Garden designer makes history as first Irish person to win gold at prestigious Australian flower show

AN award-successful backyard designer has made heritage by turning into the initial Irish person to win a medal at a prestigious Australian flower show.

Peter Donegan won a Gold Medal with The Bam Stone Back garden at Melbourne Intercontinental Flower and Backyard Display 2023 – earning him the to start with at any time Irish designer to earn a medal at the internationally renowned demonstrate.

He is also the 1st Irish human being to design and show a present back garden for the yearly opposition.

His winning entry was one of only five to get the Gold Demonstrate Back garden Award at the 2023 celebration which ran from March 29 to April 2.

Peter Donegan (centre) and workforce pictured at their medal-successful garden

The set up, a 200 sq. meter show backyard, was produced by Semken Landscaping, who have been building gardens given that 1987 and are the most medalled contractor in the flower show’s history.

The Bam Stone boasted the Dublin-born designer’s modern vision of a really like tale, depicting two hearts divided by a compact island off the coast of Galway to the mainland, and it quickly became popular between the 120,000 website visitors to the Melbourne demonstrate, which took area at environment heritage internet site The Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens.

Describing the function, the Peter Donegan Yard Style staff stated: “Featuring a collection of normal bluestone steps that symmetrically weave their way through a rocky landscape, recognisant of the journey produced across the Atlantic from the Connemara coastline, the vacation spot turned a limestone (moleanus) island that includes planting, shelter, and a solitary autumnal 8 metre tall Liriodendron tulipifera reflecting across the black drinking water, a beacon to those people who wish to return to their adore.”

They increase: “From a garden construction viewpoint the style and design and construct was a daring one particular on a website where just one are unable to penetrate or dig in any way down below floor of the Unesco secured world heritage web-site and grew to become the largest at any time garden featuring h2o in the show’s record and the most complicated create Donegan and Semken have ever carried out.

Peter Donegan’s Irish backyard garden depicts a enjoy tale

“The tale, albeit interpretive, is of a man hoping, in actuality in vain that on the island his beau and he will satisfy and be collectively.

“That even so is of a daydream and totally plausible by sole virtue of creativeness and daydreams exactly where their impossible gets attainable and separation by drinking water no longer exists.

“The back garden is also consultant of love’s numerous sorts – unrequited love, accurate love saved aside by length, or unconditional lovers no for a longer time physically collectively but never ever forgotten in the coronary heart.”

In 2001, aged 24, Ms Donegan launched Peter Donegan Backyard Style in Dublin.

It quickly gained a host of awards for 17th and 18th century gardens made and exhibit gardens at countrywide competitors.

From 2019 to 2022 The RHS silver medallist grew to become the series back garden designer for Ireland’s most viewed tv set clearly show and RTE television’s Do-it-yourself SOS The Big Develop Ireland.

In the course of his time in Australia, Mr Donegan uncovered time to visitor lecture at The Royal Botanic Gardens in Victoria and at Melbourne University.