General

Online garden centre

Our online gardening shop has now been open for the last two weeks. We had done a pilot test and with good feedback we have decided to open up the range of gardening tools, plants, sundries, gifts and seeds to the whole of Ireland. It seems a little unfair not to offer our wares beyond …

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Spring Alive

The Spring Alive project is a simple birdwatching survey that we can all take part in. All you have do is register your sightings of Swallows, Swifts, Cuckoos and Penguins(well it has been cold) through the online survey. The information that is collated is then used to look at bird migration patterns in Europe. The …

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Even greener…..potentially

I opened a second email yesterday from the Green Awards Ireland 2010 thinking that it was a duplicate of the one I received on friday in my sleepy state. On reading it properly today I am delighted to say The Secret Garden centre has also been shortlisted as a finalist for The Green Retailer catergory.

A horticultural holiday

Europe’s first horticultural theme park will be opening in April 2010 in Angers France, and its theme is purely plants and their role in daily life in an educating and fun manner. It sounds an interesting concept, when I suggested it at the breakfast table I certainly got strange looks however once I had the …

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The Green Awards 2010

It is wonderful to see that our strive to be a greener garden centre has been recognised as we have been shortlisted as a finalist in the above category. This award is for Small to Medium Size Enterprises that can demonstrate a ‘ground-up’ green strategy designed to minimise the impact of their business activity on …

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Doneraile Wildlife Park

As it is our last weekend off before we open, we decided to spend some time at the local and rather lovely Doneraile Wildlife Park. The gardens were landscaped in the early eighteenth century in the fashionable Capability Brown style. The illusion as you look down or even up at the house is that nature …

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Snow at The Secret Garden

Some images from a snowy Secret Garden…………..The Silver Birches and standing stones still beautiful when bare……… The childrens play area unusually quiet…………… Podocarpus Salignus well and truly covered………. A plumped up and preened Thrush……The rush at feed time……..Even covered in snow the place has character…….

The Apple Source Book

I received a delightful gift of the above book. It really is a treasure trove of apple knowledge and includes information on apple varieties and their origin, recipes from over fifty chefs, food writers and gardeners as well how to attract wildlife to your orchard. It really is the bible of all things apple and …

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A green Christmas

If you are looking for a great stocking filler this year consider ‘Going Green’ By Vivian Head. It has many easy to follow hints and tips for reducing your carbon footprint. There is a whole chapter on gardening so if you have someone who is considering switching from more traditional gardening methods to a greener …

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Location, location, location

I love looking at maps and recently found one which places us in one of Boherbue’s town lands. We fall into area 17 known as Aghaneenagh not an easy one to pronounce but a lovely area to live in.

Apple day

Yesterday we had our very successful ‘Apple Day’ here at The Secret Garden Centre. Our celebration of all things Apple was very well attended and the feedback was really positive. We had John McNamara of McNamara’s Nursery who with his wealth of experience was able to offer advice on the growing of apples. John also …

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Repak Recycling Week 09

Recycling conserves our valuable natural resourcesRecycling saves energyRecycling protects the environmentRecycling can save money With such good reasons there is no reason why people should not be recycling rather than adding to landfill or burning which seemed to be so common when we first came over. With recycling centres in place and us the lovely …

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Lovely leaf mould

As much as I love the autumn colours I am not a fan of picking them up however picking them means I can make FREE soil conditioner through making leaf mould. And with over 30 trees on our acre plenty of materials are at hand..Leaf mould is the result of letting leaves sit and decompose …

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Those dreaded wasps

At long last those pesky buggers seem to have gone for this year. With the opening of our new tea room last month and the abundance of wasps it didn’t make for a great combination. Fairly calm until they come near my ears and then the common sense approach goes out the window and the …

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Autumn colours

One of my favourite times of the year for the colours and the pleasure of crisp morning walks and the chance to kick piles of leaves.

National Organic Week

Well if you didn’t know it finishes tomorrow. It was actually National Organic Week between the 14th – 20th September 2009. Funded by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and co-ordinated by BordBia, National Organic Week aims to continue to raise consumer awareness of organicfood, how to recognise it when shopping and where to …

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