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“We need to create dialogue around sustainability,” says Benny Magennis as he takes a break from constructing the National Dairy Council’s (NDC) show garden, Embracing the Elements for Bloom 2023.
This 10m x 15m concept garden pays homage to the Irish climate. It is a natural arrangement of flora that is present around us in rural Ireland.
“There is still a disconnect from grass to glass, and we need to capture these opportunities to tell the dairy production story at a largely urban consumer event,” explains Cathy Curran, head of communications at the NDC.
In brainstorming for the design, Benny heeded the NDC brief – to promote our key commodity, the climate – and how it has supported the dairy production system and provided so much to so many.
“That is when I thought, if only you could box the climate and sell it. That is where the concept came from,” says Benny as he points to the garden’s centrepiece – a large installation of transparent green and blue boxes.
This triggered the metaphor for clouds, a nod to the cloud-based technology employed by dairy farmers. The box shape is a reference to the end product – milk, cream, butter, cheese and yoghurt. The blue and green represent the sky and the grass that provide a foundation for our farming systems.
“Our future survives in the clouds at present, be it the climate, technology or seasonal weather,” Benny tells Irish Country Living. “I wanted to reflect this in the show garden for the NDC by creating an impactful sculptural garden installation with a strong visual appearance.”
Overcoming adversity
This led to Benny working with The Good Plastic Company, a Ukrainian company based south of Lviv close to the border with Moldova.
“I did a bit of research and discovered this is the only company in the world doing 100% recycled material,” he says. “They are based in adversity at the minute but they are keeping positive and are really good company; very helpful, professional, creative.”
With a base in the Netherlands, the boxes were designed collaboratively over Zoom meetings, fabricated in Ukraine and then driven across Europe for delivery.
“It was my first time to use plastic, usually I work with timber and steel, but it is a designer’s job to introduce materials and concepts to people so I think it will add a lot to the whole picture,” he explains.
Turning the sod
After taking a phone call from the NDC in March that brought some very good news, Benny began working on the project. “Bord Bia are giving people the opportunity to follow their creativity. You will never achieve anything when you hide away so to have an event like this is so important to so many people,” he emphasises.
The site was lined out towards the end of April and with Benny’s wife Michelle keeping on top of the watering, the project has come together smoothly. Mixed multispecies sward was grown in Co Meath and brought in over two weeks ago to allow the grass settle in.
As the garden came together, good news came from Ukraine – The Good Plastic Company nominated the sculpture for The Dezine magazine awards in the sustainability category, so it is hoped there may be a win for this collaboration, as well as a successful Bloom 2023 for Benny and the National Dairy Council. CL
About Benny
Creative designer, Benny Magennis from Clontibret, Co Monaghan, is tasked with curating Embracing the Elements, the National Dairy Council’s garden at Bloom this year.
With a background in product and furniture design, he got into landscaping through COVID-19.
“I had my own furniture company in London and was involved in festivals such as Electric Picnic, Latitude in the UK and the Festival of Writing and Ideas in Borris, Co Carlow.
With more time on my hands during COVID, Silverstream Landscaping asked me to help them out on their design and it really went from there,” he explains.
“I always had a notion of getting into landscaping; any kind of design really, you name it, I like getting involved,” he adds with a broad smile.
Married to Michelle, from just down the road, they will celebrate their sixth wedding anniversary at Bloom this weekend.
Embracing the Elements What is a concept garden?
“A concept garden is like a concept car – it is not real, you are never going to drive it or plant it. It is a representation and for us in this case, it is a representation of a rural landscape,” explains Benny.
Recreating an old countryside field ditch, Benny borrowed from his neighbouring designers.
Digging up
“A lot of the gardeners dig down, so I dug up. As the other designers were digging into their plot, I asked them for their topsoil, to recreate some height that you would see in a field ditch.”
There is a walkway with grass growing up the middle and as people pass by, they comment on childhood memories.
“It is lovely, as we are all here preparing, people stop and tell nostalgic stories of their own childhood. For me, when the multispecies grass came in and I walked through it, I was brought back to running through my uncle Séan’s fields over in Clontibret,” says Benny.
“I am bringing it back to what we have all around us – our climate, our environment, the common trees and shrubs that are familiar but under-appreciated; the guelder rose, spindle, hawthorn, the silver birch.”
The National Dairy Council will host panel discussions and talks in the garden across the five days of Bloom 2023.
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