The 2013 Airtricity Garden Festival – Northern Ireland’s premier garden event will take place this weekend in the stunning setting of Hillsborough Castle.
The show will open today (Friday 17 May) with a little help from prolific writer and Gardeners’ World guru, Monty Don.
This is the second year in which Airtricity, Northern Ireland’s fastest growing energy supplier, has supported this popular family event, and the first in which the show is being held within the formal private grounds of the magnificent Hillsborough Castle.
Over the coming weekend, it’s expected that more than 25,000 visitors will attend the Airtricity Garden Festival for three days of show gardens, planting demos, home-made food, fashion show fun and a bounty of charity fundraising activities.
This year, organisers Garden Show Ireland and Airtricity have selected Northern Ireland’s Cystic Fibrosis Trust as the show charity. To mark this association, celebrated Newtownards-based garden designer Jackie Harte has created a contemplative show garden entitled ‘A Breath of Fresh Air’ to be unveiled at the Airtricity Garden Festival.
Following the show, the garden will transfer permanently to the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children where it will provide a much-needed outdoor space for young Cystic Fibrosis patients and their families.
In creating the garden, designer Jackie Harte has incorporated planting which, at one time, was thought to have specific health benefits for Cystic Fibrosis patients. The design uses a colour palette of whites, creams and yellows lifted with blues in both scented and unscented planting to evoke the identity of the Northern Ireland Cystic Fibrosis Trust. Low-level planting punctuated by vertical ‘arches’ create an arresting aspect to the garden. A centerpiece cherry tree reflects the name of the Hospital’s dedicated unit for young people, Cherry Tree House.
Commenting on the garden Linda Alexander from Cystic Fibrosis Trust said:
“We are absolutely delighted to be the chosen charity for this fantastic event. The feature garden is going to make such a difference to our young cystic fibrosis patients who have to stay in hospital for up to two weeks or more for treatments. It will enable patients and their families take ‘A Breath of Fresh Air’, helping make their stay in hospital a much more pleasant experience.”