Mallow gearing up for garden fest
BY any standards it has been a miserable winter with the weather constantly playing havoc with the plans of even the most ardent amateur horticulturists.
However, the weather is expected to pick-up as we enter into the summer months and green-fingered enthusiasts are preparing to get out in the fresh air, indulge their passion and give their gardens some badly needed tender loving care.
The return of the annual Mallow Homes and Gardens Festival over the final weekend of May will offer people plenty of advice and inspiration to turn even the most jaded looking garden into a paradise of flora and fauna.
Once again the Cork Racecourse will be looking ‘ blooming marvellous’ for the three-day extravaganza, with thousands of visitors set to descend on the venue to take in the sights, sounds and smells of one of the largest events of its kind anywhere in the country.
The beating heart of the Festival will be the stunning collection of permanently maintained gardens created by Irish experts, many of which are enlarged and completely made over for one year to the next, ensuring they remain fresh and vibrant looking.
The emphasis this year will once again be on colour, with lots of new and unusual flowering and foliage plants to whet the appetite, renowned landscaper and event curator Darren Drummond showing people how to manage gardens in shady places, free hourly lectures and demonstrations by Charlie Wilkins and Peter Dowdall and advice from some of the country’s leading growers.
The Festival will also feature plenty of stalls selling a whole manner of ancillary gardening items.
Other attractions their year will include a pet show, vintage car collection, artisan food market, drone display, leisure expo and the return of the popular Taste of North Cork Experience.
Admission to the festival, which will run from May 26 – 28, will be €15, with concessions for seniors and children getting in for free.
There will be ample free parking on site or if you fancy avoiding the traffic and leaving the car at home a free bus shuttle service will operate from Mallow train station during the day.
For more information about the festival visit www.exhibitionsireland.ie.