Dominic West and Catherine FitzGerald welcome Spring with new festival

ONE COUNTY will be in full bloom this April as a new gardening festival is set to take place, where Glin Castle’s very own Catherine FitzGerald will welcome visitors - who might learn how to build a pool alongside actor Dominic West.

Founded by Catherine FitzGerald and Minnie Preston, The Festival of Gardens and Nature will take place in Ballintubbert House, Laois, from April 20 to 21.

Catherine is the co-founder of Lutyens & FitzGerald Landscape Design. She rescued Glin Castle, which was in her family for 700 years, from being sold and turned it into a hotel alongside her husband, Dominic West.

Growing up, Catherine was surrounded by plants and quickly developed a “great interest” in them.

“I'm a garden designer and I am passionate about plants. I grew up at Glin Castle and sort of developed a great interest in it. I visited gardens with my family when I was little, like down in Kerry, Derreen Garden is what really inspired me, these slightly coastal gardens are very special,” she said.

According to the designer, events take place in Ireland with wonderful botanists who travel from across the globe to talk about their work. However, Catherine and Minnie felt there was a “missing link” in the offering.

“Every year, there’s 1,500 new species of plants discovered, so that era of plant exploration isn't over. It's still alive and kicking and these are the people doing it,” Catherine explained.

“We felt there was a missing link in the offering and that we could fill that gap as those events are quite focused, we wanted to broaden it out to beginners, people who are starting out gardening or those interested in the current situation we're in with climate change.”

From sustainable living to plan evolution to musical performance, The Festival of Gardens and Nature promises to have something to offer to everyone - and you can even learn how to build a natural swimming pool.

“My husband actually has built a natural swimming pool with a very sustainable method, which he learned from David Butler, who he found on the web. I think some of the people who maybe won't be going to the floristry event might like that, because it's about digging a pond,” Catherine noted.

Would she bring a similar festival to Glin?

“We're definitely going to bring it to Glin at some point. That would be wonderful for me to be able to do something creative with showcasing the gardens there like that,” she said.

Speaking of the festival, she added: “It's got a wonderful, friendly vibe, which we wanted to create with our festival and perhaps that makes it a little bit different to some of the other conferences and symposiums. This is meant to be fun as well.

There will be food trucks, and organic coffee. It should be a really nice day out, to break us into proper spring after this very rainy wet winter.”

You can find the full programme of events via www.festivalofgardensandnature.com