{"id":472137,"date":"2026-05-28T23:50:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T23:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/472137\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T23:50:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T23:50:16","slug":"mental-health-and-sustainability-among-the-winners-at-bloom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/472137\/","title":{"rendered":"Mental health and sustainability among the winners at Bloom"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mental health and sustainability gardens were among the big winners at this year’s Bord Bia Bloom Festival.<\/p>\n

As the gates opened on the 20th\u00a0annual Bord Bia Bloom on Thursday morning,\u00a011 gold medals\u00a0were awarded to show gardens championing sustainability, mental health and innovative urban living.<\/p>\n

The overall\u00a0large garden\u00a0category award went to the\u00a0\u2018Recycled, Reused and Refilled Sculptural Garden\u2019\u00a0sponsored by Repak and designed by James Purdy, while the overall\u00a0medium garden\u00a0category award was presented to\u00a0The \u2018Future in Mind\u2019 garden,\u00a0sponsored by the Mental Health Commission and designed by Joe Eustace. <\/p>\n

\"\u00c2\u00a0YoungYoung Gardeners Showcase the Power of Recycling at Bloom 2026, Brooke aged 5 pictured at Bord Bia Bloom 2026 as Repak unveiled its immersive ‘Recycle, Reused and Refilled’ show garden. Pic: Mark O’Sullivan<\/p>\n

Both gardens reflect this year\u2019s powerful theme of care – for the environment, for our communities and for our health and wellbeing.<\/p>\n

Chief Judge Andrew Wilson\u00a0said: ‘It\u2019s wonderful to be back at Bloom to celebrate its 20th anniversary and to witness its evolution over those two decades as the world of garden and planting design has progressed. <\/p>\n

\"TinyTiny Gardens telling Big Stories
Bl\u00e1thnaid Treacy (pictured) in the Postcard Gardens at Bloom supported. Pic: Peter Houlihan\/Fennells<\/p>\n

‘With the climate pressures we are faced with, we need sustainable ideas and solutions, planting that is resilient and materials that can deliver more than once. <\/p>\n

‘Happily, there are gardens at Bloom 26<\/a> that reflect these concepts while providing inspirational ideas and messages that prove the value of this show which remains relevant and responsive.’<\/p>\n

\"PresidentPresident Catherine Connolly Officially opens Bord Bia Bloom 2026 Festival in Phoenix Park. Pic: Tony Maxwell<\/p>\n

A total of\u00a019 medals\u00a0were presented across the show garden category, including the \u2018Most Sustainable Garden Award\u2019,\u00a0which went to the \u2018Fingal Nurturing Communities Through Nature\u2019\u00a0garden, sponsored by Fingal County Council and designed by \u00c1it Urbanism + Landscape. <\/p>\n

The garden is among a number at this year\u2019s festival demonstrating how thoughtful design and community-focused initiatives can help people in compact or high-density urban settings reconnect with nature and biodiversity.<\/p>\n

\"'Shared‘Shared Roots,Common Shade’ by award winning designers Oliver and Liat Schurmann from Mount Venus Nursery was Yonah (7) grandchild of Oliver looking at the garden designed by his grandparents. Pic: Julien Behal<\/p>\n

The overall concept garden award went to \u2018Shared Roots, Common Shade\u2019,\u00a0sponsored by the European Commission and designed by Oliver and Liat Schurmann. <\/p>\n

The \u2018I Can Create That Garden with Q102\u2019, designed by Carleen Osborne, received the overall small garden award, while the overall balcony garden award was presented to \u2018The Birdwatcher\u2019s Balcony Garden\u2019\u00a0sponsored by RT\u00c9 Radio 1 and Mooney Goes Wild and designed by Barry Kavanagh.<\/p>\n

\"KathrynKathryn Thomas from The Morning Show at the I Can Create That Garden with Q102 at Bord Bia Bloom. Pic: Leah Farrell\/RollingNews.ie<\/p>\n

In the\u00a0Nursery Village, a total of 17 medals\u00a0were awarded to new and returning plant nurseries, recognising excellence in horticulture and plant production.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, this year\u2019s Postcard Gardens, which are small pop-up gardens created by community groups from across the country, received a total of 14 medals.<\/p>\n

More than 100,000 gardening enthusiasts are expected to descend on the Phoenix Park in Dublin over the June Bank Holiday weekend.<\/p>\n

\"President President Catherine Connolly Officially opens Bord Bia Bloom 2026 Festival in Phoenix Park in Dublin. Pic: Tony Maxwell<\/p>\n

Jim O\u2019Toole, Chief Executive of Bord Bia, added: ‘As we celebrate the 20th Bord Bia Bloom<\/a>, we are proud to once again create a space where people can discover the very best of Irish food, drink and horticulture, reconnect with nature, and enjoy a positive and uplifting day out in the Phoenix Park.<\/p>\n

‘I would also like to congratulate all of this year\u2019s medal winners and participants. Reaching opening day takes months of hard work, dedication and creativity, and the standard across the festival this year is exceptional. <\/p>\n

‘We look forward to welcoming visitors from across the country over the bank holiday weekend to enjoy everything Bord Bia Bloom has to offer.’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mental health and sustainability gardens were among the big winners at this year’s Bord Bia Bloom Festival. As…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":472138,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[103,61,60,410,411],"class_list":["post-472137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472137\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/472138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}