Super Garden returns to our TV screens this week

HAVE you finally managed to find a dry bit of weather, and ventured out into your garden fora spring clean-up?

If you’re seeking inspiration for your outdoor pride and joy this year, then a new season of Super Garden might provide it.

The design challenge series is back for a 15th run on RTÉ1 on Tuesday, April 23, at 7.30pm.

For the winning designer, it’s a launch pad to the premier league of garden design, and a chance to show what they can do when their ‘Super Garden’ is recreated at Bord Bia Bloom in Dublin in May, when more than 100,000 visitors will get to experience it.

In the competition, each designer is given three weeks and a budget of €15,000 to design and create their gardens.

They are each given a similar sized garden in which to lay out their designs.

The location for this year’s series is Connaught Grove in Athboy, Co Meath, a recent development by Meath County Council for social housing.

Here, five households will have their gardens transformed by the competing designers. The three Super Garden judges will have their work cut out for them to pick a winner.

There is a new judge this year, Kerrie Gardiner, from Galway, who is the show garden and horticulture content manager for Bord Bia Bloom and a Landscape Architect.

Monica Alvarez and Brian Burke return as Super Garden judges.

In episode one, Gary Hegarty, from Derry, designs a garden for parents Keelin and Anthony along with their kids Ellie, Jackson and Fury.

The family are hoping Gary can create a sensory garden for five-year-old Fury, who has autism, with a Love Island twist.

Gary is a graphic designer for a daily newspaper, and, alongside his day job, he has studied for a FdSc in Horticulture.

His interest in gardening came when he bought his own home around 15 years ago, experimenting with plants and making it up as he went along.

Four years ago, he came to a realisation that he would like to do something professionally.

Gary sees Super Garden as a stepping stone to a career in garden design, and landing a prized slot at Bord Bia Bloom would go a long way to help him achieve his goal.