“I’m all about unusual foliage — the jungle look”
Paul Brady combines to great effect the knowledge he has learned as a student of horticulture with his interest in tropical-looking plants. His suburban garden in Ashtown, Dublin, shows what can be achieved in a small garden — a huge range of plants and dramatic foliage in soothing shades of green.
How he got started
“In my early teens, I had a job looking after a neighbour’s garden at weekends. He had a glasshouse and grew lots of things from seed, and he would give me leftovers which I would grow on.” After a stint in the civil service and a career in retail, Paul decided to study horticulture part-time and will embark on an exciting project when he finishes his course in April.
What he loves most
“I’m big into tree ferns, ferns and hostas. Tree ferns are tricky: you really have to look after them. I lost a Cyathea medullaris, the black tree fern, in a recent winter but I’ve replaced it and hopefully this one will survive. I also have a big collection of salvias and hostas.”
How he gardens
Although you wouldn’t think it when visiting Paul’s garden, he says he is not that much into design. “I’m more of a collector. I’m all about foliage, different shades of green, unusualshaped leaves. I like the jungle, tropical look. I like to look after plants, nurture them. I also like growing scented plants — they bring another dimension to the garden. I have Sarcococca in pots going up both sides of my steps and lots of Daphnes.”
I couldn’t be without…
“Having saucers for all my containers to help capture the rainwater and the hose water during those long, dry summer months. They are removed in winter so plants don’t get waterlogged.”
What to do now…
“There are lots of jobs to do at this time of year — washing out the glasshouse with a powerhose and cleaning old empty pots and seed trays with a weak bleach solution. Rose pruning is another important job and if you can get your hands on some manure, now is the time to put it on your roses. Now is also the time to take off old hydrangea flowers.”