A redesign for life
Imagine sitting to enjoy the long warm summer's evening, nestled within your neatly sketched lawn, and surrounded by bordered bedding. One might even contemplate a new patio area, a gushing garden feature, or imagine a trellised wall of climbing plants welcoming an array of colour into your garden, buzzing with life.
The multi-award winning Bawnboy-based Brackley Landscape Services has for almost 15 years been to the fore of some of the most recognisable garden re-designs across the region.
Founded by local entrepreneur Lasse Morgenroth, the business has grown substantially over that time period, earning plaudits and building an loyal clientele base.
David Mulhern, who joined the company in 2015, is responsible for all landscape architecture, design and consultancy work. In that time the firm has overseen the delivery of a number of well-known landmark projects, from landscaping the gardens at the Hotel Kilmore, the wedding garden at the Cavan Crystal, as well as the Hillgrove in Monaghan Town. They even redesigned the grounds of the Leitrim GAA Centre of Excellence.
Aside from bespoke garden design for private houses, Brackley have also been involved in a number of smaller but none-the-less unique projects, the most recent of which was the design of the sensory garden overlooking the River Erne in Belturbet. The sensory garden forms part of a looped walk which takes in the Turbet Island Dreamscape Trail, recently nominated for a Pride of Place Award.
Landscaping ideas start with good research, suggests David. He encourages people to take inspiration for what they might want for their outdoor living spaces by visiting garden centres, public gardens, garden shows, even other people’s houses.
“It's all about getting a feel for what is to your taste,” adds David, who recalls how Brackley have delivered on several unique planting projects, one of which involved filling out a tired and broken down Volkswagen Beetle with perennials and other blooms. Other customers have even asked Brackley to oversee the installation of a space to house a hot-tub.
David says that when determining what can be done, size and shape of a garden must be taken into consideration, though even the smallest space shouldn't been seen as an impediment.
“There are a lot of people who are definitely not going back to the way they were working before Covid hit. People have invested in home offices, and we have done a lot of work making it look as if it wasn't just a case of plonking a pod in the middle of the back garden. Sensitive soft planting, framing the area correctly, all of that can really turn that space from being 'just another area' to becoming a genuine extension of your home.”