About

Garden designer Catherine FitzGerald has teamed up with Minnie Preston of Ballintubbert Gardens and House to create a two-day festival of talks, workshops, organic cooking, garden tours, foraging classes and more. It is all about discovering the latest ideas for creating an ecologically sustainable and beautiful garden and discovering more about the natural world around us.

The festival brings together a hugely diverse group of international speakers from the worlds of contemporary garden design, horticulture, historic gardens, fungi, food growing and nature conservation and biodiversity.

The event will take place in the beautiful Arts and Crafts style gardens of Ballintubbert House, birthplace of poet Cecil Day Lewis and former home of the actor John Hurt.

Subjects include: Gardening for Biodiversity, the extraordinary world of Fungi, the history of Lady Londonderry creator of Mount Stewart gardens, Agroforestry, Soil Fermentation, the Adventurous possibilities of a Gardening Career, Growing Veg tips from a master, Great Dixter in detail, Urban planting for greenery & biodiversity, Gardening for Soul Nourishment & Nature in Art.

There will be guided garden tours, foraging workshops; stalls will be selling plants and tempting quality garden related goods – from pots to gardening apparel, books and tools.. There will be artisanal food trucks, quality organic coffee, a bakery and sweet treats.

Festival Details

3 - 4 May 2025:
Saturday 9:30am - 9pm
Sunday: 9:30am - 5pm
VENUE: Ballintubbert Gardens & House, Stradbally, Co. Laois. R14 E954
TICKETS: €110 Saturday ticket; €70 Sunday Ticket; €165 Full Weekend Ticket (all prices incl. Eventbrite fee)