Mary Reynolds

Questions for Mary Reynolds

How long have you been designing gardens?

Since 1997.

Tell us a bit about other work, what achievements are you most proud of?

I am the only Irish person to have won a gold medal at the Chelsea flower show for a large garden. It was my first and only time at the show at the age of 28 and it was a great experience. I also designed a garden at RBG Kew for DEFRA. A biodiversity garden that was based on the Yeats poem 'The Stolen Child'. I designed a public park in Galway, Ireland called Brigit's Garden which is a fully native and naturalised planted wild park; the first of its kind. I am part of the judging panel for "Ireland's Chelsea flower show", a festival called 'Bloom' it takes place in the Phoenix park, Dublin every year. I have done numerous private and public commissions and I love to promote habitat planting and sustainable gardening practices in my work.

Who were your early influences? Who first inspired you to get into garden design?

I only got into garden design because my parents insisted I went back to college after dropping out first time around, so I had to make a decision and I fancied a guy doing this degree in landscape design so pathetically, that is the only reason I found myself there! I find my inspiration from wild places and history and mythology and, having grown up on a farm in a pretty wild place, it's what I feel passionate about.

Are you a gardener as well as a designer? Do you have your own garden and how would you describe it?

I wouldn't really call myself a gardener, maybe an anti-gardener. I like to create gardens that develop into a series of ecosystems depending on the site in question. I didn't make a garden where I live, I don't need to. My little piece of land stretches up into the beautiful hills of the Dingle Peninsula in the west of Ireland and I truly believe gardens should only be touched if you need to somehow connect to the landscape beyond. I am lucky enough not to need to and any intervention would be nothing but pathetic and unnecessary. The only thing I do is grow vegetables.

What five plants could you never do without?

Moss, ferns, clover, willow, grass.

What materials do you like to use in the garden?

Stone, sculpted earth shapes, mosaic, living willow structures, cob structures.

What’s the most common problem you come across when designing a garden and how do you overcome it?

The trust of clients. I think it's because I am not a typical garden designer (whatever that is…) so when they meet me I reckon they always think I look a bit untogether and whacky until they see the design and the finished product and then they are always ecstatic!

What is your biggest design or gardening mistake?

Because I try out completely new concepts using wild plants, sometimes there have been learning curves for me as there is vast gardening knowledge available for garden plants but pretty much nothing for 'weeds'! It's also very hard to get them commercially. As time goes on I learn more and more about them though.

What’s your favourite garden to visit and why?

I don't visit gardens. I visit wild places.

If you could design a garden for anyone, who would it be and why?

It has to be kids. I love the freedom and playfulness of designing magic atmospheric spaces for kids that typically enchant the adults too.

How would you describe your design style?

Sculptural, atmospheric, individual.

What’s the one piece of advice you’d give to someone starting out with a new garden?

If you live in the countryside, look around you, draw the landscape into your garden, keep it simple and your garden will become part of the world around you rather than an island isolated from it. If you are in a town, spend some time reflecting on what landscape you are passionate about, what places evoke that feeling of connection with nature within you? Try and bring elements of those places into your space. If you are lucky enough to have a little piece of land you call your own, remember this is the one piece of the earth that you are directly responsible for. This is the one place you can come home to and feel the connection to the earth under your feet. So it is important to cultivate the life force there, don't cover it up with concrete; don't make it into an outdoor room. Make it your sacred space. Grow some food!