‘The best time to plant a tree was 10 years ago; the second-best time is today,” advises Daragh Farren, head gardener of the well-known Killruddery Gardens, in Co Wicklow.
In April, Daragh will celebrate 24 years working in the estate and over that time, he has been part of transforming the gardens into what they are today, building up a wealth of knowledge through practical experience along the way.
“Horticulture is like farming; you can learn from the book, but it’s the years on the ground that are best for gaining experience and knowledge,” says Daragh.
Having studied at the National Botanic Gardens and TU Dublin, Daragh worked on the gardening team at the residence of the British Ambassador of Ireland.
When he joined Killruddery, he could count on his fingers the number of workers across the house and gardens. Now in the summer, with part-time workers, there could be up to 80 people.
“My job has changed a lot over the years. I was employed as the head gardener, but the gardens weren’t in great shape. Everything was less organised and commercial. I also had fewer staff working with me as there were only two part-timers in the summer; now I have four full-time staff and one part-time person in the summer,” he says.
The garden is officially 86 acres, with 20 acres of grass, 3.5 miles of hedges, long flowering borders, ancient trees and the walled garden.
“It’s a very important formal garden; it is the best example of a French formal garden in Ireland by a long way. I was 28 when I came here. I remember not long after I arrived being at the launch of the restored orangery. It’s a magnifient garden,” says Daragh.
When asked to describe his job in three words Daragh doesn’t hesitate: “Maintenance, restoration and development.
“We were uncovering some of the stuff that, because of time, had been buried. I needed to slow down that slight degradation. You can’t do anything without time and resources, so gradually, we turned it around,” he says.
Machinery and equipment
Head gardener Daragh takes enormous pride in showing us around Killruddery House and Gardens, Co Wicklow, where he has worked for 24 years. \ Tom Clarke
In the early years, the two pieces of machinery Daragh worked on were an old Kubota ride-on mower that didn’t have a mowing deck on it and an agricultural 1970s Massey Ferguson 35.
“The Massey used to rip the arms out of you as it was very heavy and had no power steering. The lawn in front of the house used to be maintained with a gang mower, and I used to go around with a pedestrian lawnmower cutting around the edges after. I never went home on time,” he says, laughing.
With advancements in technology, they now have a huge variety of machines to help with the upkeep and maintenance of the garden, which is necessary, due to the size of the estate.
On a domestic scale, Daragh’s has plenty of advice for essential tools for groundcare. “Keep it simple, you can’t beat a good spade and fork. And when it comes to a lawnmower, make sure it’s reliable.
Horticulture is like farming; you can learn from the book, but it’s the years on the ground that are best for gaining experience and knowledge
“Real priorities are secateurs, shears, spade, hoe, fork and the basics. The hedges around my own house nearly kill me twice a year. If people only need certain tools twice a year, they can always hire them. It’s an option not to be forgotten about, as you don’t have to store it or pay for maintenance,” he explains.
One of the most frequently used pieces of equipment around the grounds is an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) which pulls a trailer. He also takes pride in keeping the tool shed clean, as it makes it easier to find equipment and stops things from going on a walkabout.
Originally Daragh was sceptical about using battery-powered equipment; then he was given some machines to try out for a couple of weeks and the battery life was better than he thought.
“Some machines are more suited to it than others; a blower, for example, takes a lot of power to run. So it quickly runs the battery down. We keep the batteries in a picnic box that is insulated because if they get very cold, you can’t charge them, and you have to let them come back to room temperature,” says Daragh.
No mow areas
The Killruddery House and Gardens, Co Wicklow. \ Tom Clarke
The top two levels of the garden in front of the house are left to grow during the summer, and no mowing takes place.
This has resulted in less maintenance for the team. Daragh has seen a bit more activity from the likes of rafters hunting in the long grass as a result.
“What you don’t want is the grass being too vigorous. Yellow-rattle is a well-known parasitic plant that will reduce the vigour of meadow grasses. So, we’ve planted several pockets of that around the place and are hoping it will spread,” he says.
For the areas closest to the house, they like to keep them looking smarter for visitors with lines in the grass. They try to avoid feeding, and let the grass grow a bit longer and let the clippings fall. A pedestrian mower that has a roller on it is used, to avoid the tramlines from the wheels of the mower on the ground.
Coming into early spring, Daragh and his team are starting to think about the public flocking back into the gardens from 1 April.
“All of the lawn areas are looking pretty nice now, they were mowed for the first time last week, because we don’t put the time into looking after them when we’re doing other things. We have been doing a lot of mulching and bits of pruning and cleaning areas and beds up, getting them ready for spring growth,” he says.
A big part of his job over the last three years is growing cut flowers to be used for weddings, around the house and for the restaurant.
“It’s a 600 square metre border, which is big, and the majority of the plants that come in are annuals. We raise thousands of plants from seed, and the greenhouse will be filled by late May. It’s a big chunk of work every year, it’s relatively new to us and it has been a sharp learning curve,” says Daragh.
They have daffodils for early cut flowers and are growing 30% perennials that will grow back every year. The rest will be annuals.
Daragh says they have not used chemicals such as weed killer in the walled garden in years, but this is the first year they will not use any throughout the whole garden.
This switch is part of an effort to run the gardens in an environmentally and sustainable fashion, and they have to walk the walk.
“Time will tell how it goes,” he says. “We plan to use burners and a rake on the back of a golf buggy to gather up weeds on the path. Other measures that we are considering include planting chamomile, which suppresses weeds.”
Killruddery House and Garden tours run Tuesday-Sunday, across April-October.
The garden entry for adults is €10.50 and €4 for children. For more information, see killruddery.com
‘The best time to plant a tree was 10 years ago; the second-best time is today,” advises Daragh Farren, head gardener of the well-known Killruddery Gardens, in Co Wicklow.
In April, Daragh will celebrate 24 years working in the estate and over that time, he has been part of transforming the gardens into what they are today, building up a wealth of knowledge through practical experience along the way.
“Horticulture is like farming; you can learn from the book, but it’s the years on the ground that are best for gaining experience and knowledge,” says Daragh.
Having studied at the National Botanic Gardens and TU Dublin, Daragh worked on the gardening team at the residence of the British Ambassador of Ireland.
When he joined Killruddery, he could count on his fingers the number of workers across the house and gardens. Now in the summer, with part-time workers, there could be up to 80 people.
“My job has changed a lot over the years. I was employed as the head gardener, but the gardens weren’t in great shape. Everything was less organised and commercial. I also had fewer staff working with me as there were only two part-timers in the summer; now I have four full-time staff and one part-time person in the summer,” he says.
The garden is officially 86 acres, with 20 acres of grass, 3.5 miles of hedges, long flowering borders, ancient trees and the walled garden.
“It’s a very important formal garden; it is the best example of a French formal garden in Ireland by a long way. I was 28 when I came here. I remember not long after I arrived being at the launch of the restored orangery. It’s a magnifient garden,” says Daragh.
When asked to describe his job in three words Daragh doesn’t hesitate: “Maintenance, restoration and development.
“We were uncovering some of the stuff that, because of time, had been buried. I needed to slow down that slight degradation. You can’t do anything without time and resources, so gradually, we turned it around,” he says.
Machinery and equipment
Head gardener Daragh takes enormous pride in showing us around Killruddery House and Gardens, Co Wicklow, where he has worked for 24 years. \ Tom Clarke
In the early years, the two pieces of machinery Daragh worked on were an old Kubota ride-on mower that didn’t have a mowing deck on it and an agricultural 1970s Massey Ferguson 35.
“The Massey used to rip the arms out of you as it was very heavy and had no power steering. The lawn in front of the house used to be maintained with a gang mower, and I used to go around with a pedestrian lawnmower cutting around the edges after. I never went home on time,” he says, laughing.
With advancements in technology, they now have a huge variety of machines to help with the upkeep and maintenance of the garden, which is necessary, due to the size of the estate.
On a domestic scale, Daragh’s has plenty of advice for essential tools for groundcare. “Keep it simple, you can’t beat a good spade and fork. And when it comes to a lawnmower, make sure it’s reliable.
Horticulture is like farming; you can learn from the book, but it’s the years on the ground that are best for gaining experience and knowledge
“Real priorities are secateurs, shears, spade, hoe, fork and the basics. The hedges around my own house nearly kill me twice a year. If people only need certain tools twice a year, they can always hire them. It’s an option not to be forgotten about, as you don’t have to store it or pay for maintenance,” he explains.
One of the most frequently used pieces of equipment around the grounds is an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) which pulls a trailer. He also takes pride in keeping the tool shed clean, as it makes it easier to find equipment and stops things from going on a walkabout.
Originally Daragh was sceptical about using battery-powered equipment; then he was given some machines to try out for a couple of weeks and the battery life was better than he thought.
“Some machines are more suited to it than others; a blower, for example, takes a lot of power to run. So it quickly runs the battery down. We keep the batteries in a picnic box that is insulated because if they get very cold, you can’t charge them, and you have to let them come back to room temperature,” says Daragh.
No mow areas
The Killruddery House and Gardens, Co Wicklow. \ Tom Clarke
The top two levels of the garden in front of the house are left to grow during the summer, and no mowing takes place.
This has resulted in less maintenance for the team. Daragh has seen a bit more activity from the likes of rafters hunting in the long grass as a result.
“What you don’t want is the grass being too vigorous. Yellow-rattle is a well-known parasitic plant that will reduce the vigour of meadow grasses. So, we’ve planted several pockets of that around the place and are hoping it will spread,” he says.
For the areas closest to the house, they like to keep them looking smarter for visitors with lines in the grass. They try to avoid feeding, and let the grass grow a bit longer and let the clippings fall. A pedestrian mower that has a roller on it is used, to avoid the tramlines from the wheels of the mower on the ground.
Coming into early spring, Daragh and his team are starting to think about the public flocking back into the gardens from 1 April.
“All of the lawn areas are looking pretty nice now, they were mowed for the first time last week, because we don’t put the time into looking after them when we’re doing other things. We have been doing a lot of mulching and bits of pruning and cleaning areas and beds up, getting them ready for spring growth,” he says.
A big part of his job over the last three years is growing cut flowers to be used for weddings, around the house and for the restaurant.
“It’s a 600 square metre border, which is big, and the majority of the plants that come in are annuals. We raise thousands of plants from seed, and the greenhouse will be filled by late May. It’s a big chunk of work every year, it’s relatively new to us and it has been a sharp learning curve,” says Daragh.
They have daffodils for early cut flowers and are growing 30% perennials that will grow back every year. The rest will be annuals.
Daragh says they have not used chemicals such as weed killer in the walled garden in years, but this is the first year they will not use any throughout the whole garden.
This switch is part of an effort to run the gardens in an environmentally and sustainable fashion, and they have to walk the walk.
“Time will tell how it goes,” he says. “We plan to use burners and a rake on the back of a golf buggy to gather up weeds on the path. Other measures that we are considering include planting chamomile, which suppresses weeds.”
Killruddery House and Garden tours run Tuesday-Sunday, across April-October.
The garden entry for adults is €10.50 and €4 for children. For more information, see killruddery.com
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