The right plants, in the right place, change everything.
Before you plant anything. Ask Peter.
Specific, practical planting advice for Irish gardens. Irish soil, Irish weather, Irish conditions.
Trusted by Leading Gardens, Centres & Media
The decision engine
Not sure what to do in your garden? Ask Peter first.
Most planting mistakes happen at the point of decision.
The wrong plant for the soil. The wrong shrub for the exposure. The wrong hedge for the conditions along that boundary. By the time the problem is visible, the season is gone and sometimes the money is too.
Ask Peter exists to stop that from happening. Describe your garden, your question, your situation. Get a specific answer based on Irish conditions and over 30 years of planting experience.
Free to use. No waffle. No generic advice that could apply anywhere in the world. Before you plant anything. Ask Peter.
Where do you want to start?
Every garden is different. Every gardener is at a different point. These are the three most common starting points.
Not Sure Where to Start?
If you're unsure what level of help your garden needs, tell me a little about it.
I’ll review it personally and recommend the most sensible way forward.
Specific answers for Irish gardens
Real questions from Irish gardeners. Answered with the precision that Irish conditions require. Not general tips. The right answer for where you actually are.
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- Why does my soil feel dead or lifeless?
- Moss on my lawn in Ireland
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- Why are my plants not flowering properly?
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- When to plant snowdrops in Ireland
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Over 40 specific answers for Irish gardens. More added every week.
Browse all garden advice
Ireland's Planting Expert
Over 30 years working with Irish gardens, Irish soil and Irish growing conditions. Horticulturist, planting designer, broadcaster and columnist. The work has always been the same: finding the right plant for the right place in the right conditions.
Planting design is, for me, where every garden project matters. Structure matters, sequence matters but it is the planting that determines whether a garden actually performs or simply exists.
Getting that right, specifically for Irish soil and Irish climate, is what I have spent three decades learning.
Every garden is different. The thinking behind every recommendation is the same.
I work with private homeowners, garden centres, open gardens and national media.
"The right plant in the right place is not a happy accident. It is a decision that requires knowing the soil, the exposure, the aspect and the sequence. That is what planting design is."
Soil First
If the soil is not functioning, the planting cannot perform
Every planting decision starts below ground. The right plant in the wrong soil will always struggle, regardless of how carefully it was chosen or how well it was planted.
Soil structure, biological activity and nutrient retention are what determine whether a planting plan succeeds or simply survives.
NutriChar addresses all three together. It improves the structure of Irish soils, supports the biological activity that makes nutrients available to roots, and helps soil hold and release what plants need. It is not just a feed. It is a foundation.
Designed specifically for Irish conditions and built around the same soil-first thinking that underpins every piece of advice on this site.
"If the soil is not functioning, nothing you add on top will fix it. This is why I always start here."