Horticulture Connected Spring Volume 3 Issue 1

HORTICULTURE CONNECTED

Spring 2016

News, Analysis and Trends in Landscape, Garden Retail & Edible Horticulture

CONTROL ISSUES

ARE THINGS REALLY PICKING UP?

WATER FEATURE

MARYANN HARRIS EXPLORES HOW DESIGN AND HORTICULTURE CAN MEDIATE FLOODING ISSUES

APPRENTICESHIP 2.0

WHY THE FUTURE OF HORTICULTURE LIES IN THE PAST

CONTENTS

Contents NEWS

02 HORTICULTURE NEWS

EVENTS 06 Horticulture Trade Events BORD BIA 07

All of the latest news, events and updates from Bord Bia

RETAIL 11

Liam Kelly explores the benefits of a covered plant sales area, and best-practice in design and location

13

GROWING MOMENTUM

Sandra Doran tracks the success and challenges of GroMór in 2015

NURSERY 14

THE HORTICULTURE INDUSTRY FORUM

Stiofán Nutty explains how fresh produce growers are uniting under the new body to benefit all

DESIGN

15 DESIGN AND BUILD OUTLOOK 2016 Thomas Crummy, Patricia Tyrell & Tim Austen 18 EBB & FLOW Patricia Tyrell reviews the hugely successful 20th anniversary design seminar

20 READY TO BLOOM Kerrie Gardiner explains how a number of new initiatives will help to make this year’s event the best yet

IN PICTURES 22

PHOTOS

GLDA Seminar, Rentes Trolley Fair, and other trade events

INTERVIEW

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30 DUBLIN - A CITY OF WETLANDS Maryann Harris explores how Dublin's flood issues can be mediated with good design and horticultural practice

34 SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES C olm Kenny explores the cost implications and opportunities of retrofitting sustainable urban drainage measures

INSIGHT

36 TACKLING IRELAND'S INVASIVES Dr Joe Caffrey explains how a new all-Ireland research initiative may help to reduce the impact of invasive

THE REAL COVER STORY species in Ireland

LANDSCAPE

38 REMEMBERING PETER ALLEY H orticulture Connected shares some memories from three of his closest industry colleagues

39 DUBLIN'S INVASIVE ACTION PLAN M aryann Harris shares Dublin City Council’s new action plan for dealing with invasive alien species

RESEARCH

40 INCREASING RESILIENCE IN IRISH FIELD HORTICULTURE

Dr Michael Gaffney shares the latest research and thinking on the value and use of compost derived from existing waste streams in Ireland

JOBS 42 Horticulture Jobs EDUCATION 43

APPRENTICESHIP 2.0

John Mulhern explains how the history of horticultural training may well define the future of the industry

44 LASTING EXPERIENCE

Donall Flanagan provides some useful advice on how to maximise your work experience this summer

SPORTS TURF

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46 PRECISION GREENKEEPING LOGISTICAL AESTHETICS

Barry Lupton talks with Ruth Monahan

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2016

Eamon Kealy taps into the latest technological advances

PHOTO BY IPOPBA

EDITORS LETTER

SIGNS OF LIFE

A

ttempts to unite the numerous and fractured sub-sectors of Irish horticulture for the benefit of all are too numerous to mention. Each was a nobel endeavour, and each an attempt to develop a collaborative working environment, where short-term competition and day-to-day issues could be set aside in order to achieve shared goals. Most, if not all, followed a familiar track: Initial enthusiasm and excitement, followed by a slow and quiet death. While unsuccessful in the short term, such endeavours did prepare the ground for collaboration.

From my limited perspective, this ground is starting to shows signs of sustainable life.

In the domain of education we have providers and commercial operators working together to develop apprenticeships in areas such as construction, retail and production. In fresh produce we have the Horticulture Industry Forum under Stiofan Nutty bringing together vegetable, mushroom, soft fruit and protect crop producers to collectively work on promotion, routes

HORTICULTURE CONNECTED

News, Analysis and Trends In Landscape & Amenity Horticulture

HORTICULTURE CONNECTED

Spring 2016

News, Analysis and Trends in Landscape, Garden Retail & Edible Horticulture

CONTROL ISSUES

ARE THINGS REALLY PICKING UP?

WATER FEATURE

MARYANN HARRIS EXPLORES HOW DESIGN AND HORTICULTURE CAN MEDIATE FLOODING ISSUES

APPRENTICESHIP 2.0

WHY THE FUTURE OF HORTICULTURE LIES IN THE PAST

20 The Cutlers 33/34 Parliament St Dublin 2 Ireland +353 (0)87 921 2044 www.horticulture.ie

EDITOR BARRY LUPTON

to market and supermarkets. The Irish Association of Landscape Industries continues to forge ahead with its work on the regulation of the landscape design and construction sectors. Having struggled under immense economic pressure in the last few years, the GLDA, ALCI and ILI are delivering on a range of initiatives that will benefit the whole sector. Garden retailers are collaborating on exciting initiatives such as GroMór. The first truly shared funding initiative undertaken by any horticulture sub-sector. I’m not sure if it’s new thinking being applied to old problems or old minds adopting new thinking.

Regardless, things are changing for the better. I just hope we don’t get too excited and distracted by the marginal increase in commercial activity. Let us not forget.

In this first issue of 2016 we bring you a vast array of insight, opinion, technical advice and perspectives from all corners of Irish horticulture. We bring you up to speed on a host of sector activities, follow up with good news on invasive plant species with Maryann Harris of Dublin City Council and Dr Joe Caffery of Invasbiosecurity and I speak to Ruth

Monahan, one of Ireland’s most dynamic and successful florists. With the recent flood waters only now receding, we explore opportunities in the hard and soft landscape for the wider horticulture sector, while retail consultant Liam Kelly examines the cost and benefits of covered sales areas. To capture if we really are over the worst of the recession we hear from three of Ireland’s most senior figures in the design and build sectors.

Also in this issue, Eamonn Kealy explores how technology is transforming contemporary greenkeeping, Donall Flanaghan sets out a simple guide for students to maximise their work experience, and Patricia Tyrell presents an engaging review of the recent GLDA design seminar. Entomologist and researcher, Michael Gaffney reports on findings on the nutrient values of composted municipal waste and Bloom Show Garden Manager Kerrie Gardener sets out an exciting stall for this year’s Bloom in the Park.

Sincere thanks to all contributors. If you have a story you think should be shared, drop me a line at editor@horticulture.ie ✽

News Editor & Advertising: Joseph Blair 087 921 2044 joseph@horticulture.ie Subscriptions: subscriptions@horticulture.ie Editor: Barry Lupton editor@horticulture.ie Creative Director: Tanya Gilsenan tanya@horticulture.ie Editorial Assistant: Natalie McGettigan Publishers: HortiTrends www.HortiTrends.ie joseph@hortitrends.ie

See Hortitrends.ie for Daily News Updates Cover image: Alekss Photos: Koraley Northen & Joseph Blair Printers: Turners Printing Earl Street, Longford.

Distribution: Readership of 10,000 across Ireland from Businesses and Professionals in the following Sectors: Landscape / Architects / Garden Retail / Florists / Nurseries / Greenkeepers / Sports Surfaces / Local Authorities / Edible Growers / Machinery / Education

Spring 2016 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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01 / NEWS

PHOTO: KORALEY NORTHEN

RIP KIERAN SKELLY OF K&M NURSERIES

NEW ‘GARDEN CAFÉ’ RADIO SHOW SEEKING A SPONSOR

The team at HC would like to pass on our condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of a well known nurseryman Kieran Skelly. Kieran was also the breeder of Potentilla 'Glamour Girl', which was launched at Glas 2013. A full Obituary will follow in the summer edition of HC. ✽

ITB HORTICULTURE NEWS UPDATE After the success at Bloom 2015, ITB horticulture lecturers and students will once again be collaborating on Fingal County Council’s garden entry for Bloom 2016. The syllabus at their horticulture department continues to adapt to the sectors needs with a new course module 'Health, Recreation and Green Infrastructure' being added to their industry offering. Prospective industry members and new students can meet with staff and tour the new horticulture facilities at their upcoming ‘Open Evening’ which takes place from 5-7pm on Thursday, April 14th. ✽

GLDA MEMBERS VISIT TULLY NURSERIES Over 20 Members of the GLDA recently visited the family-run nursery in Ballyboughal. The founder of the business, Martin Tully gave a talk about how the nursery has developed over the last 30 years. They also toured the production facilities and were shown an extensive range of perennials, multistem trees and shrubs grown specifically for the landscape sector. Also, on display were two new Prunus varieties, rotundifolia ‘Greenpeace’ and ‘Genolia’. ✽

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HORTICULTURE NEWS A new radio show ‘Garden Café’ is currently under development and seeking interested sponsors. Creator Eugene Higgins and producer Andrew Mangan of Castaway Media recently recorded the first demo episode. Eugene Higgins tells HC that 'Garden Café' was created and designed as a ‘Top Gear’ type of experience for gardeners. Informative to gardeners while also entertaining enough to retain the general listening public. It is being offered as a seasonal radio programme with perhaps two runs a year of 8 episodes.

Eugene says “This type of programme can be worked into a radio schedule with relative ease. The Garden Café team includes most importantly a non-gardener in our guest presenter Sile Seoige, who represents the audience who are sometimes bamboozled by too much latin based gardening talk.” The concept is currently being pitched to all the main national broadcasters and the production team would also ideally like to be bringing a sponsor to the table, which will help it secure a prime slot in the broadcasting schedule.

The ‘Garden Cafe’ team are Eugene Higgins, Marie Staunton and Peter Donegan.

Listen to the demo at www.horticulture.ie/garden-cafe. Interested sponsors can contact Eugene on 087 225 7310. ✽

GARDEN CAFÉ TEAM - (FROM LEFT) PETER DONEGAN, ANTHONY HEIJANGA (GUEST), MARIE STAUNTON, SILE SEOIGE, EUGENE HIGGINS

HAPPY 200TH BIRTHDAY TO THE RHSI On the 30th of September 2016 the Royal Horticultural Society of Ireland’s 200th birthday Gala will bring renowned gardeners Monty Don, Dan Hinkley and Roy Lancaster to speak at the RDS, Dublin 4. Chelsea Gold winning florist Jenny Murphy will also be demonstrating for floral art enthusiasts. Gardeners, active and armchair, whether members of the RHSI or not, are all welcome. The RHSI originated when a group of professional gardeners gathered in a Donnybrook tavern in September 1816 to drink beer and worry about ‘the art of gardening falling away and rapidly declining’. The modern RHSI has a more sanguine view of the future of Irish horticulture. With a mixed membership of hobby and professional gardeners, the organisation offers lectures, workshops, garden visits, overseas tours and hands-on volunteer gardening in the walled garden renovation project at Russborough, Co. Wicklow. To book tickets for the RHSI Gala on 30th September go to www.ticketmaster.ie ✽

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2016

01 / NEWS

ILI LANDSCAPE DESIGN AWARDS The winners of the ILI Landscape Awards 2015 were announced late last year at a reception in the Irish Architectural Archive in Merrion Square, hosted by Acting President, Tim Austen MILI. A superb collection of projects was entered across eight categories, demonstrating the scope and skills of Irish Landscape Institute members within a range of practice sectors.

The ILI Awards give recognition to exemplary landscape projects, and celebrate the contribution of landscape architects to the public good. And, as Tim Austen put it “the awards is also our chance to have a bit of fun, and to show off what we do.” Despite some difficult times in recent years, Irish Landscape architects continue to work on exceptional projects, and in many cases, fabulous projects have been achieved on low budgets, reflecting the creative adaptability of landscape architects.

Three new awards categories were launched in 2015: the Diane Nickels Memorial Award for Hand drawing, the Universal Design Award, and the ILI People's Choice Award. The People's Choice Award for Outdoor Spaces was introduced to give the public a chance to vote for their favourite landscape design projects, and to raise awareness of the work of landscape architects in their own streets, towns, parks and playgrounds.

Announcing the Winners: ●T he Award for Public Realm Design went to Northern

Ireland Landscape Practice The Paul Hogarth Co. for their Donegal Quay project in Belfast city centre. AECOM won a Highly Commended merit for their work on the Connswater Community Greenway. In the same category, commendations were received by Stephen Diamond Associates for Nenagh Town Park, Cunnane Stratton

Reynolds for Mardyke Gardens and Dún LaoghaireRathdown Co. Council Parks Department for their Raised Promenade project. ●T he Commercial & Institutional Design award was won by Stephen Diamond Associates for the Mater Misericordiae Hospital. ●T he winner of the award for Design for Landscape, Heritage & Conversation was Airfield Estate by Dermot Foley Landscape Architects. ●T here were joint winners in the Residential & Private Spaces category: Deirdre Walsh + Gavin Foy for The Pantry Garden and Digby Brady for Front Garden 30, Wellington Road. ●T he Liberties Greening Strategy, by Dublin City Council and ÁIT Place won Highly Commended in the Landscape, Urbanism & Planning category. ●T here were two Highly Commended awards in the Landscape Management, Policy & Research category: The Onshore Wind Farm Sector In Ireland by The Heritage Council, and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Green Infrastructure Strategy – Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Co. Council Parks Department. ●T he inaugural ILI People's Choice Award was won by Landscape Architect and ILI Vice-President Tim Austen for his work on the World War 1 Memorial at Woodenbridge, Co. Wicklow. Over 1200 votes were cast by members of the public, and the Memorial won first place from among twenty five landscape projects. ●T he inaugural Diane Nickels Award For Hand Drawing was won by Peter Hutchinson for Giant’s Park. ●T im Austen presented the ILI PRESIDENT’S AWARD to the Paul Hogarth Co. for their work on the Wild Atlantic Way ●T he reception closed with the presentation of the Outstanding Contribution To Landscape Architecture award jointly to Dr. Karen Foley & Desmond Fitzgerald. ✽

Spring 2016 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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01 / NEWS GARDEN SHOW IRELAND RETURNS TO ANTRIM CASTLE Antrim Castle Gardens will once again be abuzz as Allianz Garden Show Ireland returns to the beautiful venue for a three day festival of flowers, food and fun. With a renewed focus on gardens this year there will be more to entice and inspire every level of gardener. Show Patron Monty Don returns once again and is a big fan of the historic venue. The theme of the NI Year of Food & Drink 2016 runs throughout the Show with a strong focus on the edible element of gardens in all of the Garden Visuals on display.

This year’s event will showcase a stunning large feature garden which vows to engage and excite visitors. It is being designed by married duo Michael Evans and Rohanna Heyes.

The garden which will be the centre piece of the Show is entitled “Nourishing Tradition: from the Past, for the Future” and is based on the shape of the Brigid Cross. Rohanna told HC “We feel really fortunate to be given this project of designing and building a feature garden for this year’s Allianz Garden Show Ireland. In our garden, we celebrate the NI Year of Food and Drink 2016 with key edible plants and also by creating an emphasis on nourishment for the body and mind with symbolism throughout the garden. We hope to capture something of the ancient wildness of Northern Ireland and create an interactive space that is both fun as well as thought-provoking.”

GARDEN DESIGNERS ROHANNA HEYES AND MICHAEL EVANS PICTURED AT THE STUNNING ANTRIM CASTLE GARDENS WHERE THEY ARE CREATING A GARDEN ENTITLED “NOURISHING TRADITION: FROM THE PAST, FOR THE FUTURE” AT THE ALLIANZ GARDEN SHOW IRELAND 2016.

New to the Show this year are the “Cameo Gardens”, smaller in design these inspirational and achievable gardens are based on the theme of ‘It starts with a Pot’. Other highlights include the Antrim Garden Trail gardens which is made up of a series of gardens from members of the Antrim Garden Trail which include the beautiful Kilcoan Gardens, Antrim Castle Gardens, Ballyrobert Cottage Garden and the stunning Walled Gardens at Greenmount.

The 2016 Allianz Garden Show Ireland will run from 6th - 8th May at Antrim Castle Gardens and is open daily from 10am6pm with parking in town centre car parks and at Junction One. Adults are £10 (concession £8) and the event is FREE for children under 16. There is a reduced rate for online booking and for more information visit www.gardenshowireland.com. ✽

SUCCESS FOR NANGLE & NIESEN AT HOME AND ABROAD Nangle & Niesen have won a substantial contract to supply leading UK tree grower, Deepdale Trees. Based in Bedfordshire, they specialise in growing springringed trees for the domestic market. This new order sees the continuation of a relationship that began in 2012 and continues to flourish for the Cork-based company. On the home front, they have also been selected to supply trees to the new O’Flynn Construction site in Lucan, Co. Dublin The development called Rokeby Park, comprises over 70 detached and semidetached houses aimed at the upper end of the market with most houses going for in excess of €700k. The contract includes supplying trees for the entrance and the common areas as well as the front gardens and show houses. It also includes supplying over 90 large Carpinus betulus 'Fastigiata' for screening purposes at the rear of the development. Ronan Nangle told HC “We are really pleased with the level of new business that the company is winning in Ireland and especially Dublin, where we have not been as widely known as we would like to be. What we really want to see are designers and landscapers from across Ireland visiting the nursery to really see and experience the quality of our unique offering”. ✽

OPEN DAY & INDUSTRY TRAINING AT TEAGASC COLLEGE OF AMENITY HORTICULTURE The Teagasc College of Amenity Horticulture is continuing to expand its suite of courses which may suit people who are already working in the sector or who would like a taster of what a horticultural course feels like at the National Botanic Gardens. Recently they teamed up with ALCI to deliver a short training course for staff in the sector concentrating on planting techniques and plant identification. It was delivered by Chris Heavey in the College and was attended by 40 members of the association. The college is exploring further training options, with interested trade groups that will deal with specific topics of interest in relation to their business. College principal John Mulhearn told HC " We are committed to being both reactive and proactive to the ongoing training needs of the horticulture industry." Prospective new students and industry ALCI MEMBERS WHO RECENTLY ATTENDED A BESPOKE COURSE members can attend a 'Course & Careers' afternoon on Thursday, June 30th ON PLANTING TECHNIQUES AND PLANT ID at 1 pm. More at www.teagasc.ie/botanicgardens. ✽

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HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2016

01 / NEWS YOUNG HORTICULTURIST OF THE YEAR IRELAND FINAL 2016 The Chartered Institute of Horticulture (CIoH) Annual Young Horticulturist of the Year (YHoY) 2016 competition completed its local heats early on this year in all the horticultural colleges in the island of Ireland (North and South). About 220 budding horticulturists competed in the heats. The students with the highest scores went through to the Ireland final which was held on 25th of February in the fabulous Ardgillan Castle in Balbriggan.

The day-long event started off with a tour of the immaculately kept garden by the head gardener Dominica. A large crowd of family, friends and CIoH members came to support their star horticulturalists in the quiz. HC was there on the day. It was an excellent quiz with a clear winner, Francis Mulholland from CAFRE, Greenmount Campus, who took the lead in round three and retained it all the way. Second and third were Conor Gallinagh (UCD) and Ruta Makaraite (Teagasc College Dublin).

Francis Mulholland won a voucher for €200 (courtesy of Bord Bia), a fork and spade (courtesy of Bulldog) and the beautiful book ‘The Wildflowers of Ireland’ by Zoe Devlin. All contestants got a year's’ free subscription to Horticulture Connected as well as prize money from Bord Bia. Francis will represent Ireland in the CIoH Grand Final for the second time as he also won last year. The grand Final will be held this year at the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin in Dublin on Saturday, May 7th. Dr Paul Fitters who is instrumental in organising the event tells HC that “The Ireland Branch of the CIoH is very grateful for the continued support and sponsorship from Bord Bia. I also wanted to say a special thank you to Tom, Danielle, Cormac, Dominica and all the Ardgillan team for being so welcoming and helping us so professionally.”. ✽

SOUTHERN MACHINERY WINS REDLOUGH LANDSCAPES SUPPLY CONTRACT Redlough Landscapes recently took delivery of four 2016 Hustler Z Diesel Mowers supplied by Southern Machinery. The company will operate the machines in part, on behalf of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council and to also service an ever growing commercial grounds maintenance portfolio. Aaron Redmond tells HC “These machines are geared toward increased output and efficiency, providing our clients with a high quality and cost effective solution to their grounds maintenance needs. This latest delivery reinforces our annual commitment to investment in modern fleet and equipment across our grounds maintenance division.” It’s one of a string of recent sales to clients in the landscape sector for Southern Machinery’s Phillip Tutty. He told HC “We are now seeing a sustained growth in sales to commercial clients both large and small. The focus for all these buyers is to be able to minimise both the running and maintenance costs of their machinery.” Our Hustler offering is reaping the rewards due to these demands”. More at www.southernmachinery.ie. ✽

HC INSIGHT Name: Kerrie Gardiner Where do you live?

Rural Co. Galway What’s your profession?

Chartered Landscape Architect and I also have a diploma in Horticulture from An Grianan.

What's your role at Bloom?

Show Garden Manager and Horticulture Features Co-ordinator.

Why did you go for the role?

When I saw the Bloom Show Garden Manager position advertised, it caught my attention straight away; The role sounded challenging and demanded a wide

range of skills which I felt I could offer. As well as my background in landscape architecture I also have a horticultural qualification and some experience with show garden construction. I felt I would be well suited to the role so I applied!

What are you looking forward to most?

The buzz in the immediate run-up to the festival, when all the show gardens are being constructed and the teams are all pulling together to make it happen! I anticipate stress, but at the same time it’ll be a very exciting time.

Also, opening day will be fantastic!

How can the horticulture community get in touch?

Email me, kerrie.gardiner@bloominthepark.com. ✽

Spring 2016 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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EVENTS

2016 EVENTS DIARY ✽ 14 APRIL

ITB OPEN EVENING

DON’T MISS!

This open evening is a great opportunity for second-level students, mature students, guidance counsellors, teachers, parents/guardians and just about anyone who is interested in doing a course here in ITB. Venue: Institute of Technology Blanchardstown (ITB), Blanchardstown Road North, Dublin 15 www.itb.ie/StudyatITB ✽

✽ 27 - 28 APRIL IPSAM 2016 The 2016 Irish Plant Scientists' Association meeting retains the traditional collegial setting of previous IPSAMs, encouraging dialogue between disciplines, between new and established researchers and between the experimental and applied aspects of plant biology.

Venue: Trinity College Dublin, College Green, Dublin 2 www.tcd.ie/Botany/ipsam2016 ✽

✽ 06 - 08 MAY

DON’T MISS!

GARDEN SHOW IRELAND Allianz confirms its role as title sponsor of the 2016 Show which will be larger than ever before! New horticulture displays will be on show to wow visitors.

Embracing '2016 Northern Ireland Year of Food & Drink', Allianz Garden Show Ireland will be a showcase for all that's best in Northern Ireland's rich heritage of local produce.

Venue: Antrim Castle Gardens, Randalstown Road, Antrim BT41, Northern Ireland www.gardenshowireland.com ✽

✽ 07 MAY YOUNG HORTICULTURIST OF THE YEAR The Grand Final of the 2016 Chartered Institute of Horticulture Young Eight finalists will battle it out to become the Chartered Institute of Horticulture's Young Horticulturist of the Year and win the £2,500 Percy Thrower Travel Bursary provided by the Shropshire Horticultural Society.

Venue: National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin 9 www.botanicgardens.ie ✽

✽ 08 MAY RARE AND SPECIAL PLANT FAIR Plant Fair celebrating the RHSI bicentenary 10am to 5pm.

The RHSI garden will also be open to visitors Venue: Russborough House, Blessington, Wicklow www.rhsi.ie ✽

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EVENT PROMOTION Promote your event to a wide network of Horticulture businesses and professionals Inprint, Online & Social. Find out more at www.

HortiTrends.com/horticulturetradeshowevents

✽ 02 - 06 JUNE BLOOM IN THE PARK Bloom, which is organised by Bord Bia, will celebrate it’s 10th anniversary in 2016 and aims to promote the high standards found within the Irish food and horticultural sectors to both a national and international audience.

Venue: Phoenix Park, Dublin www.bloominthepark.com ✽

✽ 21 JUNE

NATURAL AND CONSTRUCTED WETLANDS CONFERENCE - JUNE 2016

Inaugural International Conference on Natural and Constructed Wetlands - Interactions between Scientists and Engineers Venue: National University of Ireland Galway (NUI), University Road, Galway, Ireland www.conference.ie/Conferences/index. asp?Conference=440

✽ 29 JUNE - 02 JULY

LANDSCAPE VALUES: PLACE AND PRAXIS

The Centre for Landscape Studies, National University of Ireland, Galway, in association with UNISCAPE, invites submissions from landscape researchers and practitioners interested in inter-disciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches, for an international conference Venue: (NUI) National University of Ireland Galway, University Road, Galway, Ireland www.conference.ie/Conferences/index. asp?Conference=448 ✽

✽ 30 JUNE

TEAGASC COLLEGE OF AMENITY HORTICULTURE OPEN EVENING

DON’T MISS!

The open day will include an introduction to the courses on offer, a chance to meet some of the lecturers and discuss content of the course. A tour of the college facilities will also take place. We recommend coming early and enjoying some of the botanical displays in the gardens.

Venue: Teagasc College of Amenity Horticulture, National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin 9 www.teagasc.ie/botanicgardens ✽

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2016

03 / BORD BIA

eZine We support

GROMόR

Bord Bia is delighted to be involved, once again, in supporting the GroMór gardening promotional campaign. With 66 REI Garden Centre Group members, and up to twenty INHSA nursery members all contributing and participating, added support is again welcomed from Westland Horticulture and Bord na Mona as sponsors. The nursery support for In association with Sponsored by the campaign is important as it provides a key link to www.gromor.ie the promotional activity in the retail outlets with local growers and plants which is reflected in the use of the campaign pot labels by the participating growers and the engaging point of sale material in store. This collaborative initiative aims to build on the awareness and impact of the campaign after its inaugural campaign in 2015.

This year the campaign will include a range of activities to support the objective of increasing footfall of younger, marginal gardeners to garden centres and consequently increase the consumption of plants. Sandra Doran of Retail Excellence Ireland provides an overview of the campaign in another section of this publication. Join the conversation on Facebook at www.facebook.com/gromorireland or tweet @Gro_M όr. ✽

EXPORT PERFORMANCE 2015 In January Bord Bia published its annual export performance and prospects report. It was another successful year for food, drink and horticulture exports reaching, a value of €10.8 billion, which was an increase of 3% on 2014 and the 6th year of consecutive growth in exports in 2015. The exports are now sold in more than 175 markets worldwide, with the UK identified as the most important market and a destination for 41% of the value of all the exports.

Horticulture exports comprise mainly of mushrooms and amenity crops. In 2015 the value of mushroom exports remained steady on the back of favourable exchange rates, despite reduced volumes to the UK. The UK is the key market for mushroom exports although some modest exports to the French, Netherlands and German market were recorded. The value of amenity horticulture crop exports was estimated to be €16m in 2015 which is an increase of over €1m on 2014. This include nursery stock €6.2m, Christmas Trees €5m, Cut Foliage €3.8m and flowers/bulbs at €1m. The UK market is the key market overall. ✽

RETAIL POTATO MARKET UPLIFT The National Potato Conference was held in Dublin in February at which the healthy attendance were given an update by Kantar Worldpanel on the current position of the retail potato market over the past year. It was encouraging to hear that for the first time in a number of years, both the value and volume of the market had grown. A key driver of these trends was an increase in the average shelf price for potatoes in store and the frequency of purchase. More shopping occasions (i.e. 34) to the shop fixture to purchase potatoes was a positive trend though the volume purchased on each occasion had not recovered yet to previous levels. The potato category was valued at €163m in 2015. Potatoes make up 74% of the volume purchased in the carbohydrate category, which is still an impressive position, despite the decrease in potato consumption in recent years. In 2015, a total of 8,374ha of potatoes were grown, producing 336,000 tons of potatoes with an estimated farm gate value of €76m.

The potato conference was organised by the IFA and Teagasc in association with Bord Bia. ✽

Spring 2016 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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03 / BORD BIA INCREDIBLE EDIBLES The Incredible Edibles school programme for 2016 was launched in January by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Simon Coveney, and Minister for Education and Skills Jan O’Sullivan. This is the eighth year that the programme is running.

The programme educates school children around the growing of fresh produce, its origin and how it contributes to a healthy and balanced diet. This year both the Department of Education and Department of Health have come on board as sponsors and have representatives on the project committee. The programme is coordinated by Agriaware and funded by Bord Bia and the fresh produce industry. A total of over 1,000 national schools have signed up to participate in the programme in 2016. The growing packs along with the instructional and educational supporting material is disseminated to the schools during March. Schools will be encouraged during the year to participate in the Incredible Edibles Healthy Eating Week (11th-17th May), visit the Incredible Edibles activity at Bloom in the Phoenix Park (2nd-6th June) and participate in National Strawberry Week (2nd-8th June). ✽

POTATO PROMOTION The three year EU and Industry funded potato promotion commenced last Autumn. The promotion has two key bursts of promotional activity on each of the 3 years (2015-2018) in October/November and June/July periods. The activity is focused on print & digital advertising, social media activity and PR. There will be ongoing PR and social media activity across the year. The total spend over the three years will be €1m in Ireland. Initial outcomes are positive with 35,000 visitors to the campaign website, 1m views of the campaign promotional video online (Ireland & GB), the campaign Facebook page with an average weekly reach of 75,000 and Twitter following increasing since the start of the campaign. An additional 40 new recipes have been developed for the campaign and uploaded to the campaign website.

Commissioned research by research company Public Knowledge (PK) will regularly survey a representative group of consumers in our target audience about the campaign and how it is influencing and changing in a positive manner their views and attitudes to potatoes and potato usage. In October 2015 the initial benchmark research survey was carried out and then a second survey was carried out in December 2015 following the campaign burst of activity in October and November 2015. While the campaign has only commenced recently the initial feedback from the consumer survey is positive, with 6% of them recalling the campaign. The survey also confirmed that the message being communicated was clear and relevant and presented in a manner that will positively influence consumers on their views towards potatoes in terms of health, versatility, being fat free and resulting in increased consumption. ✽

8

d fab.

“Fat-free an about me.”

But enough

There’s a whole world of exciting new quick ‘n’ easy potato dishes out there. They’re wonderfully healthy too.

Potatoes are naturally fat-free, salt-free and a source of potassium and fibre. For lots more midweek meal ideas like this tasty Thai Chicken & Potato Curry, visit potato.ie

FAT FREE

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2016

QUICK AND EASY

f

p

SOURCE OF FIBRE

SOURCE OF POTASSIUM

POTATOES MORE THAN A BIT ON THE SIDE

03 / BORD BIA BLOOM Bloom is ten years old this year and while it may not yet be getting the national coverage that another major birthday is getting currently that will change soon as we move beyond Easter and the summer beckons, with Bloom on the horizon.

Plans are well progressed and all involved with the show aim to make this a birthday to remember. A key theme for the show in 2016 is around sustainability and Origin Green, where Bord Bia will showcase in an interactive manner to the many visitors the meaning of Bord Bia’s flagship initiative and how consumers can engage with it. The food village will have a fresh look about it while a number of the gardens will have a distinctly international flavour to them. Tickets are already on sale so spread the word that the birthday invitations are out. Bord Bia seriously want to promote and encourage the sale of horticulture produce and plants through Bloom and are hoping in the tenth year anniversary to involve as many people as possible who are working and involved with the Industry. The interest across the various media channels is stronger than ever with print, radio and TV all set to feature strongly, so there will be a greater opportunity to leverage the media presence to promote gardening and the industry. If you wish to become involved or participate with Bloom in any way, please contact gary.graham@bordbia.ie. ✽

“JUST ADD MUSHROOMS” - PROMOTION IN UK & IRELAND Jeff Brazier, an English television presenter, reality TV star, life coach and former professional footballer, is the latest celebrity to front the ‘Just Add Mushrooms’ campaign, aimed at encouraging consumers in Ireland and the UK to cook more with fresh mushrooms. The final burst of activity in this three year campaign (2013- 2016) will take place in April.

Advertisements featuring Jeff will be appearing across Ireland and the UK in print and online media from the middle of April into May. As well as advertising, the campaign will also have four of Jeff’s own tailored mushroom recipes and photography for use online, in advertising and PR. There will be a media pack provided to journalists including recipes and press release to engage regional journalists. Extensive video content has been produced for social media.

The Just Add Mushrooms campaign has seen an increase in the volume of sales in the combined markets in its first two years of 4900 tonnes, 3700 tonnes in the UK and 1200 tonnes in Ireland. ✽

FOOD DUDES PROGRAMME The EU School Fruit and Vegetables Scheme is implemented in Ireland through the Food Dudes Programme. The programme is managed by Bord Bia and funded by the Department of Agriculture and the EU under the EU School Fruit and Vegetables Scheme. The Food Dudes Programme aims to increase sustained fruit and vegetable consumption amongst primary school children through the provision and repeated tasting of fruit and vegetables with the support of accompanying measures in the form of role models (Food Dudes Heroes) and small rewards (followed by a home phase where fruit and vegetables are supplied from home). The original Food Dudes Programme was completed in 2014, having reached 477,423 school children and 3127 schools (95% of all primary schools in Ireland). ✽

HORTICULTURE PRODUCTION & MARKET RESEARCH Bord Bia is carrying out a measure of the gardening market during 2016 to update current figures. The last measure carried out two years ago saw the value of the gardening market start to grow again after a number of years of decline. In 2014 the value of the gardening market was estimated at €631m. The research is being carried out by the research company Ipsos MRBI. A field vegetable census is currently being carried out as a joint initiative between the Department of Agriculture, Food & Marine and Bord Bia to get an up to date picture of the size and scale of the sector, including the area of crops produced nationally and the number of growers. In recent years there

has been consolidation within this sector resulting in a reduction in the number of growers. The output value of the field vegetable sector was estimated to be €61m in 2014. The last census was compiled in 2009 and the updated census will be available in early summer.

In 2016 Bord Bia will also be researching and measuring the labour situation within the horticulture industry, particularly at production level. This study will also include looking at labour above and below production level where there are associated activities e.g. compost production, preparing of fruit & veg, quality control, garden design, garden centre retail, etc. This study will be completed in the autumn. ✽

Spring 2016 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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THE REAL COVER STORY Retail consultant Liam Kelly explores the benefits of a covered plant sales area, and best-practice in design and location

WHAT A WINTER From last November to mid-February - as I’m writing this article - it’s hard to remember a day without rain. Incessant, wet days that wouldn’t encourage potential customers to look outside their back doors, let alone get out and garden in any significant way.

Whatever the impact that this rain had on plant sales during winter, and the knock-on effect for all those links sales from pots to compost, a period of continued rain such as that during the busy spring and summer periods could have – and has had in previous seasons – a catastrophic effect on all garden related sales. This thought should have many garden centres thinking about their plant areas and how to weather proof some of this space to make life a little easier on their customers and their plants. Even if you already have an area covered, it would be good to reassess the size, shape and layout of this space with a view to increasing and improving it.

Most garden centres have already taken the plunge into covering a portion of the sales area but some are still reluctant to do so. This is motivated by cost – admittedly a big factor – and also because many are still stuck in a traditional way of thinking … dreaming that they can endure in a way that garden centres did 30 years ago.

These garden centres will not survive, as without effective

covered sales space and more of a ‘draw’ by diversifying into food, gifts and homeware – or by setting up shop close to these businesses – they will die out when the last of the old fashioned gardeners pop their clogs.

But that’s a lecture for another article; for now let’s concentrate on the covered plant sales area.

THE WHY… So for those teetering on the edge of a decision to build or expand, let’s look at the benefits of having a covered sales area. These are in no particular order and I’m probably missing one or two! ●M ore comfortable for customers to shop ● Better protection for plant stock ● More enticing for the customer ● C an be lit in winter ● Better atmosphere ● Easy for staff to work in – Increased productivity ●E asier to create and maintain eye-catching displays ●L onger life for benching, staging and POS material ● E xtends the season for stocking certain products

and ranges ●S ides can be closed off in winter to create a climate

controlled area

Spring 2016 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

11

PHOTOS BY COSPV

04 / RETAIL

04 / RETAIL ●E asier to hang mood-setting banners and posters ●S afer for customers and staff. (No more poor lighting,

slippery surfaces.) ●M ore scope for link-selling of garden care, support,

containers, etc. with plants. ●C ompost can be incorporated under cover too, making

for improved sales due to dry bags and a clean, more saleable product.

As you can see, the list is extensive and there are more than just the obvious ones. It’s hard to see how it’s not a no-brainer for every garden centre really!

THE WHAT…

SO YOU’VE DECIDED YOU NEED SOME COVER NOW, BUT WHAT KIND OF STRUCTURE SHOULD YOU GO FOR? There are a few suppliers of bespoke covered structures in the country and each have their own designs, sizes and costs. They all have the similar basic shape of a hooped structure clad in a clear or semi-opaque material, and that appearance is important as it shouts ‘Garden Centre’ to the customer as they spot that familiar ‘look’ while out for a drive or just passing by. There are many more styles and structures available from the UK or the continent and these can look quite stylish and salubrious, albeit at a cost that will either suit your budget … or not!

The key thing is to get as much as possible of your outdoor sales area covered with whatever budget you have. Those with deep pockets and resources can go one route but those on a very tight budget might even go down a DIY route, which is possible, providing the structure is safe and its appearance and finish is in keeping with your style and existing buildings.

Height can be an issue, as you need it tall enough to be unobtrusive and airy but not so high as to be an eyesore or look out of place in its surroundings. The sides need to drop down a fair degree too, in order to prevent wind-blow rain from making some of the area unshoppable just when you need it most. Consider installing moving screens on the sides so that you can retreat into this area for the winter with a tighter, fuller looking stocking plan and design for the winter season.

Double or treble hooped structures are the best shape generally speaking, as they give more scope for customer flow and keep the rain and bad weather further away from the customer. They also give you excellent gable ends for externally visible signage, which can affect the orientation of the building and dictate where these valuable ends face.

There are many more factors of course including what material to use for the structure itself and what type of floor surface you need, but just to reiterate the important thing is to cover as much as possible of the sales area while leaving some outdoor space for the few categories of plants which don’t require cover such as trees and hedging.

THE WHERE… The position that many garden centres choose for the covered areas, and where they place their doors, often surprises me. (Almost as much as those centres who place

12

their restaurants at the front of the building, missing out on dragging potential customers right through the shop and past all those enticing products!)

The exit to the covered area should be as far away from the checkout and entrance/exit as possible in order to make the customer walk the whole length of the shop twice - both coming and going - exposing them to all those add-on garden care sales, as they make their way back to the checkouts.

Remember that you are trying to get your customer to walk every part of your store, while stopping them every now and again to pick up items from enticing displays or to avail of great offers in strategically placed dumpers.

In my simplified ‘Ideal Garden Centre’ layout you can see the optimum position for a covered plant area, and the exit into it, that lets you best exploit your layout to maximise the customer’s exposure to product, with the bedding plants and compost in the furthest point possible from the main door in order to drag the customer past enticing flowering shrubs, perennials, pots, etc.

BUT… Of course a covered area alone won’t be enough, as you need more than just plants to get customers into your business to start with, as already mentioned above. A restaurant, giftware, homeware, Christmas and a few other departments need to be combined into what any viable garden centre now offers in order to bring the customers in the front door. Only then can you reap the full benefits of this artificial climate you have created, which should entice, tempt and inspire the customer to purchase, and therefore into taking those tentative steps outside their back door to do what they haven’t done in a while... … to garden. ✽

LIAM KELLY is one of Ireland’s top garden retail consultants and garden centre designers.

He was general manager of one of the largest garden centres in the country, where he was instrumental in transforming it into a large lifestyle store. He established Retail Services & Solutions in 2007 and has since advised many garden centres, nurseries and hardware stores in Ireland. He has experienced every aspect of garden centre work from merchandising to sales, and purchasing to management. This combined with his problem solving ability, honesty and hands-on work ethic make him unique in his area. He can appreciate the nitty-gritty of the day-to-day running of a garden centre better than most, as he knows the products, mindset and ethos of the Irish garden retail sector.

Liam Kelly, Retail Services & Solutions, 118 Dolmen Gardens, Pollerton, Carlow. 086-822 1494 or 059-913 0176 lksolutions@eircom.net, www.lksolutions.blogspot.com

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2016

04 / RETAIL

GROWING MOMENTUM Sandra Doran of Retail Excellence Ireland, tracks the success and challenges of GroMór in 2015 and sets out plans for how the industry driven initiative will encourage Irish consumers to get growing in 2016

I

nitiated in 2015, GroMór is a nationwide campaign which aims to get the country growing, specifically focussing on younger generations.

The primary objective of GroMór is to outline the benefits of growing and to demystify the process and prove that with a little advice, it’s easy to get started.

GroMór has 66 Garden Centre and 20 Nursery members in 23 counties and a GroMór Centre with experts on hand to offer advice is never too far away.

Much was achieved during the inaugural year for GroMór.

In addition to reaching out to over 18,000 people at Bloom and to 100,000 Irish Independent readers, GroMór invested significantly in radio, digital and social media advertising, to create awareness of the movement on a large scale.

As with all above-the-line advertising, it is difficult to quantify its’ success in monetary terms. Participating Garden Centres fed back to the GroMór committee that whilst much awareness was achieved, extra footfall cannot be directly attributed to this advertising campaign.

With this feedback on board and with the continued support of Bord Bia, the GroMór committee set about creating an exciting schedule of events for 2016. Four Ambassadors have been appointed as the face and voice of GroMór. Jane McCorkall, Fiann O’Nuallain, Kevin Dennis and Ciaran Burke will each host ten demonstrations across the country throughout the season at 40 GroMór events in participating Garden Centres. In addition, they will promote these events on local and national radio and on social media channels.

Videos with the Ambassadors will be filmed with their “top tips” for growing based on four different themes to encompass different aspects of growing for the different seasons. These videos will be shared online and on www. gromor.ie and will help to achieve the GroMór objective of proving that growing can be easy and fun!

The GroMór website is being re-developed with additional functionality and clear calls to action, to direct consumers to the GroMór stores for events and to speak with experts for advice on how to get started.

In addition, participating centres will receive new point of sale with the evolved logo and hanging signs have been developed to highlight the growers and to encourage consumers to “buy Irish”.

James Byrne, Marketing Manager, Glanbia Country Life says “We’re really excited about GroMór this year. The

We Use local Specialist Growers To provide the Best for your Garden

Tim Schram

Jim O’Connor

Rory Rentes

SCHRAM PLANTS Specialist in Perennial and Herbaceous

O’CONNOR NURSERIES Specialist in Bedding

RENTES NURSERIES Specialist in Shrubs and Climbers

www.gromor.ie

ONE OF THE GROMÓR POS POSTERS BEING USED ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

new GroMór ambassadors are going to be travelling the country telling consumers about the health benefits of getting into your garden and growing. It’s fantastic to have such well known experts to front this year’s campaign.

The ambassador activity will complement one of the key messages of this year’s campaign; putting a face to the local growers who grow all the fantastic plants you see in your local garden centre and encouraging customers to buy local as much as possible. The new signage is fresh and engaging – we’re looking forward to seeing it all in place. All we need now is the weather!” ✽

SANDRA DORAN is a Group Manager with Retail Excellence Ireland (REI).

She can be contacted at 065 5846927 or sandra@retailexcellence.ie

Spring 2016 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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05 / NURSERY

THE HORTICULTURE INDUSTRY FORUM

Independant consultant and HIF Coordinator, Stiofán Nutty, explains how fresh produce growers are uniting under the new body to benefit all

T

he idea of forming an umbrella organisation for Irish Fresh Produce Growers was first mooted at a Teagasc Horticulture Stakeholders meeting in May 2014. The stakeholders came together to discuss a range of serious issues facing Irish growers. A series of follow-up meetings led to the founding of the Horticulture Industry Forum (HIF) with a committee of representatives from five sectors, Vegetables, Mushrooms, Soft Fruit, Top Fruit and Protected Crops.

Teagasc, Bord Bia and the IFA also joined the Forum as associate members. Bord Bia sponsored the initial establishment activities of the Forum and these are now being funded by members of the Forum.*.

Three priority areas were identified for improvement; a) growers relationships with supermarkets b) effective routes to market and c) increased promotion of Irish produce. A coordinator was appointed in January 2015 to work with grower representatives on the three priority areas. An Action Plan was compiled and approved by the HIF. This initially included the task of compiling statistics, data and information that are pertinent to the industry. This resource will be used as an information “well” to facilitate the Forum to make its PR case on various issues, provide material for promotional campaigns and populate a future HIF website.

During its consultation phase last spring the HIF made a presentation to the Food Wise 2025 committee and many HIF recommendations were included in the published Food Wise 2025 Strategy. The HIF also communicated with the Minister for Horticulture in relation to the challenges being experienced by Producer Organisations around the scheme criteria and maximising the drawdown of EU funds. A facilitator was appointed to help explore these matters and find resolutions to the issues being raised.

The below cost selling of fresh produce was identified as a major issue by the forum. As part of the Forum Action Plan, a document on “below cost selling” was compiled and used in discussions with government and opposition members before the election. The current low margins being earned by growers are unsustainable. Increasingly volatile weather is making growing ever more unpredictable and most commercial growers are now in their 50s and 60s with very few young entrants emerging. The HIF intends to meet the Minister of Agriculture and present to the Joint Committee on Agriculture immediately after the election to seek urgent action on the issue. In a recent HIF press release the current

14

forum Chairman Brian O’Reilly stated “Unless those remaining in production can secure a level of price for their produce that provides an adequate living and a capacity to re-invest in their businesses, even the remaining resilient growers will soon exit the market. Without urgent regulatory intervention by government, Ireland will become even more dependent on imported produce.”

The HIF has been working with the Department of Justice on a possible employment programme for refugees. Another Action Plan initiative being progressed currently involves a pilot procurement project and the HIF hopes to be in a position to offer a number of growers initially an opportunity to purchase certain types of packaging at a more competitive cost that they are achieving currently. If this initiative is successful it will be rolled out on a wider scale. In addition, the HIF is planning during 2016 to liaise with policy makers in the retail market to explore how the trading relationships between growers and retailers can be improved on a collaborative basis and made more sustainable in the long term. The HIF will continue to progress its Action Plan in the months ahead with an increasing emphasis on developing its PR mandate. *Ronnie Wilson (Monaghan Mushrooms)/John O’Shea (O’Shea Farms/Iverk Produce). ✽

STIOFÁN NUTTY has been involved in commercial horticulture for nearly 30 years. In that time he has built an expansive experience and knowledge base across the horticultural spectrum. He has owned and operated a nursery business, an awardwinning garden centre, worked extensively in education and television was appointed as Special Advisor to the Minister for Food and Horticulture Trevor Sargent.

In 2010 he was appointed as Special Advisor to the Minister for Sustainable Transport, Horticulture, Planning and Heritage, Ciaran Cuffe. In the past 3 years Stiofán has facilitated and moderated eight European conferences in Brussels. In 2015, he was appointed as Coordinator of the Horticulture Industry Forum.

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2016

DESIGN AND BUILD

OUTLOOK 2016

PHOTO BY SMSHOOT

06 /DESIGN

From conversations with people working in all aspects of the design and build sector, it would seem we have reason to be optimistic. Enquiries, sales and spend all seem to be on the up. In the words of one unnamed horticulture professional, ‘Remember the last time you asked, and I said I was really busy? Well now I’m actually busy, doing tangible stuff, and not just running about the place thinking I’m busy’. A tongue-in-cheek comment of course, but one which does capture a sense of what’s happening in horticulture-related businesses across the country. So are we right to be optimistic? Is that little bump in sales enquiries replicated across the country, across related horticulture sub-sectors? To gain a real insight, we asked a number of key industry figures to share their thoughts on the current trading environment, the opportunities and challenges they face and activities their representative bodies have planned for the year ahead.

THE CONTRACTING PERSPECTIVE Thomas Crummy, Chairperson of the ALCI and proprietor, Thomas J. Crummy Landscaping

I

am writing this the day before Election 2016, which is relevant, particularly for our West Coast members who have not yet felt the benefit of the alleged economic improvements. Our viability depends strongly on the type of government we elect and the way they manage “our projects”. Fine Gael and Labour have initiated some infrastructural development which has started but I fear quality landscapers such as ALCI members might not reap the

rewards unless the current plans are put into action and fast.

ALCI is a National Association of reputable landscape contractors. Initially I was going to report on what percentage turnover had improved among our members region by region, but most are reporting little or no improvement or a slight improvement from a very low base, other than the exception of Dublin where margins are still very tight but at least contractors are back at work. The general consensus is optimistic, the glass half full. We are all of the belief that there is work in the pipeline, but that it has not commenced or has not reached the “landscaping stage” just yet.

Competition in the Maintenance arena is still very strong. There is the suggestion that current rates are below sustainability levels when return on investment in mechanisation is taken into account. As always barriers of entry into the market are rock bottom. The power of buyers remains high which is also fuelling competition. The cost for clients switching between suppliers of landscape services is

Spring 2016 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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06 / DESIGN low and there appears to be little brand loyalty in the industry or ability to obtain a premium for higher service levels, with a few exceptions.

Those of us involved with public works have one core issue, which is the way our public contracts are being awarded, particularly some of the PPP projects. Main contractors have control over who they appoint as Landscape Contractors; this role had been taken away from the Landscape Architect.

Yes, I might sound like a broken record but something had to be done about this. Contractors are currently awarding on price rather than quality which has left a lot of ALCI members putting staff on short-time or short-term lay-off while rogue contractors are kept busy carrying out sub-standard work at prices way below what it would take to work to specification.

Contractors ordering 10-12cm trees where 20-25cm were specified, poorly finished grass areas, the list goes on.

There are reported changes afoot however which may have an influence on the Business environment in the “medium term” future:

a) H&S requirements of clients are getting more stringent and not all contractors will be able to achieve approvals

b) There are moves in the government's contract procurement processes to make a minimum of 40% of contract value quality driven. (MEAT) c) As the industry gets busier the value proposition for greater margin due to quality and service will increase. d) All clients, architects, now have to ensure that Architects and in-turn the Landscape Architects issue Compliance Certificates for their designed works.

Over the last number of years competitive advantage on tenders arose in the most part by “What you could leave our or get away with”. This measured amelioration of the power / significance of specification compliance will quickly change. Once professionals are required to sign their name to a document, stating that the works are substantially compliant with their issued specifications and drawings, they will make sure they actually are. A market becoming more aligned with the need for compliance and penalties for underperformance will benefit the better contractors in the industry i.e. ALCI members.

THE SHORT-TERM: ALCI is continuing to audit public works along with the back-up of IALI, but we are calling on the help of the public too, take a school project for example. If you are on the Board of Management or a landscape contractor with the “unsuccessful local bid” and you consider you are not getting what has been signed up to or poorly finished work, contact us. Where possible we will assist you to audit the site and give you a report which you can use to make sure you get what you are paying for before signing off on the job. Some of what we require includes a copy of the specification, up to date drawings and permission to enter the site. Our aim is to raise the standards in the industry, you can contact Ross by email, info@alci.ie or call him on 01-247 9037 with details. Thomas can be contacted at www.thomasjcrummy.com 0719663086, 086 8577750 and thomas@thomasjcrummy.com. ✽

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THE DESIGN ANGLE Patricia Tyrell, Landscape Architect, Garden Designer, Horticulturist and Chairwoman The Garden and Landscape Designers Association If we are to find some positivity in the last few years of recession, it is that it has been somewhat cathartic and as we are still struggling to emerge from that recession, that catharsis is still on-going. During the boom, quality in design and build was scarce on the ground. The availability of landscape work brought many new contractors and designers into the market, some with no qualifications or experience whatsoever. When the flow of cheap loans dried up there were a lot of tadpoles out there swimming in an ever shrinking pond, wriggling to the bottom for fear of being left high and dry; only those ahead of the curve likely to survive.

In a challenged market the survivors are those that stand out in some way – more skills, excellence in what they do, specialisation in a particular field. These early innovators will be up and gone and have found a nice cosy niche for themselves. Meanwhile those ‘playing it safe’ remain at the bottom hoping for rain, a risky strategy and the view from the bottom is a little depressing. This is the point we are at right now: we need to stop this race to the bottom!

As a designer one of the ways to stand out from the crowd is to become a member of the Garden and Landscape Designers Association. Your work is assessed by an independent body of assessors. In a profession where you are constantly learning and improving it is another step along this path, and the effort of putting together the required portfolio will be of benefit in building knowledge and professionalism and a higher profile.

The GLDA is celebrating its twentieth anniversary this year.

The recession has had its challenges for our organisation too, but that challenge has brought out the best in our members. The committee has become a strong team with everyone pitching in and working to their strengths. This teamwork was evident at our recent and extremely successful seminar Ebb & Flow on February 20th; well organised, well run and well attended and with a fascinating line-up of speakers from around the world.

We are stronger than we have ever been, and as chairperson, my chief aim for the year ahead is to build on that strength, raising the GLDA profile through talks, promotion and educating the public on the advantages of good design. I also aim to build up a body of information for our members, in particular to provide professional practice tools with which to conduct their business.

Last but by no means least, the environment and climate change is very high on our agenda. The choices made at design stage in a landscape or garden can have a huge influence on flooding, drainage, wildlife, etc. It is a subject that we would like to highlight more and provide some guidelines in this area.

As an organisation we look forward to the challenges ahead with enthusiasm. In thinking about this article I had discussions with many people in the industry but I leave you with these parting words from Paul Woods of Kilmurry Nurseries ‘The world is what you make it’. ✽

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2016

From informal discussions with colleagues at events and within the ILI Council, I understand that there has been a pick-up in work for private practices over the last twelve to eighteen months. This has allowed some practices to expand their workforces; this includes restoring positions that may have become part-time during the leaner years back up to full-time posts, as well as taking on some new staff. In addition, senior staff have started to see salary increases commensurate with their skills and experience, having suffered severe drops in salary and pay freezes for a fair number of years.

Work, generally, is available in such sectors as schools, health, housing, transport (cycleways and walkways), parks and playgrounds, commercial and mixed use developments.

The type of work becoming available is, loosely, commissioned in two ways. Firstly, developers are beginning to, once more, submit planning applications for development sites that may have remained dormant for the last number of years. Some of these sites have changed hands several times and are now being developed by new players in the market.

Landscape architects are involved in producing planning drawings, as part of development applications. Some local planning authorities specifically require a landscape architect to be involved. There is a possibility of follow-up tendering and on-site supervision of designs but this end of the market is not being readily offered at this stage, being primarily ordered at the developer’s behest. It is one of the goals of the ILI that landscape architects feature more widely in the staff of all local authorities (within parks and/or planning departments) and, where this is the case, it will more routinely lead to the specification of high quality design from landscape architecture professionals and consequently more work for the membership at source and at delivery. The ILI is seeking to encourage government to fill the long void Senior Parks Superintendent position within Dun Laoghaire Rathdown.

Secondly, local authorities have begun to implement landscape improvements associated with various initiatives that they are involved in, such as civic improvements, urban design and the development of new parks and play spaces.

Some of this work is issued directly by local authorities but much is via the e-tenders public procurement system. The current government procurement system is very detailed and in many cases does not seem to fit the bill when it comes to issuing well worked up landscape design tenders; there is quite some variation in the way these contracts are issued for tender between authorities. Huge demands are made of those tendering, involving many man-hours of work, with much information being sought that may not really have a bearing on a landscape architect's ability to actually undertake the work. It would be a goal of mine, through the ILI, to produce some standards for tendering to assist local authorities in procuring landscape architect's.

We have recently established a Parks Chamber within the ILI, with the express aim of giving greater credence and support to our members who operate in the areas of landscape management and as parks professionals within our various parks departments. It is hoped that this will reinvigorate this side of our membership to feel that they are strongly included in and have the support of the ILI.

PHOTO BY: KORALEY NORTHEN

06 / DESIGN

THE LANDSCAPE VIEW Tim Austen, Landscape Architect, Garden Designer and current Vice President (Acting) of The Landscape Institute

This matter is part of ongoing ILI initiatives to improve membership services and encourage new membership into the institute.

We continue to provide an ongoing series of high quality lectures and events, and have just had one of our most successful awards events. We will continue to lobby for the protection of our title, improvement of standards across the industry and to see the profession of landscape architecture attain greater national status with appointments at local authority and state level being an ongoing goal. We are also involved in a cross-body initiative, The Irish Association of Landscape Industries (IALI), with a number of industry partners to promote ethical, environmental and commercially sustainable practices in Ireland’s landscape sector. So, lots to keep us occupied, for which we are grateful to the continued support of our members, sponsors as well as industry and professional partners in other organisations and institutes. ✽ Teagasc 18.5cmx4

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eer in Horticulture...

A Ca r Situated in the National Botanic Gardens Glasnevin, the Teagasc College of Amenity Horticulture offers a range of courses in Horticulture. This wonderful setting provides the unique blend of the finest park setting in the capital coupled with the experience of the staff of the gardens and the Teagasc staff.

All students can avail of work experience in the Botanic Gardens as well as in parks around the city and other placements further afield.

Botanic graduates are leaders in the field of Horticulture and develop clear career pathways. Careers in landscape design and construction, parks,garden centres, fruit and vegetable production are all followed by the graduates.

Teagasc are proud to have new state of the art classrooms to support the learning of the next generation of Horticulturalists in the National Botanic Gardens. Careers and Course Information day:

Thursday March 2016 2.00 4.00pm in the college.

Thursday 10th 30th June 2016 @@ 1.00 to to 4.00pm in the college.

•QQI Level 5 Certificate in Horticulture •QQI Level 6 Advanced Certificate in Horticulture •QQI Level 7BSc in Horticulture in Partnership with WIT (WD097)

NEW Part time Component Awards at L5 and L6 Application procedure for Certificate and Component Award courses directly to the college (Closing date June 10th – check website for updates) Application for Degree course through CAO application process www.cao.ie Details on all courses can be found at www.teagasc.ie/botanicgardens or telephone: 01-8040201 or email botanic.college@teagasc.ie

National Development Plan 2007 - 2013

National Development Plan 2007 - 2013

Spring 2016 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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06 / DESIGN

PHOTO BY: CLIVE NICHOLS

EBB AND FLOW

Patricia Tyrell, Chairperson of the Garden and Landscape Designers Association, reviews the hugely successful 20th anniversary design seminar

T

he GLDA’s 20th Anniversary Seminar ‘Ebb & Flow’ promised to be the unmissable event of the year and it did not disappoint. This is the 20th year of the GLDA seminar and very appropriately, one of the most successful and thought provoking seminars held to date. A rare opportunity to get an insight into the global flow of ideas and influences in landscape design, past, present and future. Many very interesting areas were covered from the historical and cultural role of the garden in India, the part played by Chinese porcelain in influencing garden and landscape ideas; the influence of the Dutch through plant hunting and introductions, and surprisingly, through their production of delf. More recently the influence of the ‘Dutch wave’ or ‘New Perennial Movement’, the spread of the English garden style and a fascinating insight into a new and emerging style coming from the east, inspired by the past, but very much of the future.

Our first speaker was Cor van Gelderen from the Netherlands. The title of his talk ‘East travels West’ Cor is a fifth generation plantsman from Firma C. Esveld in Boskoop, Netherlands established in 1865 and one of the world’s great specialist nurseries, famous for its conifers, maples and other woody plants. Van Gelderen spoke in detail on a small number of species, yet his talk was fascinating, informative and most of all entertaining. He focused initially on Philipp Franz Von Sieboldt (1820-1865) and his introductions, brought from Japan in the 19th Century, specifically focusing on his introductions of Hydrangea and Camellia spps.

Sieboldt’s first introduction was Hydrangea macrophylla

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‘Otaksa’ named after his Japanese mistress (his wife was not happy!). Cor has 750 hydrangeas in his collection and has written a book on the subject, but considers them a little boring as they are a bit plump!

With an intimate knowledge of his subject van Gelderen brought us through his favourites and his ‘not so favourites’.

And then on to a subject very dear to his heart Acers of which he has built up a collection of 1000 different varieties.

Also a designer, his pictures suggested lovely combinations to take note of – Bamboo and Tetrapanax papyrifera for striking textural effect or a simple combination of Acers, Ferns and mosses. Some of his favourite maples were mentioned: A. ‘Beni-otome’, A. Inazuma and A. Westonbirt Red for its spectacular autumn colour.

The second talk of the day was Xiaowei Ma and Xiao Ying Xie. Their titles – ‘Western Influences on Modern Chinese Landscape Design’ and ‘Heartprint’ respectively Both landscape architects have their own practices in China, Xiaowei in Shanghai where he founded the AGER Group in 2001 and Xiao Ying in Beijing. Her practice is called View Unlimited. Their work is included in a recently published book ‘30:30 Landscape Architecture’, as is that of Mrs Xiao Ying Xie. The book features some of the best-known and most established landscape architects in the world as well as the best and brightest of the next generation of designers.

Xiaowei, very much on the theme of the seminar, commenced by taking us through a broad sweep of Chinese history and how the various shifts in dynasties and trade routes brought a strong Chinese influence to

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2016

06 / DESIGN

“Xiaowei told us that the largest landscape contracting business in China has 20,000 employees it gives some idea of the scope of the work being carried out here” the West and how through its trade in porcelain was more responsible for the idea of the Chinese garden in catching the imagination of Europe than trips made by explorers to China.

Xiao Ying then showed us some work from the more cutting edge practices in China including work by Kongjian Yu of Turenscape.

Following on from this Xiao Ying took us through some of her astonishingly beautiful work in Beijing and Shenzen using video as her presentation format.

This included a large park, housing, urban redevelopment projects. She spoke in Chinese that Xiaowei translated.

These were very visual and maybe the best way to describe her work is this excerpt from her description of a project in Shenzen.

“The landscape design approaches in this particular project are to maximize the utilities of limited green spaces via compound functions and to control the landscape vistas through effective sculpting of slopes. It is a subjective adaptation of the abstract metaphors from traditional Chinese landscape painting: “distance (pingyuan), depth (shen-yuan) and horizons (gao-yuan)”, multiple perspective views in one image.“ The scenes of her parks and public spaces being heavily used were a testament to the effectiveness of her approach to her work. When Xiaowei told us that the largest landscape contracting business in China has 20,000 employees it gives some idea of the scope of the work being carried out here.

After Lunch Aniket Bhagwat spoke.

His title : ‘Mending apparatuses; Gardens of the Future Past’ He is a third generation Landscape Architect with a large practice in Mumbai and Ahadmebad, Prabhakar Bhagwat Architects and Landscape Architects. He began with a look back at the origins of the garden in India and its significance. The earlier garden was deeply connected to the land and cultural ethos. The loss of this cultural

significance came about through the influence of British colonialism, bringing with it the ‘English Garden’ style.

“The earlier notion of garden got altered and transformed from the garden as a metaphysical and cultural room to the garden as the space “outdoor”. Somewhere we slowly but irrecoverably lost the idea of the garden as we knew it. The garden became a setting in which a built object was placed, divorced from each other.”

After setting the scene in part one, in part two he brought us through some of his projects, presented as short films with enchanting and exotic background music. Not only were people fascinated by the projects, they were also totally intrigued by the music with many asking for more information on it. In most of the projects, the garden and the architecture were both designed by the firm. The videos of each project were rich in detail, it left one wanting to see more; everything was questioned, everything lovingly detailed, and nothing left to chance.

Aniket finished with a poetic definition of what a garden is:

The garden is an apparatus By which to see self Shadows of self A future self, Or a self that may never exist; The garden is an apparatus By which to navigate the world Rhythms of life And cycles of death: Meanings of patience and piety The garden is an apparatus In which to enact life Its joys and sorrows Its whimsical madness And scholarly pursuits.

The garden is a rusty apparatus It’s time to mend it And make it the centre of our being Once more

Last to speak was Andrew Wilson of Wilson McWilliam Studios in the UK. Though a man with many talents from writing to teaching and design, his talk focused mainly on his show-gardens, first at Chelsea Flower Show where his cutting edge design combines with beautiful sweeps of perennial plantings; an influence from our dutch neighbours.

Andrews planting palette has changed over the years, when first starting off he would have used 95% woody plants now he uses 95% grasses/perennials.

From Chelsea he moved East to his first show-garden in Singapore, ‘Sacred Grove’ a visually striking garden on stilts, for which he won ‘Best in Show’.

He is about to embark on another garden for the 2016 Show in Singapore, 'Silence'; learning from 2014 the garden is more insular, using a core-ten steel screen and a Morse code message punched out of the steel.

As his studio embarks on more projects in the east he will no doubt be bringing with him western style influences, particularly in the area of planting design in which Andrew is a master.

The day was indeed a very special one, with much on which to reflect.

Particularly timely in Ireland as we struggle to find a distinct design language that is uniquely Irish and yet reflects the many influences that ‘Ebb and Flow’ to our shores. ✽

PATRICIA TYRRELL MGLDA is a landscape architect, garden designer and current Chairperson of the Garden and Landscape Design Association. She has worked extensively in the public and private domain, in education through lecturing at Blackrock Further Education Institute and is the recipient of numerous awards, including a Bloom Gold Medal and an Award of Merit from the Association of Landscape Contractors of Ireland. Visit www.living-landscapes.com to learn more about Patricia’s work.

Spring 2016 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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MOUNT VENUS: DESIGNER’S BACKYARD MARKS OLIVER SCHURMANN’S RETURN TO BLOOM. HAVING CREATED SOME OF THE EVENT’S MOST MEMORABLE GARDEN EXPECTATIONS WILL BE HIGH. KEY INDUSTRY EVENT OF THE TRADE CALENDAR.

READY TO With May just around the corner, Bloom Show Garden Manager, Kerrie Gardiner explains how a number of new initiatives will help to make this year’s event the best yet

J

oining the Bloom team last year was a fantastic feeling. The opportunity to work on such an important event in the Irish horticultural calendar is a real honour. I work closely with the Bord Bia team and there’s a real feeling that Bloom 2016 will be really special! One of the most satisfying things for me has been working with the team to develop new ideas as to how we might go about making the show even better than previous years. Here are some of the ideas we’ve come up with and are in the process of rolling out for Bloom 2016.

WORKSHOPS: In preparation for 2016 we have run a series of workshops for both show garden designers and nursery and floral pavilion exhibitors. In addition to our annual designer’s workshop held in the autumn we had a very well attended ‘How to plant

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your show garden’ workshop in February with key speakers including Bloom’s show garden head judge, Andrew Wilson and Bloom’s multi gold medal and best in category winner Jane McCorkell. Both speakers shared their own experience of designing and building show gardens, sharing tips which ranged from logistics and strategy - the importance of planning, large orders of plant stock, etc. – to the finer details such as factoring in time to allow plants to bed into the finished garden before the show opens. The planting workshop was a great success with lots of positive feedback from designers.

MENTORING: We’ve launched a mentoring programme whereby experienced garden designers from previous festivals will support new designers during their preparations for the

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2016

06 / DESIGN BLOOM’S NURSERY & FLORAL PAVILION This summer, Bloom’s Nursery & Floral Pavilion will host fifty different nurseries and florists from around Ireland all seeking to create wonderful floral exhibits using plants in BLOOM 2016 3D SKETCH: A VISUAL OF ALAN COFFEY AND ALAN their prime.

BATTERSBY’S SERENE SANCTUARY In early February we held a Nursery and Floral show. Be it advice on planting, sourcing Pavilion Workshop with key speakers materials or scheduling for the build, including Bloom’s Nursery & Floral the programme will allow newcomers Pavilion judges, Frances McDonald and to benefit from their mentor’s valuable Jim Buttress and multi-gold medal and experience and lessons they may have best in category winner Orla Woods. learned over the years. This unique support will help to make this year’s THE SHOW GARDENS festival one of the best!

This year’s Bloom Festival will include over 25 show gardens, often referred to as the jewel in the crown of the Bord Bia NEW PLANTING MEDAL: festival. The designers have continued Also new for 2016 will be the Best the tradition of repeatedly raising the bar Planting Medal within the show gardens. on previous years, to develop beautiful, To assist judging this award we have imaginative and thought provoking leading Dutch garden designer, author designs. The gardens will vary in size lecturer and nursery owner, Cor van from large, medium and small gardens, Gelderen. With his experience Cor each developed with a unique theme will provide a valuable addition to our and style to inspire those who wish to already stellar judging panel. create their own garden at home. Some show gardens already confirmed include OPPORTUNITY TO SELL “Serene Sanctuary”, “Bridge the Gap” PLANTS USED IN THE and “Sharing the Load” as well “The SHOW GARDENS: Designer’s Backyard”.

This year we are exploring the The design for “Bridge the Gap”, by possibilities of facilitating a plant sale Chicago Parks Department, features opportunity within the Plant Village for two large living sculptures that can be nurseries supporting the Bloom show seen as two sides of a bridge however gardens. This is a new opportunity for they do not connect. One side of the the suppliers to sell plants at Bloom bridge features planting known for without the commitment of taking an its Irish heritage and history while the entire stand.

other side of the bridge will have plants seen in Chicago and used throughout the Chicago Park District Conservatories. The two sides are separated by a negative space and in using two viewing areas to observe the structure, visitors will be able to see through the bridge and notice patrons viewing from the other side.

“Serene Sanctuary”, a medium sized show garden, by Alan Coffey in association with Alan Battersby of Ashbrook Landscaping, seeks to renew the adage of the garden as a sanctuary in creating a contemplative space as a retreat from busy lives or a meeting space for family and friends. Each area of the garden will provoke different emotional and sensory responses. The dominant structure within the garden will be a wooden pergola which allows the space to be enclosed.

In the small garden category “Sharing the Load” by Padraic Woods with St. John of God Hospital and Councillors Association of Ireland, will highlight mental health awareness in Ireland and the support available. The main structure within the garden is a seesaw depicting the highs and lows associated with mental health. Oliver Schurmann, who has previously won a gold medal and best in show at Bloom, will bring “The Designer’s Backyard”, a garden that is built for a designer who lives in a built-up, urban area. It is intended to provide habitats for various plant species and house materials and ornaments from other jobs, all while making the space appear larger than it is by creating a sunken area, a water cascade and vertical layers of plants. ✽

KERRIE GARDINER,

BLOOM 2016 PADRAIC WOODS: SHARING THE LOAD BY PADRAIC WOODS’ EXPLORES THE COMPLEX ISSUES OF MENTAL HEALTH IN IRELAND

Kerrie Gardiner CMLI BA (Hons) is a Galway based Landscape Architect who has worked on the design of commercial, public and private landscapes for over 12 years. She now divides her time between her successful design practice and her role as Bloom Show Garden Manager.

Spring 2016 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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07 / IN PICTURES PHOTOS: VINCENT MCMONAGLE PHOTOGRAPHY

GLDA SEMINAR Photos from the recent GLDA design Seminar Ebb and Flow. The event was the 20th seminar put on the the association and by all accounts was one of the best. Photo supplied by Vincent McMonagle Photography. Visit www.vmcmonagle.smugmug.com for more information.

DEIRDRE PRINCE & PATRICIA TYRRELL (GARDEN & LANDSCAPE DESIGNERS ASSOCIATION)

GARY FORAN (MGLDA)

DAVID SHORTALL FRAZER MCDONOGH (GARDEN DESIGNER) & GORDON LEDBETTER (WATER GARDEN SPECIALISTS)

MICHAEL O'REILLY (GARDEN DESIGNER) AND MONICA ALVAREZ (DESIGN TUTOR)

EAMON HENDERSON (PROGARDEN.IE) AND THOMAS CURTIS (KILSARAN)

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VERNEY NAYLOR, SUSAN MAXWELL & ANGELA BINCHY (GARDEN AND LANDSCAPE DESIGNERS)

MARTIN BRADY (GARDEN DESIGNER)

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2016

COR VAN GELDEREN & ANDREW WILSON (GARDEN DESIGNERS)

HELEN ROCK (WRITER AND PLANTSWOMAN)

BTME BIGGA Turf Management Exhibition (BTME) took place in Harrogate this February. The leading UK for greenkeepers was well represented by Irish visitors to the show. The event has a big focus on continuing education for the sector, with seminars being held throughout the week.

Of note for HC at the event was the increasing number of robotic grass machinery exhibitors.

PHOTOS: JOSEPH BLAIR

07 / IN PICTURES

JIM KILLORAN (CROPCARE), NOEL WALSH & JER DOLAN (WHITES AMENITY)

JIM HOLDEN & PAT GALAVAN WITH THE TURFCARE TEAM

IAN MC CLEMENTS (SPORTS TURF RESEARCH INSTITUTE), COLMAN WARDE (ICL) & MARK HARRIS (HARRIS TURF)

EOGHAN BUCKLEY (CHARLEVILLE GOLF CLUB), COLMAN WARDE (ICL) & JOHN MCMAHON (BALLYNEETY GOLF CLUB)

TREVOR PRESTAGE (N.A.D.)

YOUNG HORTICULTURIST OF THE YEAR IRELAND FINALS In preparation for the upcoming UK finals being held in Dublin in May, the regional Ireland heats took place in Ardgillen Castle on Thursday 15th of February last. There was a large turnout from colleges across Ireland to support their classmates who made it this far. The questions were not for the faint hearted!

PAT LEONARD (RETIRED LECTURER TEAGASC) & TOM MOORE (UCD)

FRANCIS MULHOLLAND (WINNER OF THE IRELAND REGIONAL FINAL OF THE CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF HORTICULTURE; YOUNG HORTICULTURIST OF THE YEAR 2016)

MICHAL SLAWSKI (BORD BIA), DR OWEN DOYLE (CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF HORTICULTURE) & DR PAUL FITTERS (TEAGASC)

PAUL CAMFIELD, COLIN WARNOCK, MO GARNET (B2B LINKS)

DR. MARY FORREST (UCD), MICHAEL HAGAN (ITB) & JOSEPH CROKE (CIT)

Spring 2016 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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07 / IN PICTURES

IHNSA TROLLEY FAIR The first trolley fair of 2016 was held at Schram Plants and turned out to be a busy day for all. The positivity of garden retailers and growers was evident to see. Taking the event out to nurseries has been well received by buyers and grower alike. Growers and retailers were also given a presentation on plans for the 'Gromόr' promotional campaign for the coming year.

MICHELLE FLANNERY (BUSY BEE GARDEN CENTRE), NUALA YOUNG (YOUNG NURSERIES) & MARY SKELLY (KILCORAN GARDEN CENTRE)

CHRISTINA MCKENNA, LOUISE MCLOUGHLIN & CAOIMHE GLEESON (EVENTHAUS)

JENNY SCHRAM, TIM SCHRAM & PATRICK BEEGAN (SCHRAM PLANTS)

NAOMI ROCHE (TULLY NURSERIES), CAROL MARKS (BORD BIA) & NIAMH TULLY (TULLY NURSERIES)

BRIAN MC DONALD (O'CONNOR NURSERIES)

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ELAINE FARRELL (IFA) & KIERAN DUNNE (L&K DUNNE NURSERIES)

PATRICIA & PETER STAM (STAM'S BAMBOO NURSERY)

FRED TOWNSEND (TEAGASC), JOHN MCNAMARA & PHILIP MOREAU (GLENBROOK NURSERIES)

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2016

COLIN CAMPBELL (CAMPBELL PLANTS) & WIET RENTES (RENTES PLANTS)

EAMONN WALL (ARBORETIUM)

CARL JONES & THOMAS SMYTH (JONES GARDEN CENTRE)

07 / IN PICTURES

There was a large turnout of garden retailers, landscape designers, and local authority personnel at this popular trade plant show, that has built a formidable reputation for quality and the extensive range of plants on offer. Rather than choosing to downsize the show during the recession, they continued to make it bigger and better. Now in its 10th year, the effort that the family and team at Rentes put into this event is beginning to pay dividends.

LUCY BRENNAN (PARKS FOREPERSON SLIGO COUNTY COUNCIL)

PHOTOS: JOSEPH BLAIR

RENTES TROLLEY FAIR

BRYAN RENTES (RENTES PLANTS) & MICHAEL O'REILLY (THE GARDEN DESIGN SHOP)

JONATHON JACKSON, DAVID PORTER, JOE MC CANDLESS, MALCOLM BOWMAN & MARTIN MORGAN (SOUTHERN HEALTH CARE TRUST NI)

MICHAEL O'LOUGHLIN & DANIELLE HENNESSY (REDMONDS GARDEN CENTRE)

MATTHEW LOHAN (WOODSTOCK NURSERIES)

DEIRDRE CAWLEY & KEVIN KANE (KANE'S GARDEN CENTRE) WITH WEIT RENTES (RENTES GARDEN CENTRE)

ILI LECTURE

- REPRESENTATION AND DRAWING FOR LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS The informative one-hour lecture given by Professor Sabrina Wilk examined current digital visualizations as they are now produced in landscape offices worldwide. The talk also reviewed the reasons leading to today’s graphic uniformity and the resurgence of the atmospheric landscape view.

DIGBY BRADY (LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT) & PROF. DR. SABRINA WILK

DEIRDRE PRINCE & PATRICIA TYRRELL (GARDEN & LANDSCAPE DESIGNERS ASSOCIATION)

Spring 2016 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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08 / INTERVIEW

BARRY LUPTON INTERVIEWS RUTH MONAHAN

LOGISTICAL AESTHETICS

O

perating a successful horticulture business is both an art and a science.

This is no better represented than in the field of floristry, a highly skilled profession that draws together aesthetics, artistry, plant knowledge, retailing, project management and everything else needed to operate a sales business.

Floristry is a sector which has grown and transformed over the last twenty years, with supply being consolidated and points of sales growing exponentially.

These factors, and others, have put enormous pressure on independent florists, forcing many out of business and others to adapt. Those who adapted sought opportunity in new markets, creating niches, brands and high value products and services. One of the most successful of Ireland’s independent florists is Ruth Monahan, managing director of Appassionata Flowers. A thriving Dublin-based florist with a retail shop on Drury Street and a floral studio on South Cumberland Street. Established in 2004, the company now employs 15 people, providing a wide range of services for events, hotels, restaurants and corporate clients. I was delighted to talk with Ruth to gain insight into her drive, Appassionata and her views on the sector. ✽

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HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2016

08 / INTERVIEW What was the genesis of your career in floristry?

I was very influenced by my granny in Sligo who has the most gorgeous garden created from cuttings, she is 97 and still can be found amongst her Astible. But I also was very into arts and crafts and I suppose merged my love of flowers and plants with the handcraft side of it all. I worked in television in my 20’s but on turning 30 I decided to jump 2 feet in and signed up for flower school with the aim of becoming a creative florist and use flowers as a textile to make beautiful things.

How did you go about gaining and perfecting your floristry skills?

I attended the McQueens Flower School intensive course in London and worked with them for a year before coming home. I learned so much from them as their flower work spans so many areas from huge scale weddings to lots of creative events and of course working in a flower shop. I found the florists there so inspirational and my curious self made sure that I learned each technique fully so that I could apply it to any idea that I would have for anything floral.

What were the most significant challenges you faced getting the business established?

I started the business from my kitchen and found it difficult to get an overdraft even, as the bank manager scoffed at the idea behind Appassionata. Luckily our local bank manager in Sligo was much more receptive. I think that because floristry is seen as a trade, as a business, you can’t get funding with the LEO’s (Local Enterprise Offices) and more plus our VAT rate is too high at 13.5% also. This VAT rate means that our flowers are much more expensive than those on mainland Europe, I think that if we were on the 9% rate, we really could have a larger national industry in flower growing. This would benefit Irish growers, sellers and consumers. As an example, if flowers were better value for consumers, it would be more culturally acceptable for everyone here to buy flowers along with your bread and milk as the French do. It would be wonderful if Irish farmers were encouraged to diversify from food to flower production.

The other significant challenge would be that you don’t have the luxury of a fully stocked flower market with a diverse choice of flowers hence when we started, we had to try and find the good Dutch suppliers who at the time were few in the country. Thankfully we have great relationships with the Dutch market and some Irish growers but I do wish that the Smithfield market flower companies had been nurtured so that it could still be a viable way to buy your flowers plus it would save on stress when those last minute large jobs come through.

How have you evolved the business since you first opened?

We constantly evolve our business to suit the demands of the time. At the time of the inception of Appassionata, Ireland was in the economic boom but then as I had my first child, the market collapsed in 2009 and obviously flowers were a tertiary spend so we were the first extra spend to be cut from any company. At the time we unfortunately had to let people go and really work hard at making our margins work. We look at everything month to month as all of our various business

areas within Appassionata oscillate during the rollercoaster of a year in terms of busyiness. We started as a small shop near Sandymount, then expanded to a studio setup below Merrion Square and added our flower shop on Drury Street a year later. Thankfully both locations are busy and filled with beautiful flowers and our fantastic team.

Low wages and low profits are synonymous with commercial horticulture. How does your experience of floristry compare?

Unfortunately, floristry is no different to commercial horticulture with regard to wages and profits.

What are the primary day-to-day challenges your business faces?

The cold and labour intensity are definitely difficult as a combination during the winter. We work long hours so it is important to me that my team are looked after in terms of wellness. Again supply is an issue in Ireland as we don’t have the luxury of a London florist by being able to restock early every morning but instead are dependent on deliveries.

A flower business is about making beautiful things but the background of cold environs and lots of delivery and time logistics not to mention bubble wrap to make sure that everything that we make reaches its destination in perfect condition and ready for the home, venue, table it belongs to.

Actually I would think that our primary challenge is logistics.

Sometimes I think it’s better to think of us as a logistics company that happen to sell beautiful things.

What level of time commitment do you give to the business?

In terms of time, I have just finished the madness of having two major Hallmark seasons so close together on top of a busy event season so work hours have been long. I work mostly in the studio full days during the week and am in our shop as much as possible. Weekend work is also there depending on time of year and commitments in the diary.

I have two small children so I have to fit work around their busy schedules but I am lucky to have such a talented and committed team who are the backbone of our business.

Can you describe your typical working day?

We are unusual in our setup. We are a creative floristry business AND have two business properties, which require different forms of floristry and skills but use the same team to run between both.

We have a physical front to the business with our shop on Drury Street, a pretty shop at 29 Drury Street a boutique shopping street in Dublin 2 filled with stylish blooms, plants and more.

But then we are unique in that we have a studio below Merrion Square where most of our flower magic happens and indeed 80% of our work is made. We run a flower school that is especially busy at Christmas and we have an online shop too.

Our days vary greatly depending on the particular day. We start at 7 a.m. in the studio on Cumberland Street South, We work dynamic days built on many deadlines where things can change at the buzz of the phone; flexibility and calm are paramount, combined with an ability to adapt floristry style by the hour.

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08 / INTERVIEW

“Our salal and eucalyptus come from Kerry, but are exported to Holland and then back to us” Our clients vary from corporate to domestic and all expect a high quality standard of product and service.

We are like the larks, our deliveries come from Holland on a daily basis, we start at 7 a.m. and work till late afternoon. Our days can look chilled at the start with only the scheduled jobs on the board but then everyone else's work day starts and the day can go bellyup.

The retail floristry sector is often seen as being quite fragmented, with poor levels of communication, networking and collaboration on shared issues. How do you think this could be addressed?

I think that there should be more communication, networking and collaboration between floristry businesses. I believe that the fundamental problem is that floristry is labour intensive and exhausting though creative work and that people are not going to meet at night when they have to be up early each day.

I think that there is too much reliance on staying within a relay system style of floristry and that we need an association that inspires florists to be passionate about the flowers that they can use, to be more adventurous in the flowers that they buy and to enjoy the creative process – all combined, these will work to please customers more. Trends have changed so much and flowers are so much an extension of a home environment that we as florists are responsible in supplying our customers with the best and most beautiful flowers and floristry that we can. As florists we need to move on from the more traditional static styles and create pieces that really show off each flower's own beauty, to buy in all the new varieties of fillers that cost the same as the more traditional ones and really create more passion for florists and consumers here.

How much of the plant material you use is grown in Ireland?

We try and use as much as we can – ironically our salal and eucalyptus come from Kerry but are exported to Holland and then back to us. We will have shamrock coming this week from Waterford and have our weekly daffodil supply from there too for the season. We would buy probably 10% of our produce from Irish growers and this is not due to a lack of trying, but to the lack of growers in our country and this is a shame. I do believe that more demand from florists would create more producers.

Given the potential for growing in Ireland, why do you think the level of Irish produce is so low?

From an outside point of view, I would think that it is down to the fact that there is fundamentally little support for Irish flower growers. Everything has become about Irish food but the flower growing industry has been ignored. I know that the Dutch infrastructure can seem megalithic but if you look at key food products, even butter, I think that if it was actually looked at, our climate, environment and soil could grow the most beautiful flowers and foliage for both domestic and international markets. There has been a big movement in Britain to recognize the British flower industry which involves the florists in the campaign and it would be great to have something similar here.

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What opportunities are there for existing and potential Irish growers to supply florists?

I think that we should all watch Jean de Florette again and be inspired to change around farming ideas about planting and have support to grow flowers, roses and more.

What advice would you give to growers wanting to explore these opportunities further?

I think that there are lots of opportunities for Irish growers to supply florists. But I think it would be great to open up a conversation so that growers can see what florists would love them to supply and florists could find out more about the feasibility of growing different flowers here for them to use.

I would urge potential growers to research with florists what would be their best sellers and what would be economically viable to grow. Don’t assume that it is has to be flowers at all as foliage demand is enormous. If you’ve ever seen the fern farms in Central America you get a sense of how large the market can be. Consumers also want to have more Irish grown flowers and they will pay more for that USP. How do you see your business evolving over the next few years?

We are trying to get better everyday at what we do, we have a wonderful team of 15 with fantastic talents and are planning a few different ways for everyone in Ireland to have more Appassionata flowers in their lives.

Floristry really is an art and a science. What is your opinion of the current approach to training florists in Ireland?

I think that the training is great from a technical point of view but we meet so many people who want to be florists but who have no flower or plant knowledge nor have they been exposed to design elements that correspond to what is happening in interiors and more. The passion for creating wonderful work using flowers really needs to be ignited and encouraged so that we can have better floristry here and become more renowned for our flower work. I think the FETAC system could be updated and moved on in terms of floristry style and trends, as florists are not learning how to work with vessels or flowers and the lack of communication between the floristry courses and working florists is definitely an area to examine. This would result in better trained florists who are ready to enter the workplace fully fledged in both their creative and technical selves.

What advice would you give to someone considering floristry as a career path?

I know that we receive lots of CVs from aspiring florists who would love to work in the area. Being a florist is a passionate vocation which requires lots of long hours and hard work. It is so rewarding as you get to work with such beauty. Internships are great but difficult to get as busy florists don’t have the time to train but keep trying, keep practicing at home and build up your flower knowledge, keep images of your work as opportunities do arise and it really is a wonderful job to have in your life. ✽

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09 / LANDSCAPE

DUBLIN

-A CITY OF WETLANDS Maryann Harris, Senior Executive Parks Superintendent, Dublin City Council presents a number of recent landscape projects which place horticulture at the forefront of flood mediation

W

ater features have been a major component of public parks design in Dublin for centuries. One of the earliest public promenades in Dublin was at the basin of the Grand Canal, where terraced walks provided a fashionable setting for the upper classes.

Some of the water features in Dublin’s parks had other uses historically, such as the basin in Blessington Street Park, which was built around 1803 to provide a reservoir for the city water supply which until then was sourced from Lough Owel in Co. Westmeath. From the date of the completion of the Vartry Reservoir system in the 1860s, Blessington Street Basin's water was then used exclusively to supply distilleries in Bow Street (Jamesons) and John's Lane (Powers) and this continued until 1970 and 1976 respectively. Many older parks have formal ponds, such as St. Anne’s and Herbert Parks, and these would have been designed for contemplation and stocked with ornamental fish and exotic plants. Natural wetlands were not considered to be attractive or desirable.

Dublin City is situated on a Bay which would have originally been surrounded by wetlands and marshes supplied with fresh water from estuaries of the Liffey, Tolka, Santry and a number of smaller streams. As the City grew, and particularly in the 18th and 19th Centuries, these marshes were gradually

filled in (mainly with the city’s refuse) and developed to expand the port of Dublin. The growth of Ringsend, Irishtown and Sandymount, in particular, was due to infill of natural wetlands. Ringsend Park and Irishtown Nature Park were both created over landfills from the 19th and 20th Centuries.

Today, the entire Bay is developed with very few natural edges remaining. Most of the Bay is designated as a European Union Special Protection Area for migratory birds which rely upon the rich habitats for feeding after their winter journeys from Arctic Canada, Iceland, Greenland, Scandinavia and Russia. There are also two RAMSAR sites in Dublin Bay, which have given further recognition to these important wetlands.

Although natural wetlands were not valued in the past and there was a preference for formal water features in parks, views have changed over the past fifteen years. The idea of creating wetlands in parks in Dublin City is now driven by policies of the City Development Plan and also green infrastructure strategies of the Regional Planning Guidelines.

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The turning point has arisen in part because of three factors:

1. Recognition of global biodiversity loss internationally and by the EU following the signing of the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) at the Rio Summit in 1992 The first factor resulted in Ireland being a party in ratifying the Convention, which obliged us to produce a National Biodiversity Action Plan. County Biodiversity Action Plans followed subsequently and now each local authority and government body is obliged to dedicate resources to protection of biodiversity. These plans mandate for provision of habitats which include wetlands as they are some of the habitats of highest biodiversity in Ireland. In urban areas such as Dublin City, the lack of available undeveloped land has put greater demands on public parks to perform ecosystem functions and provide ecological structures.

2. Increased frequency of flooding of property in Dublin City due to rapid high-density development in river catchments (a.k.a. Celtic Tiger) combined with global and local climate change effects Although the records of Dublin Corporation show that flooding of the city’s rivers had caused loss of life and property in the past, the frequency of severe storms has increased in recent years. This has caused the City Council to revise its engineering criteria for new build and to ensure flood prevention in accordance with the EU Floods Directive and the City Development Plan. Higher engineering standards bring higher costs, and so ‘soft engineering solutions’ are seen as a preferable option. Increasingly, the City Council is requiring reduced or even 0% discharge from newly built projects, particularly in areas where stormwater drainage is at capacity or where there is a history of localised flooding. As a result, existing and future public open space will be required to provide stormwater management controls in the form of ponds for detention or even permanent retention of volumes.

The problem is exacerbated for the city because it is downstream of all of its river catchments and is receiving stormwater runoff from developments in adjoining local authorities upstream. Cumulative impacts of developments

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2016

09 / LANDSCAPE

PHOTOS BY: MARYANN HARRIS (POPPINTREE PARK)

during the Celtic Tiger which have permitted stormwater runoff at higher levels than previously greenfield sites result in increased flooding at river’s end. This is particularly heightened when shallow Dublin Bay is in a high tide situation – it is similar to a bathtub where the plug cannot be removed.

The drive toward such high-density development during the Celtic Tiger years was further promoted by successive governments as a solution for ‘sustainable development’.

Sustainable development targets were agreed at the CBD at Rio. However, in Ireland, this concept was turned on its head somewhat by promoting increased pressure on existing green space, including the highly sensitive designated coastline of Dublin Bay. Under the Residential Density Guidelines (1999 and revised again in 2009), developers of greenfield sites (former agricultural lands) could provide less than the standard 10% quantity of public open space and parklands by paying to ‘upgrade’ (intensify) existing parks and open spaces or just by virtue of being near a railway station or the coast.

This is stated in the 2009 Guidelines: ‘4.21 It will be necessary for planning authorities to take a more flexible approach to quantitative open space standards and put greater emphasis on the qualitative standards outlined above. Where residential developments are close to the facilities of city and town centres or in proximity to public parks or coastal and other natural amenities, a relaxation of standards could be considered. Alternatively, planning authorities may seek a financial contribution towards public open space or recreational facilities in the wider area in lieu of public open space within the development.’

(Residential Density Guidelines 2009)

City Council to take stormwater from surrounding new developments in existing parks.

3. Greater Dublin Strategic Drainage Study(GDSDS) 2005 This document was a significant breakthrough in thinking on water quality management for Dublin and was the first such comprehensive report which began to recognise and document the full extent of stormwater impacts in the Dublin region. It highlighted: the problems of pollution of water quality of rivers from diffuse sources; the need to leave buffer areas (20-30 m was suggested) from development along rivers to protect biodiversity; the issues of combined sewer overflows sending raw sewage into rivers; the realities of climate change locally. It proposed Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) as a major solution for new developments to control and treat stormwater in the Dublin region. Although it was primarily an engineering initiative, it called for a greater requirement to involve other professions including horticulture, landscaping and ecology professionals.

Had the GDSDS been fully funded and implemented, it would have been cost-effective and transformed development standards during the boom. Some of the recommendations of the GDSDS have been slowly brought into county development plans and SUDS practices are being expanded in the new Draft City Development Plan. Policies on buffer areas are in some county development plans (for example, Fingal) but have not been progressed in others.

Since then, wetlands have been constructed in many new and existing parks and open spaces in Dublin City for different purposes: ● I nterception of domestic effluent - Tolka Valley Park

These Guidelines are still active. Many of the developments currently under NAMA were granted permissions over ten years ago on the basis of weaker environmental legislation and practice and without complete assessment of the impacts of loading high density development onto the existing green infrastructure. These impacts include the intensification of existing parks to cater for increased numbers of recreational users, resulting in removal of some natural areas. Some of the projects I will discuss in this article arose out of the planning consents given under these Guidelines which obliged Dublin

●T reatment of stormwater - Tolka Valley Park 2 ●A voidance of polluted run-off to flood zone and Special

Protection Area (SPA) - Fr. Collins Park ●R etention and detention areas for reduction of

flooding - Poppintree Park ●P romotion of biodiversity – all of the above

TOLKA VALLEY PARK Much of the park north of the River Tolka at Finglas was a former local authority landfill which was pre-EU Directive

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09 / LANDSCAPE (prior to 1977). Landfills of this era were not designed and therefore were not capped and did not have systems to treat effluent. Leachate from groundwater seepage from the landfill is a common problem. The soils are highly compacted and anaerobic and the slope gradients are extremely steep, therefore posing challenges for maintenance and cultivation.

The river catchment spans three local authorities – Meath, Fingal and Dublin City – and had experienced a rapid growth in development, causing cumulative impacts downstream.

The estuary of the River Tolka is an EU-designated Special Protection Area (SPA) for birds under the Birds Directive.

Therefore, it is essential that any works upstream are carefully screened to consider downstream impacts. While some of the designated species are mainly remaining in the estuary, some do travel upstream and the river is a rich corridor for biodiversity. Furthermore, under the EU Habitats Directive, we have to manage the river corridor to maintain links between natural areas, or ‘connectivity’, for designated species of wildlife such as otter and bats.

The water quality status of the Tolka had been ‘Q2’ which means ‘fairly polluted’ for many years. Salmon and dipper, species which indicate clean water, had not been recorded for 100 years. Although wild trout has been stocked for years in the river by the local angling association, water quality was seriously impaired, and occasional fish kills from effluent from industrial estates were common. Domestic misconnections in surrounding housing estates resulted in visible soap suds from drains into the river. The City Council had been doing household inspections, but it was a continuing problem. The old road network in the area had no drainage system and road run-off and agricultural drains flowed directly to the river.

It was decided to intercept and treat the issue within the park.

The wetlands were created in two stages. The first stage, which took place in 1998-99, was to trial and monitor the effectiveness of two ponds to treat the domestic effluents. This was one of the first successful municipal constructed wetlands in Ireland.

As part of the Tolka Valley Greenway, levels were being altered further upstream to construct a park extension and a cycle route of 3.2 km through the entire park, old and new.

As part of these works, three wetlands were constructed in the new section to provide a full treatment train for the road run-off and to tie into the old agricultural drains. The planting scheme included plants specific to each water quality stage and also across a range of depths. The wetlands became an attractive feature for walkers with a picnic area and native trees planted. During cycle route construction, additional gravel filtration trenches were constructed to intercept the landfill leachate and further improve water quality in the old section of the park.

AVOIDANCE OF POLLUTED RUN-OFF TO FLOOD ZONE AND SPA - FR. COLLINS PARK The Area Action Plan of 2000 for the area called by planners ‘The North Fringe’, which was mainly agricultural fields on the border of Dublin City and Fingal councils, included a ‘central park’ to which a series of pocket parks were linked by a cycle route (‘the green route’). The design for the central park was procured through an international design competition in 2003, which resulted in the selection

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of the winning entry by Abbelleyro+Romero Architects from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Father Collins Park was named after a local parish priest who was instrumental in securing the lands for public ownership for recreational use in the 1970s and it opened in 2009. The design concept was for a ‘sustainable park’. A key feature of this concept was to include wetlands which would hold and treat stormwater so that the park was self-contained and did not contribute run-off to the River Mayne. The river has a large flood plain and empties into Baldoyle Estuary, another EU designated SPA and also a National Nature Reserve. The Mayne has many existing water quality problems - many derived from receiving inputs from industrial lands around Dublin Airport - and is not meeting good water quality status under EU legislation.

There are seven wetland features within the park, including the lake along the central promenade or ‘spine’ of the park.

These are fed by groundwater and a borehole was installed within the park. The wetlands serve to hold stormwater and

FR. COLLINS PARK; PHOTOS BY: MARYANN HARRIS

runoff from the playing pitches and this can be beneficial in reducing runoff from fertilisers to the already compromised Mayne. This area of north Dublin has a high groundwater table. The wetlands and lake were lined with a recycled rubber liner. The material was imported from Spain as the specification for recycled material was unavailable in Ireland, thus time was an issue awaiting delivery. The installation of the liner was slow, due to an unseasonably poor summer in 2008 followed by cold weather in autumn. The material can be unwieldy to handle and cannot be installed in windy or cold conditions. Furthermore, in the initial opening stages of the park, we had rising groundwater under the liner which could cause visible expansion areas. Based on our experience from this, I have since found that, for most sites in north Dublin, we can obtain a natural liner with some modification of selected local soils in accordance with the Departmental guidelines (DoELG 2010). I would recommend seeking advice and testing by a structural engineer qualified to assess soils to be used for this purpose, especially if the wetland is trapping pollutants and is near a natural watercourse or could release these to groundwater. If a wetland base fails and groundwater seepage occurs, pollutants could be released and cause damage to water quality. If in doubt, then use of a liner is essential to protect the environment and avoid any liabilities.

One advantage of the liner was its dark colour which gave the impression of greater depth than is actually the case. This was selected through the health and safety risk assessment. Other measures to ensure public safety of the wetlands, which have no barriers around them, were: contouring to ensure a shallow shelf

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2016

09 / LANDSCAPE for a minimum of two meters in distance from any edges; planting of all edges to create a visual and physical barrier to access; tactile paving strips along path edges on the promenade for the visually impaired; signage to inform the public; lighting of the edges of the main water feature at night (powered by the park’s wind turbines) and keeping depths to the minimum.

The development of Fr. Collins Park was funded by levies paid by developers throughout the North Fringe area, in lieu of provision of significant public open spaces in line with the aforementioned national guidelines for residential development. However, since those planning permissions were granted (mainly in 1999-2001), the City Council has sought to increase provision of SUDS measures to meet the revised criteria. The difficulty has been that it is impossible to apply criteria to existing permissions and, even in the case of those that come up for renewal, to lands that have virtually no green spaces to accommodate them.

RETENTION AND DETENTION AREAS FOR REDUCTION OF FLOODING POPPINTREE PARK Poppintree Park is situated within the zone for the biggest urban regeneration scheme at the time in Europe – Ballymun. The main objective was to provide low-density housing for people living in the well-known tower blocks.

This naturally required significant additional lands for new development.

Part of these lands was taken from the existing public park at Poppintree.

The scale of the development created significant issues for increased stormwater volumes. Most of the groundwater and surface drainage systems in the locality feed into underground and old culverted rivers which descend into the River Tolka.

Due to the ongoing concerns about flooding of the Tolka, it was decided that some of the stormwater be stored in the remaining portion of Poppintree Park. The design included for several types of wetlands: a permanent retention pond to be designed as a formal pool with steps down to it but which could fluctuate in depth by a metre; two detention ponds which were

informal grassed areas but could store stormwater; a large basin with a mown lawn which could be used seasonally for kick about but which could detain water on a temporary basis and included some permanent wetland areas.

The new park opened in 2010. It won a Local Authority Management Award in 2011 and received a Green Flag in 2015.

The wetlands have had mixed success.

The formal pond is a main feature of the park, but the fluctuating levels meant the island within it, originally intended to provide a nesting area for wildlife, was occasionally inundated. This has been modified, but the island is still somewhat small to provide meaningful habitat and protection from disturbance for nesting birds. The large basin became wet for much of the year, due to high groundwater levels which seem to have increased from the expected levels which informed the design. This may be a reflection of increased localised flooding. However, the expectation that it would function for kick about was largely unmet, due to the wet conditions. Biodiversity surveys show that the wetlands here are certainly performing well and that species diversity is increasing in the park.

CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTATION Whenever a new approach is explored in the context of public green space, it is of course open to debate and public opinion. It is fair to say that some of our wetlands projects have been very wellreceived, even winning national awards.

Media focus has been generally positive as well. However, there are instances where members of the public and their representatives have questioned the provision of wetlands. The main concerns expressed are: safety hazards, especially for children and the visually impaired; taking up space otherwise could be used for recreation (kick about); too untidy looking; mucky and muddy and children getting their clothing dirty playing around them.

While constructing wetlands in parks can provide for wildlife and increased biodiversity, there is a strong demand by some members of the public to put fish in the ponds. These may be requests to form local angling groups for coarse fishing, which can be genuine

efforts to build a sense of community and a positive activity for youth. It is difficult to refuse such requests.

However, the impact of fish as predators will reduce biodiversity. Of course, the stocking of some of our ponds with koi by members of the public is of little benefit to angling or biodiversity.

Wetlands can also become host to unwanted pets, and we have had to deal with turtles, which are destructive of nesting birds and some are designated invasive species, being released. Some people still view wetlands as waste areas, and we have had ongoing issues with dumping into ponds of refuse.

This highlights the need for serious education and also enforcement. The removal of dumped material by boat carries increased health and safety risks to staff maintaining parks and is also time-consuming. Dumping of alcoholic beverage containers, including part-full beer cans, adds further problems for wildlife as it reduces oxygen levels and damages water quality and plant growth.

CONCLUSIONS ● Scrap the Residential Density

Guidelines 2009. ● Go back to the GSDS. ● Siting of wetlands needs to consider

on a catchment basis how to achieve strategic points to intercept run-off or to store water and slow flows. ● When choosing solutions to flooding, it is important to consider the total benefits beyond just flood alleviation but also for biodiversity. ● There is a need to review and learn from schemes already constructed to inform best practice in Ireland.

References: - Dublin Drainage Consultancy (2005).

Greater Dublin Strategic Drainage Study.

Dublin: Dublin City Council.

- Department of Environment Heritage and Local Government (DOEHLG) (2009) Guidelines for Planning Authorities on Sustainable Residential Development in Urban Areas (Cities,Towns & Villages).

Dublin: DOEHLG. - Department of Environment Heritage and Local Government (DOEHLG) (2010). Guidance Document for Farmyard Soiled Water and Domestic Wastewater Applications.

Dublin: DOEHLG. ✽

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09 / LANDSCAPE

SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES

In light of the recent flooding across the country, landscape cost estimating specialist, Colm Kenny explores the cost implications and opportunities of retrofitting sustainable urban drainage measures

T

he large scale flooding in many parts of the country during the past few months has devastated the lives of the people affected and caused an estimated €1,000,000 worth of damage to property. This flooding is becoming more regular as the wet weather of recent winters, and indeed summers, has witnessed a rise in the number of flooding instances which have occurred. While it is only large scale flooding of houses and farmyards that make the national news, localised flooding of people's gardens and driveways are not worthy of national media coverage yet they occur on a weekly basis during the winter months. Government

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departments, local authorities and the wider construction industry as a whole have begun to realise the need to deal with surface water at source instead of dumping it into the existing drainage network which in most parts of the country is inadequate and unable to deal with the prolonged periods of wet weather.

The landscape industry will have an important future role to play in solving this issue. There is a general public consensus that our climate is changing with the result that surface water and its disposal will only become a bigger issue as time moves on. The development of land that typically would not have been built on due to its low

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2016

09 / LANDSCAPE water table levels will become more common as our cities and towns expand. Wet winters will lead to more surface water while drier summers could see it going to the other extreme where a lack of water could become a problem for landscape schemes.

Both the landscape design and construction industries must become important players in attempting to solve this problem by becoming specialists in the design and installation of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS). This approach to managing surface water is increasingly important in drainage planning. Green roofs, permeable paving, swales, dry vegetated basins and bio-retention cells are becoming more common even on the smallest projects. Such systems are still in their infancy and products are still being developed to deal with the problems that cannot be solved with traditional drainage methods. While traditionally drainage design would have fallen within the scope of the civil engineer I have witnessed on a number of recent projects a willingness from engineers to allow landscape designers have greater input into the design and specification of SUDS techniques.

This cooperation is required from all parties if the problems we currently face are to be overcome.

Swales, wetlands and ponds have become more common features of residential landscape schemes in recent years.

Whether this is due to a requirement by engineers or a desire by landscape architects I am not too sure but I am happy to see them becoming part of the SUDS management plan. As well as being functional, they add character and interest to the landscape. Again it is an area that the landscape industry needs to become proficient in and not rely on their engineering counterparts to become the champions of such features.

Sustainable drainage systems are almost mandatory on new housing developments. While such systems are welcome, SUDS in new developments alone will not make a significant impact to reducing flood risk and improving water quality.

New developments only account for a small percentage of housing stock per year. Hence, there is a need for a combined strategy for installing SUDS in new developments and retrofitting them to existing ones.

“Wet winters will lead to more surface water while drier summers could see it going to the other extreme where a lack of water could become a problem for landscape schemes” The perceived high cost of retrofitting is one which needs to be tackled by the industry as a whole. Homeowners and property managers need to be educated as to the benefits of retrofitting and the relatively low cost of replacing impermeable paving with sustainable permeable paving.

As all the excavation and groundworks has been already carried out, the cost of retrofitting would be in the region of €40 -€50 m². The removed paving can often be recycled to become stone fill for soakaways. If the average urban

driveway is somewhere in the region of 30 m², the average cost of replacing the paving would equate to €1,500 to change. For such a small investment the homeowners would have a sustainable driveway and know they are helping to alleviate the local drainage problems.

“As all the excavation and groundworks has been already carried out, the cost of retrofitting would be in the region of €40 -€50 m²” New types of permeable surfaces are also becoming more common in both new developments and also on projects where surfaces are being upgraded. Porous asphalt, concrete and resin type surfaces have become a cost effective alternative to paving. Such surfaces are more suited to commercial landscapes where load-bearing considerations confine the type of surfaces specified by designers. While such products limit the bespoke design achievable with paving, they can compensate for this by the volumes of water they can prevent going into the traditional drainage system.

Large grass areas are not particularly effective at absorbing and retaining water, especially during heavy rains. Shrub planting tends to develop more extensive root systems that take in and hold water much better than grass areas. As an added bonus, they require less maintenance than a grass does. Similarity trees' immense root systems effectively absorb water over a large area. In addition, the canopy of a tree slows the fall of rainwater so that the ground is capable of absorbing larger amounts than it otherwise would be.

Creating pockets of planting and tree planting pits within large paved areas is something that is relatively easy and cost effective to implement and construct.

The home renovation scheme which was launched a number of years ago provided a welcome boost to the landscape industry. It was a success because all the big players came together to promote it. If such a similar scheme was to be introduced offering incentives to property owners to “disconnect” roof or driveway runoff from the public drainage system and was promoted by all sectors of the industry, it would both reduce the problems caused by surface water and also provide a second boost to the industry. By offering such an incentive it would also raise awareness with homeowners as to the impact we all have on existing drainage systems. ✽

COLM KENNY, B Ag. Sc. (Land.

Hort), M.Sc. Quantity Surveying. Colm is a landscape estimating specialist.

He provides cost and implementation advice to landscape industry professionals, technical advisors, contractors and facility management companies. He can be contacted on 086 874 4300 or by email info@landscapeqs.ie

Spring 2016 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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TACKLING IRELAND’S INVASIVES

In the last issue of Horticulture Connected we included an expert opinion piece entitled Control Issues, which explored perspectives invasive species in Ireland. Since publication, the Environmental Protection Agency has unveiled plans for an all Ireland research project into invasives. To gain insight into the project we asked one of the coordinators, Dr Joe Caffrey, to explain what’s going to happen and how it might positively impact existing issues

G

lobally, Invasive Alien Species (IAS), (henceforth invasive species) are considered to be one of the major threats to native biodiversity and the environment, with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) citing their impacts as ‘immense, insidious, and usually irreversible’. Invasive species threaten the ecological stability of invaded habitats and native species/communities, while also threatening essential ecosystem functions and services. The societal costs are measured in millions of euros and threats to human, animal and plant health.

In Ireland (and indeed throughout Europe), the approach to invasive species has been fragmented and uncoordinated, as became clear from invited delegates at a major international invasive species conference (FINS: Freshwater Invasives –

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Networking for Strategy) that was held in Galway in 2013.

As a consequence of this lack of coherent action, the rate of invasive species introductions and spread has increased significantly in recent decades. This has resulted in significant adverse impacts on native biodiversity, natural capital, ecosystem services, our local and national economies, and human health in many affected areas, with predictions of increasing problems with climate change.

As an island on the western edge of Europe, Ireland is fortunate to possess a relative paucity of non-native species that can be deemed to be truly invasive. However, those introduced species that are established and invasive (i.e. causing problems) clearly pose considerable difficulties for our unique ecosystems and the Irish economy. A number

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2016

PHOTO BY: JJ HARRISON

10 / INSIGHT

10 / INSIGHT of high profile invasive plant species have become established in the Irish landscape in recent decades and, regrettably, some have become regular (and almost accepted) features of our verdant Irish landscape. Foremost among these are Japanese knotweed, related Knotweed species (e.g. Giant and Bohemian), Giant knotweed, Giant hogweed, Himalayan balsam, Winter heliotrope, Old man’s beard, Rhododendron and Cherry laurel. It is notable that most of these species were purposely introduced into Ireland as ornamentals or to provide attractive ground cover. Some are still being sold, often under ‘assumed’ names, in garden centres in Ireland.

So, do invasive species represent a problem for us as Irish citizens who rely on and enjoy the Irish landscape? Clearly, they do!! If so, what are we doing about it?

Efforts to tackle invasive species have clearly been uncoordinated and very poorly resourced in Ireland to date.

National and recently EU legislation to address invasive species problems has been introduced (SI 477 (2011) and EU Regulation 1143/2014, respectively), but these will take time to make their way into the public consciousness and longer to be implemented and enforced.

Individual State organisations, a number of local authorities and a handful of interested but disparate groups have recognised the warning signs and have mounted campaigns to tackle the increasing scourge that invasive species represent. Unfortunately, this is too little to address the major and burgeoning issue at hand.

But on a positive note, the Irish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently unveiled a Research

Programme (2014 – 2020) where significant funding was assigned to ‘Prevent, Control and Eradicate Invasive Alien Species in Ireland’. One project that was awarded funding for a 3-year research project under this programme is headed by IT Sligo (Dr Frances Lucy) and partnered by INVAS Biosecurity (Dr Joe Caffrey) and Queen's University Belfast (Prof Jaimie Dick). This project will run from 2016 to 2019 and will adopt an all-Ireland approach in its efforts tackle invasive species problems.

As it is widely recognised that eradication of established invasive species is virtually impossible, the project will focus on preventing the introduction of new IAS into Ireland and restricting the spread of existing species. This will be achieved through a coordinated fourpillared programme of research: a) h orizon scanning that is aimed at best predicting those invasive species that are not presently in Ireland but that could easily be introduced;

b) t he development and

implementation of best biosecurity practice (e.g. cleaning, disinfection) among stakeholders and the public; c) p ractical research to develop new and innovative control methods for troublesome invasive species that have, to date, proved difficult to control in Ireland (e.g. winter heliotrope); and d) r esearch to examine the range of communication tools, mechanisms and technologies that are available to aid in the dissemination of useful invasive species information and advice, and to improve on the delivery of this information.

Two PhD students will be appointed for the three year duration of the project

and their entire focus will be to deliver on the objectives of the project, as agreed with EPA. One student will be based in IT Sligo and the other in QUB, but both will interact closely. The students and the work programme will be supervised by Dr Frances Lucy, Dr Joe Caffrey and Prof Jaimie Dick, invasive species scientists that have worked and collaborated on many national and international projects over the past two decades. This supervisory team brings together acknowledged experience and expertise in the ecology, management and policy implications of invasive species. It further blends academic (IT Sligo and QUB) and realworld action (INVAS Biosecurity) and their complementary skills and acumen.

It is anticipated that the results from this research project will help develop methods to predict and prevent the introduction and spread of invasive species, as well as providing practical control measures for those species that are already wreaking environmental havoc in our landscape. The communications research will explore the multitude of methods available to impart important messages about invasive species and biosecurity to groups as diverse as specialists (e.g. the horticulture industry), state agencies, NGOs, targeted stakeholders and the public. The merits and demerits of various approaches (e.g. social media, smartphone apps, local radio, meetings, training, workshops) will be evaluated and the most impactful methods will be developed and refined. The culmination of the research effort will be the availability of accessible information on invasive species that will encourage the development of coordinated strategies and approaches to tackling these insidious species in Ireland. ✽

DR JOE CAFFREY worked as a Senior Scientist with Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) for 39 years. In IFI he headed up the Invasive Species Section, which researched and developed control methods for invasive alien species. Some of the methods developed have received worldwide application. Joe has written in excess of 80 peer reviewed scientific and management papers for national and international journals and is currently a Steering Committee member for 5 PhDs dealing with invasive species. In 2015 Joe took early retirement to join INVAS Biosecurity as a Director, where he is continuing his work with invasive species. Invas Biosecurity provides a professional contracting and consultancy service, based on the most up-to-date scientific evidence, that targets invasive species in aquatic and terrestrial situations. More info: www.invasbiosecurity.ie.

Spring 2016 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

37

REMEMBERING PETER ALLEY

One of the great things about the horticulture sector is the people involved, and earlier this year we lost one of the most respected, colourful and energetic of them all, Peter Alley. The founder of Dundrum Nurseries is fondly remembered by all who knew him. Horticulture Connected is happy to share some memories from three of his closest industry colleagues.

Full of Surprises Peter Alley was always much more than a business colleague. In fact I would say anyone who did business with him would say it was impossible to simply have a business relationship with him. A visit to his nursery was never a matter of being in and out. To visit you had to set aside a day …at least! A walk around the nursery gave way to dinner around the kitchen table and long discussions on every possible subject. He was a polymath, a creative man with passion for so many things. It didn’t matter what he was involved with, he would invest so much of himself. One day he would be zipping around nurseries in Holland, the next directing a musical, or making hurleys. I recall looking up at an early Kildare Growers event to see a helicopter landing. Peter was inside. The pilot was his son. He was full of surprises.

Kieran Dunne, L & K Dunne Nurseries

Ahead of his time From the early nineties I had a national role in Teagasc to coordinate advice and training for the nursery stock sector.

I quickly got to know Peter through his attendance at meetings, seminars, conferences and other events that took place throughout the country. One of my first visits to Dundrum followed my presentation at a conference in Kildare where I showed the results of nursery field trials, testing a range of weedkillers on container nursery stock. Following a visit to the nursery and having walked through the large area of container grown stock I made out my recommendations.

I then adjourned to the home of Peter and Josie where I was royally wined and dined. Further visits followed and one of the striking aspects of the business was the continual growth and expansion in both container and field grown stocks.

Peter in those early years had been travelling over and back to Holland on a frequent basis and as well as importing a range of material for the wholesale market, he also saw the opportunity and potential for homegrown material

38

particularly trees for the Irish market. He and his staff quickly mastered the art of chip budding and eventually became one of the largest suppliers of whips particularly the difficult to produce Acer platanoides varieties. Peter was always alert to an opportunity and his visits to Holland paved the way for the setting up of the Celtic Plantarium in the nineties.

He was a man well ahead of his time as many garden centres in recent years saw the necessity of having planted or demonstration areas in proximity to their garden centres. I still have many pleasant memories of the opening of the Plantarium in the company of Peter and the late Derek Davis.

One of my outstanding memories of Peter is when he was part of a group of twenty nurserymen that toured the west coast of America in the mid-nineties.

When I was organising the tour Peter rang me to say he would love to visit states like Oregon and Washington not only to see the nursery development in those states but also see two major forestry states in the U.S. He expressed his delight at sailing on the Colombia River beside huge shipments of timber moving down the 2000 kilometre river. One of my memories of that river voyage was Peter outlining the influence Washington had on our own forestry industry. He also gave us an insight into David Douglas who introduced Douglas fir into the British Isles from a nearby island off the coast of Washington.

Night time was special in the company of Peter and in Irish pubs in Seattle and Portland his musical and operatic talents entertained not only our nursery group but also the many Irish Americans out for a night on the town. Hi recital of Slieve na mBan demonstrated the musical entertainment qualities possessed by Peter in abundance.

For many years I tried to get Peter to share some of his thoughts and experiences from a lifetime in the industry at our national conference. Two years after I retired my successor the late Jim Kelleher succeeded and Peter

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2016

gave one of the most interesting and informative presentations given from the heart that I have ever listened to.

I had occasion to visit him once more after that conference when I was shown a range of product that Peter was acting as agent for and hoping to sell into some of the multiple chains.

Peter above all was a great family many and very proud of his adopted county. Any time I met him his question was always, when are Tipp going to beat Kilkenny? His own quote very much demonstrates the type of man Peter was “being together, bonded and pride in their home place, community spirit and huge enthusiasm” that was Peter.

May he rest in peace! Paddy Gleeson

An Inspiration It was with great sadness and regret that we laid our friend and fellow nurseryman, Peter Alley, to rest near his beloved Dundrum. I have known Peter for thirty years and in that time we have been good friends and business associates.

Over the years, we travelled abroad and I witnessed Peter having “lightbulb” moments. When he got the bit between his teeth with a new idea his enthusiasm, courage and determination was something to witness. He inspired me and, I’m sure, others to follow and take chances that we might not normally have taken.

Peter was always ready to have a laugh, a chat, a pint, a song or a brain storming session as to what we should or shouldn’t be doing in the nursery business. He was always supportive, never afraid of competition and did not suffer fools easily.

Peter’s rock was his beloved Josie and he was so proud of all his family and they supported him all the way in his many business ventures.

After a long battle with illness borne with courage, great fortitude and dignity Peter went to sleep last month.

Rest easy, good friend!

Charles Shaw, Turlough Nursery, Turlough, Castlebar. ✽

PHOTO: FRANK ALLEY

10 / INSIGHT

10 /INSIGHT

DUBLIN’S INVASIVE ACTION PLAN Maryann Harris, Senior Executive Parks Superintendent shares Dublin City Council’s new action plan for dealing with invasive alien species

D

ublin City Council(DCC) is the first Local Authority in Ireland to produce an Invasive Alien Species Action Plan (2016-2020). Invasive Alien Species (IAS) are animals and plants that are introduced accidentally or deliberately into a natural environment where they are not normally found, with serious negative consequences for their new environment.

Strategies for control of IAS have been in place in Dublin City to deal with certain species since 2007.

The impacts of IAS are wide ranging and destructive from economic, social, health and ecological viewpoints, and it is estimated that they currently cost Ireland and Northern Ireland economy €202,894,406 per year.

The objectives of the Draft Plan are to control and reduce the spread of existing IAS, and to prevent any new IAS from establishing in the city. The speed and fluidity of their invasion and spread presents major difficulties for traditional forms of environmental management. As such, a coordinated approach between a variety of public bodies and organisations is necessary to achieve the objectives of the plan.

As many invasive plants have arrived into Ireland through plant collecting, soil importation and horticultural practices, those working in the horticulture industry have a vital role in recognising threats posed by designated IAS and even contributing to risk assessments for potential future IAS. The European Union passed new IAS Regulations in 2014, which have clarified our requirements in dealing with these species. This legislation will be further enacted in 2016.

The Dublin City IAS Action Plan (2016 – 2020) examines its implications for Dublin City Council, and covers the first reporting period under the Regulations. This will assist in Ireland meeting its obligation to prepare a national assessment report by June 2019, and its review on the EU Biodiversity Strategy implementation to 2020. Ireland has listed designated invasive plants and animals in the European Communities (Birds and Habitats) Regulations (2011). It is now against the law to sell, propagate, spread or allow the dispersal of these species. Restrictions on the movement of soil are also in place under national law. Penalties under

this are comparable to those of health and safety legislation.

Surprisingly, some of the designated plants are still being found for sale in Ireland, which highlights the need for greater awareness-raising.

The City Council plan includes specific responsibilities for contractors working for the City Council. These include requirements for recording of any invasive alien species encountered on site, for transport of soils, disposal of material and for site management. There are also requirements for planning consent, and DCC has been including specific planning conditions for IAS management plans since 2011.

Although the control of invasive alien species may put additional responsibilities on project and site managers, this is necessary when the consequences of not doing so are so high for biodiversity and even human health and safety. The need for specialist advice and management is likely to increase in the horticultural sector and may represent new business opportunities for some who develop their skills in meeting these requirements. Some species require post-construction monitoring programmes for several years, and this is likely to be the case in particular for sites located near or within habitats designated of European Union importance. This can be perhaps tied into landscape maintenance contracts for certain projects. However, it is important that staff are trained fully in basic identification and best practice for the species highlighted in the plan for Dublin City. These are generally the most common IAS in Ireland, although Dublin City Council has assessed the risks based on known records within its administrative area.

It is likely that passport controls for plants will be further controlled as the European Regulations are implemented. We await the preparation of national risk assessments and strategies.

Although controlling IAS can seem like a never-ending battle, having a plan of action will hopefully help and it can be addressed site by site with positive outcomes for landowners and for biodiversity.

The Council’s plan will be available through its website: www.dublincity.ie. ✽

Spring 2016 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

39

11 / RESEARCH

INCREASING RESILIENCE IN IRISH FIELD HORTICULTURE Entomologist and IPM researcher, Dr Michael Gaffney shares the latest research and thinking on the value and use of compost derived from existing waste streams in Ireland

I

n the last decade, a number of extreme weather events has placed significant pressure on field horticulture in Ireland, from freezing conditions and late springs, Intense rainfall and a lack of moisture around spring plantings have all caused significant losses in the field horticulture sector. Indeed, each year seems to present a new challenge. It is increasingly clear that we are not able to accurately predict the type and strength of these weather events, therefore we need to begin to put in place strategies to help improve the resilience of Irish horticulture, so we can better cope with the unforeseen. Improving the health of soils in field horticulture is one such strategy.

Under the European landfill Directive (1999/31/EC), the amount of biodegradable municipal waste (BMW) going to landfill must not exceed 427,000 tonnes by 2016 (35% of BMW produced in 1995), with full diversion targeted for 2020. Ireland is on course to achieve these targets; however currently there is more than 800,000 tonnes of biodegradable municipal waste (food, garden, catering and commercial organic wastes) generated yearly, requiring treatment and ultimately a productive end-use. Composting is likely to be the most cost-effective form of treatment for these materials; however a large proportion of this treated material is still returned to landfill. Composting reduces the volume of this material by approximately 90% and prevents the breakdown process becoming anaerobic, reducing the amount of phytotoxic compounds being produced, while also significantly reducing the amount of greenhouse gases emitted.

Composting organic household and industrial waste has many benefits over landfilling, (1) the composting process

“Research at Teagasc discovered a wide array of beneficial fungi and bacteria in composted waste samples, some which were capable of reducing the severity of both fungal and oomycete pathogens on vegetable crops” 40

reduces the volume of the material thus reducing the volume of waste, (2) composting is an aerobic process and therefore produces carbon dioxide where organic matter degradation in landfill is mainly an anaerobic process producing methane which has a greenhouse gas rating 20 times that of carbon dioxide, and (3) compost can be considered a resource and has the potential to be used as both a fertilizer and a horticultural growing media, as it contains both micro and macro nutrients. Therefore it is a method of safely recycling waste back into the environment. Composted wastes are often thought of as either soil amendments or nutrient sources; however they can also host an array of beneficial fungi and bacteria which can help to reduce the disease pressure on plants. Research at Teagasc discovered a wide array of beneficial fungi and bacteria in composted waste samples, some which were capable of reducing the severity of both fungal and oomycete pathogens on vegetable crops.

Composting has a pivotal role to play in closing the ‘organic loop’ - returning valuable organic matter and plant nutrients to soil. To date, due to their high organic matter and lime content (2-11% dm) composted biowastes have primarily been considered as soil conditioners. However their significant nutrient content (Table 1) means they also have a value as a fertiliser. Using composted wastes as fertilisers has been problematic however due to the heterogeneous nature of composts made from diverse waste sources (feedstocks) and the subsequent unpredictability of nutrient availability, due to a poor understanding of the effect of the primary feedstock on nutrient release. Within this study composted wastes from Ireland and other European countries were analysed to ascertain the optimal usage for these materials, based on their compositional characteristics and primary feedstocks.

COMPOST STABILITY In order for a composted waste to be marketed as a ‘compost’ and used in horticulture/agriculture, it must fulfil a number of criteria. An important criterion is that it must be ‘stable’, that is, the material is no longer microbiologically active. Under Irish standards, a material must have an oxygen uptake rate (OUR) value of 13 (Units: mmol O2/Kg OS/h), or less to be considered stable. It is hypothesised that unstable composts (<13) would immobilise nitrogen when applied to

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2016

11 / RESEARCH Plant Available Nutrients (CaCl2 DTPA mg L-1) Composts

Feedstock

Biowaste

Household and Food Organic waste

Composted Manures Animal Manures, Straw and Greenwaste

Plant Available (mg L-1)

Total Content (g Kg-1 )

NH4 - N

NO3 - N

Phosphorus

Potassium

Total Potassium

Carbon

Calcium

Sulphur

Mean

19

321

40

1404

Total Nitrogen Total Phosphorus 21.5

7.9

8.3

311.4

10575.6

1088.8

Mean

2418

74

103

7378

30.4

14.3

31.4

426.1

5287

2645.6

Green Waste

Commercial Greenwaste

Mean

3

107

35

1290

20.9

2.8

8.3

278.1

7900

161.9

Anaerobic Digestate

Animal Manures and Food waste

Mean

51

204

9

1154

27.4

4.2

8.5

235.1

9386

37.4

Table 1: Differences in nutrient content of four categories of composted waste a growing media or soil, however our studies indicate that such a rigorous standard may not be as appropriate for land application. Biowaste composts used in this study with stability levels of 15-25 indicated no nitrogen immobilisation during plant growth studies, indicating that where composted wastes are destined for land application it may be possible to increase the stability standard required without negatively impacting plant growth, thus decreasing the time and cost of the composting process and in turn reducing the cost of these materials to growers.

NITROGEN AVAILABILITY Carbon / Nitrogen ratio is commonly used as a descriptor of compost quality, but also as a means of predicting nitrogen (N) availability. Increasingly modern composting methods are producing composts with a C/N ratio of less than 16, as composts with a C/N ratio greater than 14 will potentially result in N immobilisation. Under the current legislation, composts with a C/N ratio <10 have a predicted availability of N of 15% and a C/N ratio of 12.5 having a predicted availability of N of 17.5%. However this approach was largely developed for organic materials of a homogenous nature, such as spent mushroom compost. As the materials from waste sources are far more heterogeneous, it was found that both neural detergent fibre (NDF) and Lignin content were more accurate in predicting N availability from these materials (Table. 2). The ability to more accurately assess N availability will allow for the development of more agronomically useful application rates, which can account for the low availability of N from these materials. Overall the availability of N from composted biowastes is low (Approx. 8% of total N) and commercial growing practices would require the application of an alternative or inorganic N source. Plant growth experiments

indicated that once the compost is moderately stable, plant uptake of N from inorganic sources was not affected.

PHOSPHORUS AVAILABILITY In general the plant uptake and availability of phosphorus from composted wastes from growth experiments was higher than expected, and compared favourably with single super phosphate (SSP). While composted animal manures had the highest availability of P, there were no significant yield differences when biowastes were applied, on the basis of their total P content to plants whose phosphorus fertiliser was applied as SSP at a comparable rate. This finding suggests that instead of applying composts on the basis of their nitrogen content, which is largely unavailable to the plant, we should give more consideration to the phosphorus content of composted wastes.

In addition to the benefits described above in terms of nutrient recovery, applications of 5-10 t of compost per hectare per year have been shown to balance the yearly impact of intensive cropping systems, with long term compost application increasing soil C content. As we are beginning to see the negative impact that extreme weather events are having, particularly on the field vegetable and nursery sectors, it is crucial that we begin to put in place measures to increase the resilience of our production systems.

In the short to medium term, it is unlikely that we will be able to robustly predict which climate scenarios we will face (more/ less rainfall, intensity of precipitation etc.) therefore we need to do what we can to improve the resilience of our soils to these extreme events, and the consistent application of compost is one achievable mitigation strategy which we must seriously consider as the full utilisation of composted wastes can help maintain sustainable intensive cropping systems. ✽

NDF %

DR MICHAEL GAFFNEY is an entomology and IPM researcher working in the Horticulture Department in Teagasc, having previously worked at the University of Wales, Swansea and UCD. He leads a diverse research group focusing on crop protection and crop quality issues. He can be contacted at Michael.Gaffney@Teagasc.ie

Harvest Harvest Harvest

R2 0.81 0.83 0.64

p value <0.01 <0.01 <0.01

Lignin % R2 0.74 0.91 0.79

p value <0.01 <0.01 <0.01

C/N Ratio R2 0.17 0.01 0.02

p value >0.05 >0.05 >0.05

Table 2: Nitrogen uptake results correlated with NDF, lignin and C/N ratio

Spring 2016 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

41

12 / JOBS

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NOW HIRING

SENIOR SPRAYING OPERATOR At the Keelings Fruit Farms, in County Dublin, we’re inspired by the love for our work and the complex challenges of growing outstanding fruit for an innovative industry and family that we’re proud to be a part of.

We’re looking for people like us, motivated to join our Highly Functional team and help us take our fruit to the next levels.

You will join our vitally important Crop Protection Unit as a Senior Spraying Operator and become a critical member of the team supporting both the Spraying Manager and The Spraying Teams.

Send CV with Cover Letter to Agnieszka_Dolczak@Keelings.com

✽ Noel Dempsey Landscaping - Landscape Gardener

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13 / EDUCATION

APPRENTICESHIP

John Mulhern, Principal of College of Amenity Horticulture, National Botanic Gardens explains how the history of horticultural training may well define the future of the industry

H

orticultural training and education has its roots firmly in the apprentice model. Before formalisation, knowledge, technique and skill were passed from father to child. Understanding, competence and expertise were earned over time under the watchful eye of the more able other. Young apprentices took on the skills of their masters before passing them on to the next generation.

As horticulture grew more industrialised and scientific, so did the training. Informal apprenticeships evolved into set courses delivered by technical schools, which split time between written and practical work. As training continued to evolve in complexity, and the nation set its sights on achieving third-level qualification, the popularity of apprenticeships died away. By the time ANCO emerged onto the educational landscape in the 1980s, apprenticeships in Ireland were all but confined to three or four trades. Although horticultural training still involved practical aspects, and informal apprentice-type learning, it had shifted very much into the theoretical framework. That is not to say horticultural training got worse, far from it. Horticultural training became sophisticated, complex, structured and offered potential students a multitude of choices and career paths. The original horticultural apprentices would look in wonder and awe at the training opportunities open to today’s horticultural candidate.

While the sophistication affords much choice and opportunity for access and specialisation, the shift away from the apprentice model has caused some problems. Specifically, whether it has undermined the acquisition of core practical skills. Ask any commercial business owner and they’ll tell you that many graduates are simply not ready to enter the workforce, they lack key skills and don’t really understand the sector they are entering. Now, this is an accusation that could probably be levied at any graduate in any field, and commercial business owners have a tendency to forget that what they knew when they were fresh-faced graduates; but there are opportunities which exist within the current system to allow students to build commercially applicable skills.

Opportunities which sit firmly in the apprenticeship model.

A typical horticultural degree programme - like those we deliver through the National Botanic Gardens and Kildalton College - is split into six, 12-week semesters across three years with the traditional four month break in the summer of each year. That equates to eight months break over the three years where students are essentially left to their own devices. More often than not they’re working to pay for tuition and other education costs. Those eight months represent a huge learning opportunity and it is one we are rolling out this year.

The core aims of the our apprenticeship 2.0 initiative are to acknowledge the importance of each aspect of learning,

to afford students the opportunity to build commercially applicable skills and to facilitate industry participation in creating the next generation of horticultural business owners.

By building on established industry links we will be offering a number of paid summer placements underpinned with specific educational outcomes and deliverables. These placements will be offered through a number of retail, landscape and production businesses over 2016 and will serve as a trial run to tease out strengths and weaknesses. Having held talks with key associations such as the Association of Landscape Contractors of Ireland, Garden Centre Association, Golf Course Superintendents and the Irish Hardy Nursery Stock Association we are confident that the system will succeed.

At one recent meeting, a small industry group put the apprenticeship proposal to Damien English TD, Minister of State at the Departments of Education and Skills. After the meeting IHNSA Chairmen Val Farrell commented, “The proposal put to Minister English would have both classwork and practical work experience built around the academic year, including a placement semester which would ensure that students are “job-ready” when they graduate. Companies are seeking assistance from the State to support students during their in-house training periods. The proposed new model would have 56 weeks of practical work experience with students receiving on-the-job training, directly through their employer.” He added that financial support from the government was vital for training suitable candidates.

Now, you may be thinking, sure don’t students get horticultural work experience during the summer already?

And you might be right, at least for a small number of highly motivated and engaged students. Alas, for the vast majority and for a variety of financial and geographical restrictions, no such experience is possible. What we are doing to formalising the system, allowing students to earn a fair wage and providing operators with motivated staff when they need it most.

Will there be teething problems? Of course. Will it work for everyone? Of course not. Will it provide switched-on students with a chance to work with Ireland’s top horticulturalists, to build applicable skills and knowledge, and to secure the future of the sector? You bet.

Over the next few months we will report back on how the model plays out in practice. Watch this space. ✽

JOHN MULHERN has worked with Teagasc for more the 17 years, primarily in an educational capacity. He is the current Principal if the College of Amenity Horticulture, National Botanic Gardens, Dublin.

Spring 2016 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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13 / EDUCATION

LASTING

EXPERIENCE

With the sector reinvesting in training and coming together in recognition of the importance of practical experience, Donall Flanagan, lecturer in horticulture with Teagasc, clarifies the rules, regulations and responsibilities of the Sustainable Use Directive and how it will impact your horticultural business

W

hether it's one day a week for a term or 15 weeks for the best part of a summer, students will always remember their horticulture placement. It’s something we have all had to do. It might have been our first introduction to the work place or a new aspect to a sector you had already been immersed in. In either case the student develops new skills and becomes a messenger with knowledge about the business they will share with their peers.

To make the experience as positive as possible for the host and student, you need to spend a little time in planning for it – that small investment at the start will pay dividends once placement begins.

1. Goal setting:

Placement is primarily about developing proficiency in performing tasks; these skills are built up by practice. Before placement starts agree between the host and student on which key technical skills are to be practiced and set some realistic standards you would expect to be achievable over the time frame of the placement. Soft skills could be important for some; setting out expectations around time keeping, cooperation, communication, initiative etc. are important. Whether training for the Olympics or developing a new skill, writing down the goal has been proven to increase success.

2. Work on strengths and inexperience: For most hosts they will be

is a messenger going back out to tell others about your industry. 4 weeks on a potting machine is nothing to anyone in the industry but to a student it can be frustrating. The 80:20 rule could help shape some diversity in the training.

Developing new skills is regarded as a great motivator; some times more so than money. Again have the conversation to find the common ground between you.

4. Interest:

Showing attention early on builds trust which is the foundation for good team work. Ask to see their CV, there will almost always be something unexpected there. Help the student to understand what they are doing is important, how it fits in to the business or organisation. For example it could be their attention to detail that builds the reputation for the business delivering a quality service and so on.

5. Support diary completion:

All Teagasc students complete a diary while on placement.

They must keep day-to-day diaries of tasks and skills being developed. To get a better understanding of the industry they need to look at the business you are in and your input here is hugely beneficial. Agree when setting goals that you will contribute to this section and if you can’t commit due to schedules make one of your team responsible to mentor the student. ✽

DόNALL FLANAGAN, a native of the Dublin

involved in a range of activities. To benefit the development of the student ask them what areas they need to work on and to benefit the business, what are their strengths. Match the skills where possible, try to apply the 80:20 rule if you can. Give a minimum of 20% of the time to the developing their new skills and 80% to practice.

3. Variety:

it keeps us all interested. It might be the busiest time of the year; potting, harvesting or whatever, with little choice but to get the work done. Remember this student

44

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2016

mountains, has been teaching with Teagasc since 2007. He has been a part of the Teagasc Sustainable Use Directive working group for the last year.

Telephone: 01-804 0204 Fax: 01-804 0212, Outlook number: 076-100 1171 Email: donall.flanagan@teagasc.ie

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14 / SPORTS TURF

PRECISION

PHOTO: JPGON

GREENKEEPING

Eamon Kealy, turf grass specialist and lecturer in horticulture at Teagasc, Kildalton, taps into the latest technological advances and finds water and electronics can go well together

T

imes have changed. Technology is now making an impact on nearly every second of our daily lives.

Sportsturf management is no different. Advances in technology are now allowing superintendents to make key ‘informed decisions’ based on data collected from sensors.

Soil moisture meters have been used for many years to collect data regarding the condition of the root zone. Most work on the principle of measuring an electrical signal between two or more probes that are inserted into the soil and converting this signal into a number; normally volumetric water content. There are many on the market. The most commonly used are the Delta Theta Probe and the Spectrum Field Scout TDR300. Each system is simple to setup and use.

The superintendent can also choose to install in-ground wireless moisture sensors. These systems are normally more expensive but can be used to measure moisture, salinity and temperature. Some systems have the capability to collect data from up to 500 sensors on the course.

Superintendents can now measure soil moisture, pH, EC,

46

temperature, firmness, smoothness, trueness and speed of greens relatively easily and cheaper compared to 15 years ago. All this data is really only useful if you can break it down to analyse what is influencing your playing and growing conditions. In other words these insights into turf performance are really worthless unless you can act on the data. For example, understanding that your greens start to show signs of drought at 8% volumetric water content will allow you to preempt yellowing grass and stay one step ahead.

Actionable insights give superintendents the information to make the right decisions more often, such as when to water, aerate or apply fertiliser or wetting agents. Until now these key decisions have been taken based on the superintendent's’ education, experience or gut feeling. While this can be successful, taking the guesswork out of the equation can lead to more consistent playing surfaces and a reduction in unnecessary inputs over long periods of time. An informed decision will always be better than a guess.

At a recent Teagasc seminar entitled ‘Shaping the Future: Targeting Opportunities for ICT in Agriculture’ one of the

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2016

14 / SPORTS TURF take home messages was how easy it is to collect data.

You can place a sensor onto almost anything but designing systems that analyse this data and provide solutions for superintendents is where future opportunities lie. At the same seminar, Professor Willie Donnelly explained that the real value in sensor technology is connecting them to the internet.

This allows for the data to be analysed in real time and acted upon immediately if necessary.

One such system that utilises cloud technology is the POGO Turf Pro. The system has GPS, WIFI and a measures canopy temperature, moisture and EC in the soil. Once a course is mapped it can be used daily by a superintendent to measure, capture and analyse course data. Superintendents can then use this information to make informed decisions.

The POGO geotags the position of each data sample taken on the golf course. It then uploads the data to its online portal and overlays the data on a base map for ease of analysis.

Superintendents can set alerts for critical levels of EC or moisture, making it easier to make the right decision. All this material is then made available on your smartphone for quick decision making. It can also be used to map drainage or irrigation pipes ‘as built’ ensuring that should there be any future issues with a connection it can easily be relocated. This function would be of great interest to contractors working on multiple sites with multiple crews making it easy to track completed works.

The POGO Turf Pro in use at Teagasc Kildalton College Sportsturf facility. Sprinklers and green location mapped.

Storing data in the cloud is expensive. The aim of good data collecting and analysing systems should be to minimise the amount of data stored but maximise the contextual data. In other words, the system should only store information that will allow the superintendent to make better decisions. Data for the sake of data normally equates to noise and should be avoided.

around the world. This opens up a whole new world regarding integration of analytics, data collection/sensors and weather forecasting.

For example, existing data collection systems such as the POGO Turf Pro could access information provided by IBM/The Weather Channel to give real time data and recommendations to superintendents. In the future golf courses could even be provided with automated decision making software which will remove all guess work from decisions. This is still a long way off but the possibilities are endless.

MOISTURE Data for the same soil based golf green at Kildalton College (7 sample points taken).

THE FUTURE – WHERE WILL IT ALL END…?

It is hard to believe how far we have come in technology terms over the last 15 years. The smartphone is the ultimate example of this. Complete automated decision making on the golf course may be on the distant horizon but the pace the technology revolution is continuing at is frightening.

Future developments will be based around smaller, cheaper and more intelligent sensors. The incorporation of nanotechnology will revolutionise data collection. One day maybe sensors will be even be built into the sole of the boot of the greenkeeper, constantly monitoring the root zone below as they hand cut greens. More accurate GPS referencing to pinpoint problems to the millimeter may also be possible in the future.

Pesticides and fertilizers encapsulated in nanoparticles are being developed by manufacturers. These have the potential to be time released or released based on very specific environmental triggers. This technology may not become available in the short term but has massive potential to increase chemical efficacy while reducing wastage.

With all these technological uncertainties, one thing is for certain, the role of the greenkeeper will remain an important one. ✽

AUTOMATED DECISION MAKING WEATHER STATION INTEGRATION Weather is something that affects us all. Golf course superintendents are some of the best informed amateur weather forecasters. Planning routine maintenance on the golf course always revolves around the weather forecast. Hollow coring, topdressing and applying herbicides all rely on the correct weather conditions for optimum results.

Recently, technology giant IBM acquired The Weather Company in a reported 2 billion dollar deal. This will give IBM access to over 2.2 billion weather forecasting stations

EAMON KEALY M.Hort.Sc is a lecturer in Horticulture, specialising in Sportsturf Management at Teagasc, Kildalton and can be contacted at eamon.kealy@teagasc.ie

Spring 2016 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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