Mick Horkan is the head gardener responsible for restoring and maintaining the amazing estate which surrounds the Lough Gill Distillery.

Our aim is to revive and protect Hazelwood Estate as a historical and heritage garden while creating new and exciting landscapes around those that already exist; introducing new planting and colourful schemes throughout the gardens. 

The last weeks here at Hazelwood Estate have been spent preparing overlooked areas with new beds for a burst of summer colour in the courtyard.

Task One: Creating New Flowerbeds

Here is one of five new beds created in the confines of the courtyard. The beds are planted with a wide range of variety’s which for the most part are dormant now but as the summer draws nearer will burst into life-giving these areas great colour through the spring, summer and autumn.  

Plant varieties include - Bamboo, Witch Hazels, Firethorns, Japanese Maples, Cranberry’s, Liquid Amber, Clematis, Woodland Anemones and Easter Lilly’s.     

Task Two – Reinstating the first section of old paths at Hazelwood House

Here we have tracked the location of the old footpath at the rear of the house and brought it back. We have planted the edges of each of the sets of steps with a combination of Hydrangeas and Catmint for summer flowering, sections of the grass are underplanted with Daffodils and Tulips for spring flowering and Bay Laurels planted at the door.    

Plans For The Coming Weeks At Hazelwood Gardens

This coming week shows night-time temperatures plummeting to -5 degrees, the vast majority of plants on the grounds of Hazelwood will have no problem in dealing with this however we have are a few varieties here such as Tree Ferns, African Lilly’s and Bays which need a little help.

We do this by wrapping the sensitive plants with horticultural fleece, moving the tender plants in containers inside, or mulching the base to prevent damage that often in weather like this they do not recover from.