Four Seasons of Interest in your Irish Garden

When selecting plants for your garden, aim for a variety that offers appeal in every season. This way, each time of year will bring its own richness and visual interest.

Helleborus nigra, Raheny, Dublin in February

How to make the most of a space:

• Double up your planting – plant spring bulbs close to the crown of summer perennials

• Choose plants which multi-task across seasons – like hawthorn, which has flowers in spring and berries in winter.

• Think layers – from ground covers to climbers, a well-layered garden has something happening at every height.

Spring (March to May)

After the cold, dark stretch of winter, spring is a popular time for gardening in Ireland.  Spring is the perfect time for patching up any bare bits in your borders as the soil is warming up and is still moist.

Magnolia, Botanic Gardens, Dublin in March

Plants which look great in spring:

• Spring bulbs like crocus, tulips, and daffodils, are among the first flowers to bloom.

• Spring biennials and perennials – such as foxglove (Digitalis) and primose (Primula).

• Spring blossoming trees – like Amelanchier, cherry trees (Prunus), and Magnolia – are fleeting, but worth it for a few weeks of beauty.

Primula denticulata, Leitrim Flowers, in April.

Try planting up a few containers with spring plants and put them somewhere you pass often – by the back door or near the kitchen window. It gives you a chance to admire them every day, and they can be moved into beds to return next year once they’re done.

Foxglove (digitalis) Raheny, Dublin in May.

Summer (June to August)

Gardens in summer burst with vibrant colour as herbaceous perennials bloom in every shade, shape, and form, offering a display unmatched at any other time of the year.

Salvia microphylla, Raheny in June.

Summer staples include:

• Annuals – bedding plants like cosmos and snapdragons will flower for many months

• Herbaceous perennials – the list is endless, but some long-flowering reliables include hard geraniums, Achillea, and Salvia.

• Climbers – such as clematis and sweet peas for height

• Look out for flowering shrubs such as for roses and Hebe.

  
  

And don’t forget the bees and butterflies love a garden full of pollen and nectar-rich flowers.

Drift of Achillea in a flowerbed in Dublin in July

Autumn (September to November)

A garden can often peak in autumn, with a mix of the overspill of late flowering plants and leaves on some trees turning beautiful shades of yellow, orange and red.

Hydrangea paniculata, Hillsborough Castle, County Down, in September.

Plants which look gorgeous in autumn

• Late-flowering plants - shrubs like Hydrangea carry flowers into early autumn.

• Trees with beautiful autumn colour - like Japanese maple (Acer), Sorbus, Amelanchier and crab apple (Malus).

  
  

  

  Autumn colour in RHS Wisley

Winter (December to February)

Winter is a time of year when most plants have died back and this is when evergreen plants and trees with interesting shapes or barks come into their own.

The bark of Tibetan Cherry (Prunus serrula) in December

Winter interest plants:

• Winter bark and stems – Tibetan Cherry (Prunus serrula), birch, and colourful dogwoods (Cornus) all offer beautiful texture.

• Don't cut back Rudbeck and Sedum until spring; they have attractive seedheads that can look gorgeous in winter, especially if they happen to catch a bit of frost.

• Evergreens such as Viburnum tinus, Skimmia, and Choisya ternata ensure some lushness when most of the garden has died back.

• Winter bulbs such as snowdrops.

• Hellebores provide some colour and life in the garden this time of year.

As we don’t sit in the garden as much in winter, position your winter interest where you’ll see it from indoors – the kitchen sink or the living room window.

Viburnum tinus, Dublin in February

A garden that delights you all year doesn’t need to be a big, grand affair. Just a bit of planning. With the right mix of plants, you’ll always have something to look forward to!