Sunday People

Roam free with the Gtech Cordless Hedge Trimmer

- With DIARMUID GAVIN

“Excellent product. Very light, easy to use, long blade which makes hedge cutting quicker. Highly recommend.” Susan F. +++++

Regular trimming of your hedge will thicken it up and give it an incredible texture, but heavy trimmers, cables, and step ladders make hedge trimming a job that some people hate. Gtech’s cordless HT50 makes hedge trimming a pleasure.

Cordless Convenienc­e

With 60 minutes of runtime*, you can move freely around your garden without being tethered by cables or worrying about messy petrol. Running off a high torque 18V motor, the HT50 Hedge Trimmer supplies the power directly when needed. The lightweigh­t but super strong drive system is designed for refinement and quiet running, but don’t be fooled – the precision, laser cut blades power through branches up to 25mm thick. Leaving a clean cut is vital to promote a healthy hedge.

Long Reach

The Gtech HT50 Hedge Trimmer has an adjustable head that rotates through 135° so that you have full control over the cut of your hedge. The head adjusts downwards

so you can cut the top of your hedge easily, and upwards so that you can cut thorny hedges without scratching your arms.

Keep your hedges neat by cutting flat along the tops of hedges up to 10ft tall† using the 55cm long blade. The precision blades power through foliage, leaving clean cut, healthy stems which will bud out to create a beautiful,rich textured hedge.

Perfectly Balanced

Weighing only 2.94kg and accompanie­d by the harness, you can move freely around your garden without feeling anchored down. The HT50 is well balanced giving you a more enjoyable gardening experience without worrying about the weight.

Last week the nation celebrated Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’S Platinum Jubilee. The sun shone in good part and crowds enjoyed the pomp and ceremony and parades.

And I was at the unveiling of a commemorat­ive garden I designed to mark this occasion. Regular readers may remember the clockwork garden I created for Chelsea Flower Show some years ago. This garden has now found its forever home in the beautiful grounds of Antrim Castle Gardens in Northern Ireland.

At first glance it is a gentle garden of terraces and topiary in the Arts and Crafts style, complete with octagonal folly and sunken Italianate pond.

The planting is predominan­tly swathes of flowering perennials and evergreen topiary in the shape of conical bay trees and buxus

balls. The surprise occurs every 15 minutes when the garden springs to life and begins to move. Powered by undergroun­d machinery of motors, cogs and wheels, box balls set amid floral drifts start to bob up and down, the conical bay trees twirl and the circular bed packed with colourful gerberas moves around the folly like a carousel.

Happily, the sun was shining, and the herbaceous planting was a riot of colour.

Knautia macedonica

‘Melton Pastels’ is a nectar-rich perennial with delightful pincushion flowers in varying

Happily the sun was shining and herbaceous planting a riot of colour

After unveiling his clockwork

masterpiec­e, Diarmuid tours his favourite gardens in Northern

Ireland

shades of pink, rose and crimson and was attracting butterflie­s and bees.

Cottage garden favourites included Thalictrum ‘Black Stockings’, so called for its dark stems, and Baptisia ‘Lemon Meringue’, with delicious yellow flowers that contrasted beautifull­y with the dark black irises.

Salvia ‘Caradonna’ provided spikes of rich purple flowers and Achillea’s discs of acid yellow flat flowerhead­s mingled with vibrant orange Geum ‘Totally Tangerine’. Other easy-going perennials included the lovely violet-blue blossoms of Nepeta’s ‘Walker’s Low’, rich trumpet lilies, and the eye-catching sea holly Eryngium ‘Big Blue’.

I’d love you to come and see it and why not take in some of the great gardens of Northern Ireland while you’re there?

The walled gardens at Glenarm Castle further up the coast in County Antrim have lots to offer the garden visitor. The beautiful herbaceous borders, kitchen gardens, an amazing display of espaliered apple trees, a viewing mount, and indoor glasshouse­s are among the attraction­s and this year an additional woodland walk has been opened.

Mount Stewart on the shores of Strangford Lough in County Down is a personal favourite. The grand but quirky garden reflects a rich tapestry of design and great planting artistry that was the hallmark of its creator Edith, Lady Londonderr­y. The mild climate of Strangford Lough allows astonishin­g levels of planting experiment­ation. The formal areas exude a strong Mediterran­ean feel and resemble an Italian villa landscape. The wooded areas support a range of plants from all corners of the world, ensuring something to see whatever the season.

Finish off your horticultu­ral holiday with a trip to Castlewell­an Arboretum in County Down, home to an outstandin­g collection of trees and shrubs, including Chilean eucryphias, Australian athrotaxis and Chinese rhododendr­ons. The arboretum holds many trees with record heights in the British Isles.

 ?? ??
 ?? ?? Includes Branch Cutter Attachment
Includes Branch Cutter Attachment
 ?? ?? Adjustable head
Adjustable head
 ?? ?? BOLD MIX Salvia ‘Caradonna’ and acid yellow achillea
BOLD MIX Salvia ‘Caradonna’ and acid yellow achillea
 ?? ?? HONOUR Gates to the new garden at Antrim Castle
HONOUR Gates to the new garden at Antrim Castle
 ?? ?? CAROUSEL Colourful gerbera
CAROUSEL Colourful gerbera
 ?? ?? EXPLORE Antrim Castle
EXPLORE Antrim Castle
 ?? ?? SHOWY Eryngium ‘Big Blue’
SHOWY Eryngium ‘Big Blue’
 ?? ?? TOP TREES Castlewell­an Arboretum
TOP TREES Castlewell­an Arboretum
 ?? ?? BORDERS Glenarm Castle
BORDERS Glenarm Castle
 ?? ?? QUIRKY Mount Stewart
QUIRKY Mount Stewart

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