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Right plants. Right place. No guesswork.
Planting by Numbers shows you what to plant, where to plant it, and how to bring your garden together.
Designed for Irish soil, Irish weather and real-life growing conditions.
A certified organic, irish made, soil-first plant food and soil improver for stronger, healthier growth in Irish gardens.
I offer one service, planting-led garden design, delivered in person in Cork or remotely anywhere in Ireland. Start with whichever describes your garden.
Planting-led garden design, delivered in person. I visit the garden, walk it with you and take my own photographs, measurements and notes.
The work can range from resolving a single border to reconsidering the whole layout, and includes Planting by Numbers, the planting plan itself, with plant sourcing and delivery.
GARDEN DESIGN IN CORKThe same planting-led garden design, worked remotely. You send photographs, measurements and a description of the garden, and we work through it together online.
Scope is the same as it is in Cork, from a single border to the whole layout reconsidered, and includes Planting by Numbers with plant sourcing and delivery.
GARDEN DESIGN ACROSS IRELANDWhat to plant, when to plant it, or why something is not working. Ask Peter gives you a direct answer based on your conditions and thirty years of Irish growing experience.
ASK PETERTell me a little about the garden, where it is and what you are hoping to achieve. I will recommend the right starting point.
If you are trying to make sense of a new garden, an unfinished space or a garden that still lacks direction, these guides may help. Start with what a planting plan is, and if your house is newly built, read garden planting design for new homes in Ireland.
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
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.
The Irish Gardener's 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."
Real questions from Irish gardeners. Answered with the precision that Irish conditions require. Not general tips. The right answer for where you actually are.
Over 40 specific answers for Irish gardens. More added every week.
Browse all garden adviceThe decision engine
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.
