Super attention for Shelly’s ‘sanctuary’
Garden show winner inundated with requests for advice after triumph
THE winning designer of RTÉ’s Super Garden says he’s been busy fielding queries from fans and customers as people have started to appreciate their gardens more during lockdown.
Mark Hoey, 32, was crowned the winner of Super Garden 2020 this week, and will have the chance to recreate his reflection-themed garden at Bloom next year.
Mark, originally from Co. Louth but living in Midleton, Co. Cork, created the design titled ‘Reflection’ for Shelly Gaynor, 40, who is a wheelchair user and disability and independent-living campaigner.
The landscape gardener’s diagonal design and reflective pools
‘It’s amazing from what it was before’
using dyed water gave a sense of space that caught the judges’ eye.
The show has provided inspiration for a new crop of avid gardeners turning their green fingers to their backyard during lockdown.
‘A lot of people are having a go at it themselves, which is great,’ Mark said.
‘Weirdly, I think it’s actually going to be really good for the landscaping industry because, obviously, people are realising how useful and how worthwhile their outdoor space is.
‘It’s definitely going to encourage people to get outside more and kind of think about their garden rather than just cut the grass every week and forget about it.’
He reckons ‘garden rooms’ with patios, paving and built-in barbecues and even patio heaters could become more popular again as people seek to entertain at home while they are still nervous of going to pubs or restaurants.
Mark has just gone out on his own and has been busy giving design advice since his episode aired.
‘There’s been a good bit of interest, I’ve had people ringing me up looking for designs and advice, so it’s worked out really well,’ he said.
The five finalists’ gardens started out as the identical backyards of a new social-housing development in Rowlestown, north Dublin.
He said he had picked up the inspiration for Shelly’s diagonal garden over the years as he has worked in the industry since he was 18.
‘I wanted to make quite a narrow space look a bit bigger,’ he said. ‘And maybe that was something a lot of people might not have seen before.’
Mark says there was a lot of debate among the judges about the design.
‘I know a lot of people think for wheelchair access maybe it should be more curved,’ he said.
‘I wanted to do something different, particularly for Shelly. I know she wanted a place to enjoy, and relax and spend time with her friends.
‘I just had to widen things out to make it more accessible for her, and then she had plenty of room to move around.’
Shelly is delighted with how her patch has turned out, as she now has plenty of space to entertain friends and family and enjoy the outdoors.
‘It is amazing from what it was before, it’s just unrecognisable,’ she said. ‘I think it is a super-deduperdy garden. I really think so.’