was around six and a half feet tall. I hand picked every plant that went into both gardens, so I suppose that gave me an edge.

“The scents side of the garden came from using a lot of scented foliage and sensibility because it is a very sensible layout. It takes a typical rectangular or square garden and stretches it in the middle, creating space and appearing bigger than it is by introducing vertical elements. The sensibility side is just me. I tend to be sensible by nature in terms of design, that form always follows function.”

Lisa’s designs yet again impressed, winning a coveted silver medal.

“It’s been a great confidence booster. The reception I got from the public at Bloom was absolutely outstanding. They were coming in from the gate and heading straight up to see the Supergarden. There were 10 to 12 people deep at some stages in the day.”

Following on from her success, Lisa is determined to return to the garden festival but this time, she is looking for gold. In the meantime, she is continuing to concentrate on her business and captilise on her recent successes.

“I’ve had an incredible response to the coverage both on television, at Bloom and locally.  I’m going to build on this with the business, giving a service to suit people’s budgets and with the help of God, employ some people,” she concluded.