November 2007 & plans for 2008
Dominic Loughran is a Belfast born garden designer and gardening columnist. He approached the Niall Mellon Townships Trust with the idea to build a Communal garden in conjunction with their house building project for 2007. 54 volunteers completed the project in just 6 days. The project was a huge success and the garden team are hoping to build upon this success by building a larger garden so that more of the community can utilise this greatly needed facility.
‘We thought that we would be giving the community a great gift of a communal garden, the gift in reality came from the community, they gave to us a sense of pride and appreciation we have never had before’
Dominic Loughran
BEFORE:
AFTER:
THE PLAN FOR 2008
INSPIRED BY THE VOLUNTEERS FROM 2007, THE GARDEN IS BASED ON A CETIC VOYAGE.
The boat represents our journey, the water brings life and rebirth to the area, the raised hills show the up’s and downs, and the circles represent the unity of our communities. There is lots of interest and features in the garden for all of the community to benefit.
The community hall will be inclusive in the garden project, the theme is inspired by the Celts , the hall and outer walls will be have a castle effect. The outer wall will have six outposts making the entire area similar to a fort.
Other items in the garden include,
Raised cross shaped lawns
Celtic boat – The boat will sit in a central pool, with water flowing down both sides from a raised water fall to the front of the boat, two bridges will allow access to the boat (although the water will be approx 1 metre deep and galvanished grid will sit under the water level to make the feature safe for children to play without loosing the asthetics of the feature itself)
Circle of chairs – this is a contemplation area, eight high back concrete chairs in circular fomation will sit on either side of the garden – perfect for watching the children reading a book, saying a pray or having a chat.
The Maze – a 1.5 metre high maze – will keep the children guessing for many years to come!
The vegtable garden – 4 large raised vegatable plots will be included in this years garden – our top gardeners will be holding seminars during the week to give the locals a helping hand and lots of advise on how to grow your own!
The play areas – Swings, slides, climbing frames and a few surprises – just to keep the team on their toes! Plenty for all age groups and curiousity levels – last year we also built a basketball court, in 2008 we will also build another feature yet to be revealed!
Plants, Plants, Plants – Last year we planted over 1600 native species, in approx 250 cubic metres of compost, and laid 250 square metres of lawn. In 2008 we expect to plant over 2500 plants , 350 cubic metres of compost and 600 square metres of lawn – not bad for six days!
This year’s garden was referred to by the locals of Freedom Park as the heart of their community. We thought that we would be giving the community a great gift of a communal garden, the gift in reality came from the community, they gave to us a sense of pride and appreciation we have never had before.
100 volunteers will build the garden and community hall in 2008; each volunteer must raise at least €5,000 to participate in the project.
It is again intended that the vast majority of materials used in the garden will be donated by Irish and local suppliers. In 2007 South Africa’s, members of the Cape Green Forum and the South African Landscape Institute donated almost all of the landscape supplies and plants for the garden, in 2008 we need to encourage further donations and also look for new products, plants and materials that can be used by the community to assist in their own sustainability.
In 2008 we will be attempting to establish a grow your our programme, our top gardeners will help encourage the growth of plants, fruit and vegetables in the community, and in the schools. All seed donations are particularly welcome.
Again, this is a very ambitious project, the volunteers will be working from early in the morning until late into the evening to achieve our goal and finish on time.
We need your help to raise sufficient funds to complete this challenge, all contributions are welcome.
Please give generously; all cheques should be made payable to the ‘Niall Mellon Township Trust’, and sent to either address below:
Garden of Hope Project,
54 Horn Drive,
Belfast
BT11 9NF
Garden of Hope Project
2 Earlsfort Glade,
Lucan,
Co. Dublin.
Phone: 00353-1-6249612, Mobile: 00353-87-2854602,
or email: info@dreamgardens.ie
Web: www.dreamgardens.ie
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