News from Russborough – by Denise Gill

The summer fruit season is in full swing in the RHSI walled garden in Russborough.  We are picking blackcurrants, loganberries, and redcurrants. It is a race between the humans and the birds. The birds won the redcurrants: we won the blackcurrants.

A few years ago, we planted stone fruits in the, sadly dilapidated, peach house on the north wall. This year we have nectarines, peaches, and apricots ripening beautifully, the warm weather earlier this year giving a great crop. This might be a pattern with global warming. There is a big crop of figs too – if we could reach them.

We have lots of baby oak trees in pots. Acorns collected from trees in the estate in 2022 germinated and have grown well so this next generation can be used to replant and extend the tree cover in the estate. We don’t know how long some of the mature oaks have been here, but they could predate the house, which was built in the 1750s. What was the land like then? No Blessington Lake. No N81, but perhaps a lot more trees. If you have young friends who would like to see an oak tree smaller than themselves do bring them to visit the garden to see the baby oaks in pots and perhaps to search for the mature trees around the estate.

Hope to see you in the garden soon.

Eircode W91 W284