Surprise announcement for Randalstown on ‘The One Show’

The RHS is creating four new Community Gardens, one each in England, NI, Scotland and Wales, to share the joy of gardening as part of its celebrations for 2022 RHS Garden Day on Monday, May 2.

Tidy Randalstown Environmental Group, a group of local volunteers, applied to the RHS for the Northern Ireland Community Garden.

Renowned Northern Ireland garden designer Johnny Knox, will be designing and building the garden liaising with the community. He said: “It’s not every day you get asked to design a garden for a spectacular viaduct, it’s such a unique and dramatic setting, but, more importantly, it’s an incredible privilege to work on such a cherished local landmark for the people of Randalstown, what’s most exciting is a vibrant garden in this setting has the potential to transcend and give back more to the community than what the viaduct could in its original form.”

The group’s vision is to create a symbiotic relationship between a working garden and a world class amenity for locals and visitors, similar in concept to The High Line in New York. The garden will offer a mix of sustainable, pollinator-friendly planting, providing year-round interest, extended bee corridors, seeds and berries for birds, and shelter for hibernating species. The group say the garden will be the first of its type on the island of Ireland. They plan to establish an intergenerational team to maintain the site, broadening the local skills base and furthering their visibility in their current role of engaging and helping vulnerable people in their community.

NI TV Presenter and keen gardener Gloria Hunniford shared the exciting news with the people of Randalstown for the BBC The One Show announcement.

Helen Boyd, Chair of the group, said: “Everyone here in Randalstown is absolutely delighted about this project.

“At the moment we don’t have any open green space in the Town, so this will be a vital and much used important place for the people of Randalstown. People’s well-being will benefit from the sights, scents and sounds which greet them in this suspended garden.”

The new Community Gardens will be central to the RHS celebrating and sharing the joy of gardening on RHS Garden Day on May 2.

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