What are the opening hours?

Monday 8am - 6pm Tuesday 8am - 6pm Wednesday 8am - 6pm Thursday 8am - 6pm Friday 8am - 6pm Saturday 9am - 12pm

Oonah Gardens

Freelance gardener offering bespoke garden maintenance, small planting plan designs and all with nature and biodiversity in mind.

Sustainable methods to help keep your outside space beautiful. Contact me to discuss your garden requirements 🌺

30/10/2026

BTS with Oonah Gardens 🌸🍁. Autumn is always a busy time - considered tidying, planting, prepping for next year, appreciating the last. Weather better than expected (Monday was pretty brutal 🤣). 🍁

12/10/2026

✂️ Meadow maintenance time ✂️

It’s that time of the year for the little meadow in my garden to be cut down.

This is a really necessary part of maintaining a meadow, by cutting and removing the grass that’s grown this year, the nutrients get removed and keeps soil fertility down which is what you want to encourage wildflowers and keep the grass down.

This year has been brilliant for yellow rattle and it went to seed quite quickly. I hope all the seeds have all fallen out into the ground and I’ll get an even better display next year.

You can see the pathways cut in the grass and I’ve composted the grass to go on other areas of my garden when it rots down. I also leave a ‘hairy border’ around the pond and under the hedges as wilder margins for wildlife cover.

Lots of work over the weekend but really this area of the garden manages itself!

10/10/2026

🍁 Autumn days 🍂

It’s been a long but productive week. Lots of maintenance, cutting back, lifting, dividing, planning and garden discussions. I even got to help a new garden club group get set up - that’s always exciting; Glenavy you have a good team!

Autumn is such an exciting time - a lot of people ask me am I still working in the gardens at this time of year and I always say it’s one of my busiest times! This is perfect for bulb planting, divided perennials and shrubs to go in before it gets too cold and planning for the year ahead. Hardy Seeds can be planted and I’m already thinking about the spring…and organising my diary more efficiently 🙈

This time of year also allows me to reflect on all the work I’ve done to the different gardens I’m lucky to help. This garden, in the photo in particular, is one of my favourites. It’s a true nature garden with so many trees, birds, habitat and functional beautiful growing spaces. I always feel like this garden takes care of me - it’s so full, peaceful and green and like a little slip in time to somewhere else.

I’m so fortunate with the clients and gardens I have so this is more like a little autumnal thank you to everyone who lets me potter about their gardens 🍁💚

03/10/2026

Everybody needs good neighbours.

This is a little look at work I completed yesterday - before and during the rain!

I’ve worked previously for the lovely neighbour who has grown all these amazing and unusual plants, these aren’t your run of the mill guys. He wanted to help his neighbours turn their grass into something more diverse. This was a brilliant collaboration as they wanted to change their lawn but didn’t know where to start.

So I turned up with all my cardboard and dug the plants in and showed the customers how to layer the cardboard over the grass and add the woodchip. They helped me so they could be part of the process and it was great getting extra help as it was a bit rainy. I’ve termed it ‘low dig’ as I needed to dig the plants in due to their good size but didn’t strip the turf.

So I think this front garden now looks amazing, diversity added, multiple seasons of interest created, pollinator friendly and the most sustainable plant sourcing I’ve done, just over the wall at the end of the garden!

I’m always so happy to create something new for someone and change a space. Plus we made a little plan of what was where as I know the other neighbours will be asking what’s growing!

01/10/2026

1st October catch up - the poor garden is negotiating either full sun, full rain or full wind this week, quite often by the hour 😆. But the Asters are doing their thing!

29/09/2026

Fruit cane tidy today! Back to the Logan berries and the Boysun berries - cutting out those that have fruited and tying in the new ones for next year. A wild day for it, the Logan berries kept sticking to the back of my gilet with their tiny thorns 😆

25/09/2026

Love a planting day - here I am creating a cut flower area by adding in carefully chosen herbaceous perennials into an already created shrub border. This is nice as it fills spaces and adds another dimension to this lovely garden.

23/09/2026

I think I might be addicted to restoration gardening 😆 I really do love finding a garden again and seeing what somebody planted so long ago.

20/09/2026

Bulb arrival and planting delays - Sunday ramblings from yours truly 🤣

Address

Downpatrick

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 6pm
Tuesday	8am - 6pm
Wednesday	8am - 6pm
Thursday	8am - 6pm
Friday	8am - 6pm
Saturday	9am - 12pm

Website

http://www.oonah.com/

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