Go west

The gardening press in England is often criticised for being parochial. The Scots I meet never miss an opportunity to remind me of this but you could argue that Irish gardens and gardeners are more at the margins of our consciousness. Geographical distance is a major factor, of course, but against that must be set a common pre-20th-century gardening heritage — among the moneyed classes, at least — as well as a common language, temperate maritime climate and, in the case of Northern Ireland, citizenship.

Indeed, if it were not for the impact made by an irrepressible trio of contemporary horticulturists, I suspect that Irish gardening would be largely ignored by English gardeners. These three are Helen Dillon, whose garden in Dublin has been made famous and enviable by her many lively books and articles, Diarmuid Gavin, who plies his garden-design trade in England but retains strong links with Ireland, and the late and much-lamented Ulster landscaper, garden broadcaster and writer, John Cushnie.