So this is a post that will strike different ‘chords’ with different people. For some this is art, but others may see this as decimation of a beautiful instrument. But before you begin to grieve for them, to my knowledge all the instruments shown here were beyond repair. The above picture is of the Garden Piano in the gardens of HagalFarm, my parents’ holistic retreat in West Cork, Ireland. I have written about this in a previous blog post which you can find here. Recently I

As it is Valentines Day today I thought it would be a good time to talk a little bit about one of my favourite colours to use in the landscape. The colour red. Red has more personal associations than any other colour. Recognized as a stimulant, red is inherently exciting and the amount of red is directly related to the level of energy perceived. Red draws attention, and a keen use of red as an accent can immediately focus attention on a particular element. It also increases e

Driving down to the home place in West Cork is always a treat, especially if I haven’t been home in a while. Living in the city of Dublin now when I drive out the country roads I appreciate all the scenery more. On my last trip down the back roads to Hagal Farm the hills looked on fire with the amazing golden glow of the Molinia caerulea commonly known as Purple Moor-grass (or uncommonly known by its Irish name ‘Fionnán’) It’s spent seed heads and browned off blades gleaming

The other day I was talking about snowdrops and their link to the treatment of Alzheimer’s. The little snowdrop has been linked to an important medicine that could help in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Galantamine, a medicine used today to treat Alzheimer’s disease, occurs naturally in several members of the amaryllis family (snowdrop; narcissus; daffodil). This important medicine was first discovered in the innocent Snowdrop. Talking about this made me think of the l

Garden Theatres Although there are many grand Garden Theatres and huge impressive amphitheatres out there in the world, they are not something you find very often in normal residential garden design. They are however, something I like very much. So I will leave the many grand garden theatres and the huge impressive amphitheatres for another post for another day. Today I am going to talk about the intimate and sometimes modest (but just as effective) garden theatre. Growing up

During the summertime it is particularly a pleasure to drive down to the homestead down in West Cork. After spending many hours in the car, travelling on the wide motorways from Dublin, the narrow winding, pothole infested roads of the countryside are a welcome sight. The roads are about half the width they normally are in the winter as all the plant life competes for space. Although the roads are narrower, they do look fantastic as the glow with colour. And none glows with a

A few weeks ago when down visiting my parents at our family home, down in West Cork, I went for a wander in the gardens (you may remember these gardens from my previous post ‘‘garden labyrinth’). During my wander I stopped off to have a look to see how the garden piano was doing. By now it has all but disintegrated, but it still holds a magical charm about it, in fact it was all part of the plan! Perhaps I should explain. Besides being a passionate gardener, my dad is also a

This seven circuit classical hedge labyrinth with enlarged centre, was designed and constructed by my dad, Fred Wieler in the beautiful gardens, (a labyrinth in it’s self) of Hagal Farm – a holistic retreat centre and our family home. Hagal Farm is nestled on the slopes of the Maughanaclea mountains, in the picturesque Mealagh valley near Bantry, in West Cork. The gardens at Hagal Farm spared out over about four acres, making up a number of different gardens, each with its o