10 0417 294 778 A Touch of Grass Garden Care GARDEN CLEANUPS / REJUVENATION & MAKEOVERS A SPECIALTY We offer an experienced, professional and reliable service Call Jeremy on ... Est. Gold Coast since 2001 Let us create your new and rejuvenated garden where you can sit back, relax and enjoy your tranquil surroundings ... Specialising Garden Makeovers & Rejuvenation * Garden Care * Plant Selection * Soft Landscaping In a quiet corner of Co. Waterford in the east of Ireland, there’s a fascinating garden. Described as a Biographical Garden, it is based on the exceptional life story of Lafcadio Hearn and is the work of volunteers, including professionals, led by Agnes Aylward whose vision formed the concept. It is not for profit and was funded by a local Trust and Waterford Council. finally Japan. The American Garden is a prairie-style landscape with swaying grasses and tall trees, and appropriately the adjacent Greek Garden is an ampitheatre planted with grass and Mediterranean herbs. It features a mature Olive tree. The gardens continue the theme around highlights of Lafcadio’s life and love of Japan. Miraculously there are no strongly defined boundaries. Pathways lead through foliage in every shade of green. It was early in spring when I visited and the trees in the deciduous Woodland were only half in leaf. They cast dancing shadows and beams of sunlight along the walkways, gently meandering crossways down a steep hill. Some paths are constructed of rock or paved in flat stone, some timber, battered earth or pebble. The wooded steps are a special feature. The stone basin and stone lantern in the Tea Garden were carved by a Japanese Gardener. The Stream Garden is set among small to massive, hand-picked Gardening by Kate Heffernan Honorary Life Member Friends of GCRBG, Botanic Garden Consultant Once the degraded grounds of Victorian ‘Tramore House’ the one hectare garden reveals the elements of Lafcadio’s journey through life. Born in Greece to a Greek mother and Irish father the family moved to Dublin when Lafacadio was just two. His mother returned to Greece and he spent most of his early life with his father’s aunt in Tramore, seeing his father for the last time when he was a seven year old boy. Gifted at languages and literature, he emigrated to America, became a reporter in Cincinnati, later writing for Harpers Magazine based in New Orleans and the West Indies. Harpers sent him to Japan to write features, but he broke with them and became a teacher. His life became literature, writing essays and articles on Japanese culture and finally becoming Professor of English at Tokyo University. Lafcadio married in Japan and had four children. Lafacadio’s Garden is told in eleven seamless, evocative gardens - a journey from Greece to Tramore, to America, and rocks from farm sites across the county, lovingly placed to appear as having been there forever. The pathway wanders past rocks, crosses the stream several times, and arrives at The Gardens of Peace and Harmony surrounding a large pond flanked by three species of bamboo and Camellias. Then uphill, passing the Summer Pavilion, Journey’s End, and finally a simple Zen Garden. This is a small garden with a wealth of interesting plants. It demanded half a day of my travels – to see it and soak up the beauty and atmosphere. As a bonus I had a chat with Agnes and Head Tour Guide Keith. www.lafcadiohearngardens.com The Tea Garden The Summer Pavilion
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