David Domoney, new ambassador of Garden Show Ireland

Northern Ireland World

Transcript

00:00So we're in Antrim Castle Gardens here where in a few months time Garden Show

00:05Ireland will be held and David you've got the lovely job of being the new

00:10ambassador for the show. How did you get involved? Well I got involved I was

00:14giving some talks at a local garden centre, Colmans, over the last two years

00:19and I've had very good audiences and I'm talking on a variety of different topics

00:24on the magic of plants and wildlife and nature and how easy it is to get

00:29involved in gardening and get great results and feed the family at the same

00:32time and I seem to have amassed quite a following with that and got a chance to

00:38meet and come round to the gardens here on several occasions. I even did the

00:42Enchanted Garden walk as well, it's amazing. So by meeting all the people

00:48everybody felt that bringing a horticulturalist with a passion for

00:53plants and gardens into the show was a good idea and I'm delighted.

00:59And how do you expect your role to develop just in the months leading up

01:04to the show? Well there's a big change because today, funnily enough, is the launch

01:08of my new book Plants with Superpowers which highlights different varieties of

01:12plants with unique abilities, how a potato can charge your mobile phone, it's

01:18sort of like a little electrochemical battery a potato or that snowdrops have

01:23antifreeze or the simple things like the Venus flytrap as a calcium clock

01:28and can count. So I'm looking for genuinely interesting things that even

01:32people who aren't interested in gardening can be amazed at. They're great

01:36facts to get kids involved in gardening but they're so very unique and shows the

01:41real characteristics of plants that you can't help but want to know more. So my

01:46real role is to try and enthuse people with the beauty of plants and deeper

01:51stories behind them and what makes them so special. And Garden Show Ireland always

01:57attracts a big following, it's a very popular event. What can people expect to

02:02see this year? Well this year, first off we're doing a big community garden

02:07project where we've got a big competition with wheelbarrows and there's

02:11about 40 entrants, different communities, some kids, I think the Mayor's putting

02:15one in as well, community groups, sport groups and whatever are all creating

02:20their own little wheelbarrows. I've set the theme Movies, so each wheelbarrow

02:25will replicate a movie, could be Jaws, could be Jurassic Park, could be anything

02:31really, so that's going to be a lot of fun. So there's a lot of community

02:34activities and everybody gets a chance to judge them as well. I'm doing an

02:38exhibit too, Gardening in Glass, with the popularity of terrariums and bottle

02:43gardens and goldfish bowls and all sorts. I'll be creating a full exhibit of

02:47beautiful pieces of glass with very unusual plants in them and of course

02:52there's everything else. There's the Garden Festival itself, marvellous trade

02:56stands, opportunity to buy plants to take back to your own garden, other show

03:00gardens and of course walking the beautiful gardens themselves make a

03:04difference and of course the occasional gin and tonic or a nice cup of coffee

03:08and relax to be out in with nature. So there's lots going on and there will be

03:12people here who have lots of experience in gardening and people who have next to

03:17no experience. What would your three tips be to anybody who wants to get

03:21started in gardening? Well first of all, even as an expert, being a professional

03:25horticulturalist for well over 40 years, I'm always learning something new so

03:29that's the magic of it. I suppose three tips in any aspect of gardening is if

03:34you want something in flower in your garden every month of the year, go to

03:38your local garden centre. Pop over to Coleman's and pick up a plant, a

03:43perennial plant that's in flower at that moment. When you put it into the garden

03:46next year, because it's perennial, it'll be in flower in that month and if you go

03:50once to the garden centre every month and buy a perennial flowering plant, you'll

03:54always have something in flower every month of the year. Secondly, engage with

03:58nature. The simple pursuit of putting out food for the birds, it's a lovely thing.

04:03Pets without vets and encouraging wildlife and bees and pollinators in is

04:08another thing that's incredibly rewarding. And finally, grow plants

04:11indoors. That's the other magic of it. You can grow your own herbs and, you

04:16know, things like cress and micro greens and a whole host of others you can

04:20grow on your windowsill and of course all the lovely house plants as well. And

04:23during the show, I'll be giving two very unique talks and book signings. One, I'm

04:28going to be talking about how you can become a houseplant expert in just 30

04:32minutes and I'll be doing a book signing with my houseplant book and then I'm

04:36also going to be talking about plants with superpowers and amazing you with

04:40very special abilities of plants. Some plants, if you eat the nut, makes you

04:44smarter. The other plant, if you eat the fruit from this one, can help you lose

04:48weight and stop wrinkles. And I've got another plant that you can eat that

04:53also helps your strength and mind. So I'm going to be talking about different

04:56plants with superpowers and it's just one of the many things that are taking

05:00place at Garden Show Ireland.

Category

Transcript

Recommended