First image for Donegal Gardens
This contemporary garden, within 200 yards of the sea, whispers stories of walled gardens of the past. Today it stands independent of trends and restorative themes.
The walls have stood for over 100 years and were well maintained. Since 1985 the lawn and cultivated perimeter have been gradually transformed by Elizabeth Temple to the present individually styled garden. The evolution continues season by season, always featuring a good selection of perennials, vegetables and shrubs.
Jane Powers describes the garden wonderfully in her book The Irish Garden: The vernacular earthworks are an important part of this Donegal garden. There is a stone arch built onto the south-facing wall that backs one of the vegetable areas, so that you can sit in the shallow alcove and admire the dark, sumptuous corduroy of the ridges on either side (Frances Lincoln Publishers, 2015).