Garden of Hope Project 2007

Freedom Park Site Overview of plan

Dominic Loughran is a Belfast born garden designer and gardening columnist. He approached the Niall Mellon Townships Initiative with the idea to build a Communal garden in conjunction with their house building project for 2007. The Niall Mellon Townships Trust is a house-building charity building houses for people whom are currently living in shacks in Cape Town, South Africa.It is hoped that the garden will become the central meeting point for the community, a place to play, meet, contemplate and enjoy the surroundings. The garden will be built on a designated site in Freedom Park, Cape Town on approx. 800 square metres . The plan includes;
A 160 square metre community hall
A gable wall (Direct replica of Free Derry Corner) – Murals to be painted on back and front of gable
120 linear metres of walled seating, the walls of the seats
2 spherical hanging steel garden seats
5 play areas including, swings slides and climbing frames
5 patio areas
A double sided mirror image of Africa as central feature standing 2.5 metres high
A central water feature
Concrete archways over pathways
Path ways using giant stepping stones
A vast array of mature, semi mature and young plants, shrubs and climbers
60 volunteers will build the garden in one week from the 2 nd to the 10 th of November 2007; each volunteer must raise at least €4,000 to participate in the project. This is a very ambitious project, the volunteers will be working from early in the morning until late into the evening to achieve our goal and finish on time.
We need your help to raise sufficient funds to complete this challenge, all contributions are welcome. Please give generously; all cheques should be made payable to the ‘Niall Mellon Trust’, and sent to either address below.
Garden of Hope Project, 54 Horn Drive, Belfast BT11 9NF
Garden of Hope Project 2 Earlsfort Glade,Lucan, Co. Dublin.
Phone: 00353-1-6249612, Mobile: 00353-87-2854602,
or email: info@dreamgardens.ie
Web: http://www.dreamgardens.ie/

Lighting

I just got home from work, its 7.10pm and it’s dark, if you’re like me you’ll get your dinner and then perhaps get a chance to get out into the back garden for a cuppa and a ciggy! I have plenty of lights in my own garden and therefore its easy for me to find my way around, but if you have not yet invested in a good lighting system now is a great time to get cracking!
You get two gardens for the price of one with a good lighting system. Many of our gardens have plenty of day time clutter, kids bikes, swings – those awful trampolines and the dreaded washing line! A lighting system can shadow off these areas and highlight the better parts of our gardens, giving light to the entertaining areas and masking off the unwanted areas. Cleaver lighting is an essential ingredient in a well designed garden and the variety of lighting available today is stunning.
A good lighting plan is vital to getting it all right. Testing the scheme at night, moving highlights and introducing shadow areas will make your garden a haven at night. Motion sensor spot lights are not what we are talking about here, garden lighting should be elegant and graceful it should highlight the best areas and shadow the others. Your underwear may be very fancy, but you don’t want to put a spot light underneath it to show it off at night!

There are three main categories of lighting,

Mains lighting
Low voltage lighting
Solar powered lighting

Mains lighting is of course the biggest and brightest of the bunch, it must be installed and commissioned by an expert, it not the sort of stuff you want to mess up over a weekend project. Mains lighting connected through dimmer junctions can be used to vary the output of lights and this is a great feature to have. The ability to dim all or individual lights is a very nice feature to your lighting display. Junction boxes are widely available for outdoor use with dimmer capabilities and are also available with remote control. Safety is paramount and suitable cable and trip switches must be used. Mains lights are usually the most expensive of the group, as there lighting capabilities require better construction and safety standards.

Low voltage lights are easy to install, very economical to buy and also to use. Again installation by an expert is advisable. In this category you’ll find all sorts of lights available, spotlights, path lights, strip lights and down lights. The lighting industry as a whole has really made the effort to make this range user friendly and attractive. The introduction of LED’s has again widened the market and the range of LED lights is fantastic. LED are particularly useful as spot lights they give a great amount of light as compared to their use of power. There is also a great range of lights available that can be inserted into decks and patio’s, walls and also mounted lights.

Solar lights are certainly becoming more popular and I would love to say that they could be used solely in a scheme but to date they just haven’t come up to the mark in output. They can of course be used as a permanent lighting source which compliments the other two groups. They are very easy to install good value and have zero running costs. I would imagine that over the next few years solar lights will get even better, the advantage of having no cables is fantastic as it reduces safety requirements, it means that anyone can install them and they are also easy to move around to change scheme if required.

You should be able to find a few bargains as most of the big stores are clearing out for Christmas stock. You should seek advice from the stores and always read the instructions carefully. Good luck – Lights action!

Vine Weevil

Vine Weevil – Aren’t they pretty!

Vine weevil (Otiorhynchus sulcatus)

I’ve noticed over the last few weeks in particular vine weevils on the back wall of my house. Over this period I have counted 20 or so and this is quite unusual. They say if you see one there are thousands of others around the same area. On close inspection around the garden I have noticed their presence; many of the shrubs have evidence of this little pest.
They are certainly not a pretty pest, they come from the beetle family, and they are about 9mm long, dull black with pear shaped bodies and have long distinctive noses. Even the name is a bit creepy!
Adult weevils do cause leaf damage but they do not normally effect the plants growth. Weevils cannot fly but they are prolific climbers and this is where if I run into them in past weeks. They in fact move quite slowly so they are easy to catch and place elsewhere. Vine weevils attack a wide range of plants with tough waxy leaves, such as laurel, bay, Viburnum, ornamental ivy, and of course, grape vines.
Adults eat notches out of the sides of the leaves; the soil-living larvae can kill pot plants by biting the roots off below the surface.
It’s not the adult that we must be careful of its their young! Vine weevil grubs attack plants growing in pots or other containers, out of doors or under cover, can be severely affected by vine weevil grubs. Plants growing in the open ground are less likely to be damaged, although the grubs sometimes kill strawberries, primulas, polyanthus, Sedum, Heuchera and young yew plants.
The adult weevils feed on the foliage of many herbaceous plants and shrubs, especially Rhododendron, evergreen Euonymus, Hydrangea, Epimedium, Bergenia, Primula and strawberry.

Gardener's plans for barrack site

Landscape gardener and Andersonstown News columnist Dominic Loughran has come up with a plan to transform the former Andersonstown Barracks site into a tranquil oasis.Dominic, from Andersonstown, proposes to create a garden and introduce a tower of reflection to replace the watchtower, which was previously on the site.The Department for Social Development’s (DSD) decision to hand over the site for the development of apartments has been met with strong opposition by local residents.Dominic’s plans show the entrance to the garden as a large patio area in the shape of a footprint – he says it’s a dual symbol of a giant step – a step in faith by the communities of Ireland and a step of the mythical Finn MacCool. To get to the main area, visitors must cross water over a small timber bridge. The water runs all around the watchtower, meeting a water fountain to the rear of the garden. The water fountain is surrounded by preformed columns inspired by the Giant’s Causeway.The central feature of the garden is that watchtower but unlike the baleful security tower which rose over local homes, the cedar-clad watchtower has a stainless steel column and glass-bordered staircase and deck. The stainless steel column is reflective and from any angle on the main deck of the watchtower visitors would be able to see a reflection of the city landscape. The staircase leads to a main decking area above; the main deck would have a selection of seating and table arrangements. “The proposal is made with the intention of bringing an area of beauty to the community, increasing nature through wildlife, introducing the landscape to visitors and as a place to look forward to the future without forgetting our past,” said Dominic.Dominic’s proposal has been submitted to the West Belfast Partnership Board.Meanwhile, residents and their supporters will hold a ‘Reclaim Our Site Festival’ this Sunday to reclaim community ownership of the former Andersonstown Barracks site and to express their opposition to the DSD’s decision to hand over the iconic public space for private development. Residents feel strongly that, after enduring the presence of an RUC barracks for more than 35 years, the community should have had a full say in determining the future of the site.
ApartmentsThe Stop the Sell-Off Campaign (SSOC) has called for a new, inclusive and binding public consultation. Two weeks ago, SSOC handed in a petition signed by more than 1,000 local residents demanding that the site be kept public and used for the benefit of the community rather than handed over for the construction of apartments, as the plan approved by the DSD proposes. “The DSD decision is typical of the way ‘regeneration’ works in the ‘new’ Northern Ireland, where a handful of private developers have more say in key decisions being made about our future than whole communities do,” said Brian Kelly of SSOC.“The DSD plan for the former barracks site is the most obscene example of a trend that is affecting people right across every community in Belfast and beyond,” he added.The Festival will run from 12 noon to 4pm, and will include music and entertainment for all ages. Award-winning West Belfast hip-hop team Rapture Crew have been invited to perform. Traditional musicians from the Andersonstown School of Music will also entertain the crowd, along with the bands Bréag, Tin Pot Operation and Cruncher. There will be bouncy castles, face-painting and games for children. The Festival was formerly scheduled for September 15 but was postponed after the murder of Harry Holland, who was a strong supporter of the campaign. Organisers will also honour Harry’s legacy as part of the day’s festivities. l The West Belfast Partnership Board are hosting a consultative forum and anyone who has any ideas for the site can contact Gerry McConville or the West Belfast Partnership Board office, Falls Road, on 90 809202.
28/09/2007