AN IRISH GARDEN

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1049, 13 August 1930, Page 6

AN IRISH GARDEN

ISLAND BOUGHT FROM WAR OFFICE GARDENER’S MASTERPIECE In the course of a lecture on garden design given by Mr. W. S. Manson at the Seddon Memorial Technical College, an interesting description was given of the island home of Mr. and Mrs. Annan Bryce. Just prior to the ; Great War the island of Ilnagullin, j Glengarrif, County Cork, Ireland, was bought from the British War Oilice by Mr. Bryce. “On the island was an old fortress built in ISIS as a protection against a - possible invasion of the French under ' Napoleon. ' “A well-known architect was called , in to advise, and he has here pro- , duced one of the most beautiful gar- ■ dens in the world,” said the lecturer. 1 In the centre of the island there is a walled garden, built-in steps and ■ strongly buttressed without, like an old Italian walled town. This is the 1 kitchen garden, and is about an acre , in extent. ■ Its gates, of which there are four — 1 north, south, east and west—are of | wrought iron of the 17th century • brought from Spain. By the west - gate there is a hard tennis court, com--1 pletely screened from the wind by an linglish yew hedge 15ft. high and sft. through. Beyond this is a smoofTi lawn of grass capable of taking three tennis grounds, and one croquet ground, with, to the north, beds of magnolias of many kinds, and many other beautiful shrubs. South of the tennis grounds is another high bank planted with heaths, arranged to give blooms for months on end. The west end of the tennis courts is closed right across by an Italian teahouse. This little gem of architecture is built of bath stone; also, all the pillars of its loggia, which extends for 57ft. to each side. They support solid beams of teak, which have weathered the exact colour of bath stone. On the outside are columns which were taken from a quarry at Rome, and are of a beautiful red colour. Inside, the walls are panelled with slabs of marble, of which there is also a dado; the flooring is done in Connemara marble (something similar to New Zealand greenstone). This flooring is the work of Italians brought to Ireland for the purpose. On the level of the tea-house is a path, partly paved with flags of local stone, and partly closely mown grass; on one side a yew hedge, on the other a hedge of lavender, sweet lavender from an old Irish garden. Then going down steps, you walk right into a group of beautiful New Zealand shrubs, flowering in all their glory. On the next and last level you find a broad flagged parterre, with another deep bed containing more sweetscented shrubs. In the centre of the parterre is'a water-lily pond, 15ft. by 30ft., with an old lead figure in the centre spouting water. This lily pond is paved with blue green tiles to give the illusion of sea-water, and round the edges in pots raised on bricks, tiny bulrushes and reeds of various kinds are growing. To the west the sunken garden is finished hy a beautiful Italian temple with arches and open sides, supported by pillars, with white carra marble balustrading. Through the triptych formed by the arches of this little house can be seen the mountains of Slieve Ghoil Mor, and- Slieve Ghoil Ben, with their rough glens of rock and heather. Although one is able to protect food from flies by the use of covers and lids, the flies themselves still remain and their buzzing often causes considerable annoyance. A good method of keeping flies away is to soak a sponge in boiling water, then drop >n to it a little oil of lavender and leave the sponge in the bowl. The pleasant scent will not only sweeten the room, but will drive out any flies. For a sitting room an ornamental bowl can be used, and if placed fairly high the sponge in the bowl will be out of sight. Large cracks, the stopping of which would require a considerable amount of putty or patent wood filler, can be successfully filled with a mixture of sawdust and good quality glue. When the glue is thoroughly well heated, stir in the sawdust until it is of fairly stiff consistency. Press into the holes with a palette knife or old table knife. While still wet, remove any of the mixture that might have got on to the surface of the woodwork with a clean knife, afterward wiping it with a cloth wrung out of hot water. When quite hard rub smooth with glass paper.