Muintir na Tire School Garden Competition

 Plants for   Seaside Gardens & Windy Sites We are often asked by schools for a list of Plants for windy sites. Here is an expansive list for you to choose from  Hydrangea Agapanthus Sedum Dianthus Lavender Stachys Bergenia Crocosmia Fuchsia Lamium Anthemis Artemisia Buddleia Osteospermum Lampranthus Hebes Geraniums Carpet Roses Shrub Roses All Rose Varieties Laburnum Vossii Nepeta Kniphofia (Red Hot Poker) Yucca Cordyline Ornamental Grass Skimmia Cistus Silver Pink Eucalyptus Holly Euonymus Grevillea Coprosma in varieties Photinia Red Robin Hedera Eurphorbia All varieties of Grasses

The staff and Pupils of Gaelscoil Ui Drisceoill Glanmire are thrilled to be Overall Winners at the Cork County Federation Muintir ná Tíre Pride in our Community School Garden Awards 2018 which were held in County Hall on Monday June 18 th  2018. The Competition is just in its sixth year and judging from the amount of entries received, the enthusiasm and high standard and quality involved from all the schools it was a huge success. The competition involves each school developing/planning a garden in their own way.    Both adults and students work together to decide what type of garden they want to create. The competition encourages all students to get involved in working in the garden and the competition also promotes sustainability and biodiversity. The judges were very impressed with the high standard of the gardens involved. Mr Sean Holland introduced the schools involved and congratulated each school individually. This was then followed by an audio visual presentatio

Creative Hanging  Baskets  for your Home & Patio.  Favourite part of my day is without  question it is planting up and creating hanging  baskets  and containers for our customers. The fragrance and Colour in the garden centre on the sunny days this week brings joy to all our staff and customer.  Here are a few top tips to creating and maintaing your summer  baskets , window boxes  and pots. Create a container/  basket  to suit your colours, style and environment.  Mediterran  Basket / Pot If you want to be transported to the Amalfi coast,  Grow a lemon tree or olive tree in a pot, Surround your self with Trailing  Geraniums and vibrant coloured pots and containers. If your  baskets  are located in a Sunny windy position or maybe difficult to water,  then Ivy   geraniums  will thrive the best for you.  Geraniums  give a magical blast of colour and dont require as much watering as other summer plants. Ivy  Geraniums   require so little maintenance. Don't forget t

        The Coronet Apple tree Perfect for any small garden, or Patio This miniature apple tree can be grown in a pot or in a bed. The coronet apple trees are miniature apple trees (Mature height 5 ft)  that will fruit in the first year which is very unusual for fruit trees. It is also extremely low maintenance and requires no pruning. There are three types of Coronets: Solo, Family and Companion.  The Solo variety is self pollinating and requires no other tree. The family Variety has two varieties on the one tree and therefor requires no other tree  The Companion is one variety and requires another tree to be planted in your garden. Ensure that both tree have the same flowering season to ensure that they will pollinate each other.    The most popular and tastiest varieties are James grieve, Cox's orange pippin  and elstar.  There is no cooking apple variety available in coronet range but the however the James grieve is acceptable for cooking.

Pasáiste na bPailneoirí Pollinator Corridor  Native Pollinator Corridors Native plant corridors attract pollinators and wildlife to various areas by stretching across lands to connect your piece of native habitat to nearby meadows, wetlands or woodlands. This creates a much larger area for native pollinators to forage, raise young and migrate. Corridors may run along a road, between fields, in hedgerows, on the edge of a forest.  Create a Pollinator Corridor simply by a simple ethos Dont Mow let it Grow Wildlife friendly Shrub Bed Do Not Cut Back! Leave all Flowers and seed heads on Shrubs to Feed Bird During Winter Sign: “Don’t Prune me, Cause I will Feed the Birds this Winter” Examples of great Shrubs would be ;  Leycesteria Pheasant Berry, Cotoneaster, Rosehip, Crategus For a Full list check out http://www.biodiversityireland.ie/projects/irish-pollinator-initiative/all-ireland-pollinator-plan/schools/ Have you made a bee and Bug hotel . here are a few image

Seed Tapes are the easiest, no-waste way to plant. Each strip of biodegradable paper is embedded with perfectly spaced seeds; simply unroll into a planting furrow and cover. Planting is precise, there's little or no thinning needed, and the germination rate is outstanding. making your own seed tapes for lettuce, radish, carrots and More A great Project in the classroom is to Make your own seed tape  You will need: Any kind of Seeds Zip lock Baggies or plastic containers - each one marked for what type of seed tape it is in it Flour  Cold Water Paper Towels, cut in 1 1/2 - 2 inch Strips and folded in half To make your seed tape, simply cut the paper into strips about half an inch wide.  The measurement doesn’t need to be exact, just wide enough to easily work with.  The longer the strips, the easier it will be to space your seeds correctly.  You can cut them to length later if needed. Using a ruler and pencil, mark the proper spacing for your seeds of

We are now open for entries for 2018 Enter Here Read Full terms and Conditions here AIMS The aim of the 'Cork Schools Competition' is to support pupils, teachers in County Cork to bring nature, wildlife, plants and colour into their school garden/grounds, to promote horticulture and biodiversity and to give students a chance to interact with the environment and nature in a positive way.  Climate Change and Gardening Special Awards for  the following elements Up-Cycling   Upcycling in the garden helps lessen the amount of waste going into landfills. Upcycling helps reduce CO2 emissions by using old materials instead of new ones.  Schools are encouraged to rethink, repair, refurbish along with reusing & recycling items. E.g. Fairy Houses made from recycled materials, but don’t damage trees. Food Production    Being able to grow food without pesticides and eat it straight from the garden is superior in every way to produce that is pumped full of ad

Its a new year and Spring is just about to arrive. What projects will be done  in our school garden this year.  Through out the year Griffins will give tips on various topics that maybe of interest in your school.  Our first one for 2018 is Wild Flower meadows in schools and communities. Is there an area in your school garden that is perfect for a wildflower meadow or can it be grown along the verge of the pitch or path. Can we create a pollinator corridor  in an area of the garden.  These maybe a few questions that you may like to consider.   The vibrant colour and low maintenance required for a wild flower seed meadow are the main reasons why wild flower meadows have grown in popularity of the years. Many communities, tidy town and schools are now creating wild flower meadows through out the communities. With signs up saying Messages like "Don't mow let it Grow" .  These areas create a haven for our pollinators and wildlife.  M