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David Domoney, new ambassador of Garden Show Ireland
Northern Ireland World
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05/04/2025
David Domoney, new ambassador of Garden Show Ireland
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Lifestyle
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00:00
So we're in Antrim Castle Gardens here where in a few months time Garden Show
00:05
Ireland will be held and David you've got the lovely job of being the new
00:10
ambassador for the show. How did you get involved? Well I got involved I was
00:14
giving some talks at a local garden centre, Colmans, over the last two years
00:19
and I've had very good audiences and I'm talking on a variety of different topics
00:24
on the magic of plants and wildlife and nature and how easy it is to get
00:29
involved in gardening and get great results and feed the family at the same
00:32
time and I seem to have amassed quite a following with that and got a chance to
00:38
meet and come round to the gardens here on several occasions. I even did the
00:42
Enchanted Garden walk as well, it's amazing. So by meeting all the people
00:48
everybody felt that bringing a horticulturalist with a passion for
00:53
plants and gardens into the show was a good idea and I'm delighted.
00:59
And how do you expect your role to develop just in the months leading up
01:04
to the show? Well there's a big change because today, funnily enough, is the launch
01:08
of my new book Plants with Superpowers which highlights different varieties of
01:12
plants with unique abilities, how a potato can charge your mobile phone, it's
01:18
sort of like a little electrochemical battery a potato or that snowdrops have
01:23
antifreeze or the simple things like the Venus flytrap as a calcium clock
01:28
and can count. So I'm looking for genuinely interesting things that even
01:32
people who aren't interested in gardening can be amazed at. They're great
01:36
facts to get kids involved in gardening but they're so very unique and shows the
01:41
real characteristics of plants that you can't help but want to know more. So my
01:46
real role is to try and enthuse people with the beauty of plants and deeper
01:51
stories behind them and what makes them so special. And Garden Show Ireland always
01:57
attracts a big following, it's a very popular event. What can people expect to
02:02
see this year? Well this year, first off we're doing a big community garden
02:07
project where we've got a big competition with wheelbarrows and there's
02:11
about 40 entrants, different communities, some kids, I think the Mayor's putting
02:15
one in as well, community groups, sport groups and whatever are all creating
02:20
their own little wheelbarrows. I've set the theme Movies, so each wheelbarrow
02:25
will replicate a movie, could be Jaws, could be Jurassic Park, could be anything
02:31
really, so that's going to be a lot of fun. So there's a lot of community
02:34
activities and everybody gets a chance to judge them as well. I'm doing an
02:38
exhibit too, Gardening in Glass, with the popularity of terrariums and bottle
02:43
gardens and goldfish bowls and all sorts. I'll be creating a full exhibit of
02:47
beautiful pieces of glass with very unusual plants in them and of course
02:52
there's everything else. There's the Garden Festival itself, marvellous trade
02:56
stands, opportunity to buy plants to take back to your own garden, other show
03:00
gardens and of course walking the beautiful gardens themselves make a
03:04
difference and of course the occasional gin and tonic or a nice cup of coffee
03:08
and relax to be out in with nature. So there's lots going on and there will be
03:12
people here who have lots of experience in gardening and people who have next to
03:17
no experience. What would your three tips be to anybody who wants to get
03:21
started in gardening? Well first of all, even as an expert, being a professional
03:25
horticulturalist for well over 40 years, I'm always learning something new so
03:29
that's the magic of it. I suppose three tips in any aspect of gardening is if
03:34
you want something in flower in your garden every month of the year, go to
03:38
your local garden centre. Pop over to Coleman's and pick up a plant, a
03:43
perennial plant that's in flower at that moment. When you put it into the garden
03:46
next year, because it's perennial, it'll be in flower in that month and if you go
03:50
once to the garden centre every month and buy a perennial flowering plant, you'll
03:54
always have something in flower every month of the year. Secondly, engage with
03:58
nature. The simple pursuit of putting out food for the birds, it's a lovely thing.
04:03
Pets without vets and encouraging wildlife and bees and pollinators in is
04:08
another thing that's incredibly rewarding. And finally, grow plants
04:11
indoors. That's the other magic of it. You can grow your own herbs and, you
04:16
know, things like cress and micro greens and a whole host of others you can
04:20
grow on your windowsill and of course all the lovely house plants as well. And
04:23
during the show, I'll be giving two very unique talks and book signings. One, I'm
04:28
going to be talking about how you can become a houseplant expert in just 30
04:32
minutes and I'll be doing a book signing with my houseplant book and then I'm
04:36
also going to be talking about plants with superpowers and amazing you with
04:40
very special abilities of plants. Some plants, if you eat the nut, makes you
04:44
smarter. The other plant, if you eat the fruit from this one, can help you lose
04:48
weight and stop wrinkles. And I've got another plant that you can eat that
04:53
also helps your strength and mind. So I'm going to be talking about different
04:56
plants with superpowers and it's just one of the many things that are taking
05:00
place at Garden Show Ireland.
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